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76 votes

Did any actor ever win an Oscar for their work in a horror movie?

Of course they did: Rosemary's Baby: Ruth Gordon won for Best Supporting Actress Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1931): "Fredric March’s performance as the title character(s) earned the film a Best Leading ...
BCdotWEB's user avatar
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38 votes
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Why are dolls, teddy bears, etc. used as horror objects in horror films?

This great source provides some answers given by people related to horror genre (filmmakers, writers and experts). Below are some quotes from their answers to the question Why are dolls and clowns, ...
Chanandler Bong's user avatar
36 votes

Is there a term referring to the transgression that often begins a horror film?

It's not specific to horror movies, but the event or action that kicks off the plot of a movie is typically called it's inciting incident. This is a literary term that applies to almost anything with ...
KutuluMike's user avatar
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27 votes

Is there a specific name for a character that is a sacrificial "example"?

As @BrettFromLA mentioned is the comments, I would suggest this character is called the: Red Shirt Warning! TV Tropes Link! The trope name come from Stark Trek: The Original Series where the new ...
Skooba's user avatar
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27 votes
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Horror/sci-fi alien attack found-footage movie

This is Cloverfield (2008) and the smaller creatures you are referring to are called Parasites The monster was covered in 2,000 Parasites that are roughly the same weight and height as a dog. They ...
Paulie_D's user avatar
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22 votes

Did any actor ever win an Oscar for their work in a horror movie?

Ruth Gordon won Best Supporting Actress in Rosemary's Baby. This article lists 14 horror films "noticed" by the Academy, including Misery and Silence of the Lambs. Whether these two can be classified ...
Chanandler Bong's user avatar
17 votes
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TV episode about patient who has revenge on plastic surgeon who botched his/her surgery

Yes, that does ring a bell. There were a number of pretty good series that basically emulated the Twilight Zone in format and style. One of those was the HBO-created series called The Hitchhiker (...
PoloHoleSet's user avatar
  • 9,627
15 votes

Are the Zombies in Zombieland actually undead?

They're still alive, according to the film's makers, just infected. Ruben Fleischer, special effects makeup designer Tony Gardner, and Tony Gardner's team researched infectious diseases, and their ...
Valorum's user avatar
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14 votes
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Horror movie about psychopath murderer parents who raise daughter to be perfect until little boy helps her out

Is it People Under the Stairs (1991)? The plot seems very similar. Plus here are a few quotes that look like a good match: The Robesons, who are believed to be a married couple, call themselves ...
LeonX's user avatar
  • 3,208
13 votes

Is there a specific name for a character that is a sacrificial "example"?

In literature what you're looking for is called the 'sacrificial lamb'. A character whose sole purpose is to die so as to give the protagonist a reason to act. It also can be used to show just how '...
C Scott B's user avatar
  • 131
13 votes
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Movie about a bridge accident, people dying horribly and premonition

This is Final Destination 5 (2011) Sam Lawton is on his way to a company retreat with his colleagues. While their bus crosses the North Bay Bridge, Sam has a ...
Paulie_D's user avatar
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13 votes
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Does a horror movie have to have supernatural elements?

No Horror does not require supernatural elements. The Horror genre is defined by the deliberate attempt to invoke a phychological reaction of terror, fear, shock and revulsion in the audience. It is ...
iandotkelly's user avatar
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12 votes
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Do sound effects, specially in horror movies, use emotion initiating frequencies?

Rather than specific frequencies it is more about musical intervals. It is pretty well accepted that specific chords and scales have associations with particular emotions for example music in a minor ...
Chris Johns's user avatar
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12 votes
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A horror movie about witch in the attic

It's a TV episode, not a movie, What you probably saw was Dreams in the Witch-House: H. P. Lovecraft's Dreams in the Witch House is the second episode of the first season of Masters of Horror, ...
Gustavo Gabriel's user avatar
12 votes
Accepted

Movie about a girl who wishes or writes in a book for things to happen to people?

