What's the silliest premise you have heard for a horror movie/thriller?

[CaitSeith]

Directly from Youtube's home page recommendations, I went and watched the trailer of a thriller about two girls trapped in... a public swimming pool.


I don't know why, but I found the premise way sillier than I (probably) should. Maybe because I don't have claustrophobia or aquaphobia. Or maybe because this is something I would expect to find as a 5-10 minutes ironic death scene from the Final Destination series. I know that they put extra elements to make the situation more dangerous, but I can't overcome my disbelief.

So, do you know any thrillers/horror movies with a premise that sounded too silly to be scary?

PS: According to the reviews, the movie is pretty decent...

 

[tippy2k2]

I enjoyed the "Horrors but not really horror zombie movies" that started coming out.

Stuff like Zombeavers (zombie beavers!), Black Sheep (zombie sheep!), and Dead Snow (Nazi Zombies!).

Does Rubber (Psychic Tire that rolls around and kills people as it tries to win the girl of its dreams) count too? Cause that one was actually pretty damn funny.

If Cabin in the Woods also counts, I would put that in there. A horror movie where the people in it realize that they are in a horror movie (that's not quite the premise but if you haven't seen it, I would HIGHLY recommend watching it and not looking into it at all. It's very similar to me to things like Army of Darkness where there are horror and scary elements but it's also damn funny).

 

[Catnip1024]

Not necessarily movies, but a lot of Stephen King novels are incredibly silly premises if you actually think about them. You have various evil cars, the langoliers (things that eat moments once time has moved on), etc.

Film wise, a lot of the true story films these days seem like silly plots for films. A 90 minute film about a guy who landed a plane in a river, for instance. A film about a guy who fell down a crevasse.

Yeah, and ditto black sheep.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

Anything by Stephen King? I mean how the hell anyone takes those novels as serious when they're clearly 80s Camp con queso is beyond me. I mean most, if not all of his stories should really be Ash Vs X.

Spoiler: Ash Vs the Langoliers

Spoiler: Asv Vs the Children of the Corn

Spoiler: Ash Vs the Tommyknockers

Spoiler: Asv vs It

No one could tell me all his stories, book or adaptation, wouldn't be 100000% better if Bruce Campbell was pimping about, having the bants, mugging for the camera and giving one-liners to emphasize how terrible King is at dialogue.

 

[Evonisia]

Basically any horror film which is built on the idea that the big evil has an ordered kill list. Like your "Final Destination" or your "It Follows" where the main goal of the characters seems to be to win a deadly game of tag by making sure they're not it.

 

[Major_Tom]

Killer bunnies.

 

[WhiteFangofWhoa]

Discounting super old B movie gems such as 'The Brain That Wouldn't Die'...

Phone Booth, judging by the trailer. Dude picks up a mysterious phone call in a booth, the caller tells him who is about to be shot without so much as a riddle to give them a chance to live. If he hangs up, the caller threatens that more people will get shot. If he stays on the line, people still get shot. Repeat several more times to get the dude in trouble with passerby due to his reaction catching their attention. Better name; 'Asshole Sniper'.

 

[Natemans]

Well, there was the recent trailer for a new horror film called "The Snowman" and every time I see it, I can't stop snickering. I know that's a bit dark, but I find the premise a bit too silly.

 

[Trunkage]

A whole heap of movies could fall in here...

A delightful couple go on a long adventure to place a ring in a mountain (Lord of the Rings)

Robot makes sure his race is destroyed (Terminator)

Dude loves bats and imposing his beliefs on others (any Batman)

Sometimes good things come from silly premises - I thought Black Sheep was pretty funny

 

[FalloutJack]

*Puts on great hat of Arstotzka and takes out stamp of approval*

ALL MOVIES DONE BY MST3K AND RIFFTRAX PASS! GLORY TO ARSTOTZKA! GREATEST COUNTRY!

Killer bunnies.

This too.

My entries, however, will be Blades (the movie about a killer lawnmower on a golf course) and Killer Klowns From Outer Space (which is self-explanitory). These movies are quite camp and they are aware of it, which makes them classic in their own right.

 

[Tanis]

Pi?ata: Survival Island

 

[Kyrian007]

Oh, back in the day I rented Bubba Ho-Tep specifically because of the comically bad premise. A very elderly Elvis Presley (having not actually died in 77) teams up with a very much alive and elderly John F. Kennedy (also having not died) team up to protect a west Texas retirement home from a mummy. The fact that Bruce Campbell was playing Elvis and Ossie Davis was playing Kennedy ("they dyed me this color") made it sound even more silly.

The fact that it turned out to be an amazing, oddly touching, and extremely well written movie with a great Brian Tyler soundtrack was just an unexpected bonus.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

Death Bed: The Bad That Eats People

I mean, the title says it all.

De Lift (or the American remake Down)

Mysteriously intelligent elevator murders people.

 

[Howllons-y]

My first thought was every shark movie made in the 2000's except for The Shallows, and pretty much every animal hybrid movie ever made.

But one time at the video store, I did see one horror film with a very stupid premise. I can't remember the title, but it concerns a woman who apparently has a series of teeth in her vagina. Yeah... enjoy that mental image.

 

[Baffle]

I can't remember the title, but it concerns a woman who apparently has a series of teeth in her vagina. Yeah... enjoy that mental image.

I think it's just called 'Teeth'.

 

[Dr.Susse]

Never saw it but there was an Australian move called I know how many runs you scored last summer.

Yep it's a low budget cricket slasher parody.
It looks really bad and I love cricket almost enough to hate watch it.

 

[Vausch]

Funny Games had a silly but unique premise.

Essentially, the killers in the movie were aware they were in a movie and had control over it. At one point some of them are shot and one wounded, so he grabs a remote and rewinds the movie to fix it. They'd frequently break the fourth wall and were real snarkers

That aside though, it was basically just torture porn.

 

[Thaluikhain]

But one time at the video store, I did see one horror film with a very stupid premise. I can't remember the title, but it concerns a woman who apparently has a series of teeth in her vagina. Yeah... enjoy that mental image.

Eh, more than one of those films.

Anyway, I don't see why teeth in vaginas are inherently scary. Women often have teeth in their mouths and jaw muscles that are good for biting and that doesn't seem to frighten guys who want to receive oral sex from them.

 

[maninahat]

There was a really silly premise about a cursed videotape that kills people after a week of seeing it. You might have heard of it.

 

[maninahat]

Directly from Youtube's home page recommendations, I went and watched the trailer of a thriller about two girls trapped in... a public swimming pool.


I don't know why, but I found the premise way sillier than I (probably) should. Maybe because I don't have claustrophobia or aquaphobia. Or maybe because this is something I would expect to find as a 5-10 minutes ironic death scene from the Final Destination series. I know that they put extra elements to make the situation more dangerous, but I can't overcome my disbelief

There needs to be a scene in that movie where a panicking girl is whispering a song to herself, whilst whittling a foam pool noodle into a spear.