There's one thing that I have never liked about horror movies. It's one of those few things that makes me almost attavistic with a desire to reach through the screen and slap the hell out of the actor or (usually) actress that is committing this cardinal sin of congenital idiocy. It's the old "ineptly try to insert the car keys in while the monster is coming" schtick. The individual in question tries frantically to get the keys into the ignition so that they can get the hell out of there before the Super Bad Thingy gets them, but all they can do is poke at the ignition with the keys as though they were a chimpanzee with a stick poking a dead animal. I can't stand it, and almost immediately find myself rooting for whatever is trying to get them.
Yeah, yeah it's supposed to be panic, but that's just the thing. You have two choices. Either you can act like a deer caught in the headlights of a redneck's huntin truck or you can focus on the one pathetically easy task that you must perform perfectly in order to get the hell away from the Super Bad Thing. I am just sick of this rehashed panicy character thing. It's really old. The next time it happens, I really want to see the Super Bad Thingy tear the character limb from limb because they couldn't swallow their panic just long enough to stick the key in the ignition. I just can't root for a character that is that much of a weakling anymore than I can root for a deer that just stands there as a hunter is about to shoot it.
The Horror Movie (and Police/Murder Mystery) Cliche that's No. 1 on my hate list is where the female potential viction is being chased by the zombie/axe-murderer/criminal who DEFINITELY wants to kill her.
She hits him/it, he/it falls and she runs away ... then he/it gets up and chases her again until someone (usually male) puts an end to the pursuer.
If *I* were in that situation and happened to bring my pursuer down, I'd make damn sure that he/it NEVER had a chance to get up again!
Of course, the hit/run/pursue sequence is supposed to be "exciting," but it also defines the "good" Hollywood woman, whose only excuse for actually killing someone/something is to protect OTHERS - self-defence is not an admissible defence.