This is Devil's Diary from 2007 that aired on Lifetime. When two friends, Dominique and Ursula, uncover an ancient book in a graveyard one night, they discover that the book has the supernatural ...
Walt's user avatar
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11 votes
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Movie about a girl who had another different life when she dreamed

This is the plot of Dark Corners from 2006 with Thora Birch. Birch plays two characters, alternating between them each time she falls asleep, each of whom believes that the other is a dream. The ...
Walt's user avatar
  • 99.8k
11 votes
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Post Apocalyptic and disturbing Anime from my childhood

Akira (1988) A secret military project endangers Neo-Tokyo when it turns a biker gang member into a rampaging psychic psychopath that only two teenagers and a group of psychics can stop. Here ...
Dannie's user avatar
  • 4,105
11 votes

In films, especially horror, Why does the devil interact with random people?

Someone who is already powerful or important either made a deal with the devil to get there or doesn’t need to make a deal with the devil any more. There’s also the trope that the rich and powerful ...
Todd Wilcox's user avatar
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10 votes
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Is there a criterion to differentiate "thriller" from "horror"?

Your observation is correct: "thriller" and "horror" are often thinly separated in the already vague world of film taxonomy. There isn't really One True criterion for distinguishing the two. That ...
moviegique's user avatar
  • 2,498
10 votes

Why are dolls, teddy bears, etc. used as horror objects in horror films?

I think the reason why is because they portray innocence. It is easier for nobody to suspect anything and therefore fear related things are hidden in them. Nobody would willingly hold a knife or gun. ...
Debbie's user avatar
  • 101
10 votes
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Name of horror film about train and reality shift in tunnels?

I did some quick digging, and found that this from Season 2, episode 19 of "Tales From the Darkside" called "The Last Car". There's a full synopsis at http://talesfromthedarkside.wikia.com/wiki/...
mantis's user avatar
  • 451
9 votes
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Which movie ended with the male protagonist's mother in the body of his girlfriend?

You're looking for Severed Ties from 1992. Severed Ties is a 1992 comedy horror film directed by Damon Santostefano. It was released to video by Columbia TriStar Home Video. A regeneration ...
Walt's user avatar
  • 99.8k
9 votes
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What was that horror movie where a priest is chopping a chocolate bar?

You're looking for the horror film Catacombs (AKA Curse IV: The Ultimate Sacrifice) from 1988. From Wikipedia: In the 17th century, an order of monks in Italy capture and entomb a demon that has ...
Walt's user avatar
  • 99.8k
8 votes
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Horror film about an escaped serial killer trying to save his girlfriend

You're looking for A Horrible Way to Die from 2010. In rural Missouri, serial killer Garrick Turrell (AJ Bowen) escapes from police custody and immediately resumes taking the lives of strangers ...
Walt's user avatar
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8 votes
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What movie involves a boy feeding monsters underground?

Sounds like The Pit (1981), though I'm pretty sure the kid has a crush on his babysitter. Twelve year-old Jamie Benjamin is a misunderstood lad. His classmates pick on him, his neighbors think he's ...
Walt's user avatar
  • 99.8k
8 votes
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Why does fake blood in older movies look so fake?

Blood in horror movies has a rich history. Black-White movies had no problem with it and could pull it off easily. So much so that it is said that Alfred Hitchock shot Psycho in Black-White because he ...
Akshat Batra's user avatar
7 votes
Accepted

What is the name of this space-based horror film?

Sounds like Dark Side of the Moon from 1990. "The Dark Side of The Moon" takes place in 2022 as the crew of a spaceship is forced to land on the entitled dark side of the moon because of an obscure ...
Walt's user avatar
  • 99.8k
7 votes
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Movie about a girl with multiple personality disorder

Sounds like The Uninvited with Emily Browning and Elizabeth Banks from 2009. After the death of her ill mother in a fire, the young teenager Anna tries to commit suicide and is sent to a mental ...
Walt's user avatar
  • 99.8k
7 votes
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In one episode of this cartoon series some copying slime appeared with a real creepy scene

If the "slime creature" looked like this: Then you've got The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest, season 2, episode 9, "DNA Doomsday". One of the features of this series was "Questworld", a virtual ...
John Sensebe's user avatar
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7 votes
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Woman trapped in her house by dead alien's forcefield

The Bellero Shield (Season One, Episode 20 of the original "The Outer Limits" series) Quote from tv.com: "Sure enough, he soon reveals that he has an impenetrable shield. Judith, who wants to ...
casspir's user avatar
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