The pause button is every horror hound's best friend.
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00:00Every film director ever must have grown up with a copy of Where's Wally in their house,
00:05because they love to hide tiny details in the background of shots for their audience
00:08to try and track down.
00:09The horror genre is no exception to this, as some of the most famous, frightening films
00:13of all time are littered with secrets and easter eggs.
00:17Some are pretty obvious, but others require a much keener eye, or if you feel like cheating,
00:21a little help from the trusty TV remote.
00:23Do TVs even have remotes anymore?
00:25Who knows.
00:26The following 10 details all happen so quickly that you'd need to be John Wayne on the pause
00:31button to actually capture them.
00:33However, some people out there were fast enough to do so, and we have all those people to
00:37thank for this list.
00:38And so, with that in mind, I'm Ellie with What Culture, here with 10 horror movie secrets
00:43never meant to be found.
00:4510.
00:46Freddy's Glove in Evil Dead 2
00:49The follow up to Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead holds a special place in many a horror fan's
00:54heart.
00:55A comedic visit to the land of the deadites, Evil Dead 2 is considered by many as one of
00:59the greatest horror sequels ever made.
01:01One blink and you'll miss it cameo in the movie comes when Ash is rooting through a
01:05tool shed in order to find weapons.
01:07He misses a really famous one as the iconic bladed glove of Freddy Krueger is hanging
01:12on the wall right behind him.
01:14And this isn't the first time Raimi has referenced the work of Wes Craven in his output.
01:19The glove's appearance was actually the result of a longstanding contest between the
01:22two filmmakers, as they each tried to cram in bits of each other's canon into their
01:27own films.
01:28The first Evil Dead film contained a ripped up poster for Craven's The Hills Have Eyes,
01:32which led to Wes including footage from that movie in A Nightmare on Elm Street.
01:36Thankfully, this practice seemingly stopped after Evil Dead 2, because otherwise we'd
01:41be here for a while.
01:439.
01:44The Xenomorph Skull in Predator 2
01:47Another sequel now, although one that was viewed much more negatively than Evil Dead's
01:51second go around.
01:52Predator 2 followed on from the events of the first movie, transposing the action from
01:56the jungle to the streets of Los Angeles.
01:58Suppose those are jungles in their own way.
02:00There comes a scene in the movie where we get a look at the Predator's trophy room,
02:04a temple to the various kills the titular alien has scored over the years.
02:08Alien is the operative word in that sentence, as one of the mementos was extremely familiar.
02:13In amongst the various skulls mounted on the walls was a long cylindrical one that bore
02:18a striking resemblance to the xenomorphs from the Alien series of films.
02:22That's because, well, it was a xenomorph.
02:25Both film series were owned by Fox, and both featured design work from special effects
02:29legend Stan Winston, so as a little treat for keen viewers, the crew decided to place
02:33the skull in the trophy room.
02:35Unfortunately, by doing this, they did manifest into existence the Alien vs Predator film
02:39several years later.
02:41Big mistake guys, big mistake.
02:448.
02:45Pennywise's Eyes in It
02:47Try saying Pennywise's eyes five times fast.
02:49Bet you can't.
02:50You might think that we're referring to the moment right at the start of It Chapter
02:54One where Pennywise's bright yellow eyes can be seen in the darkness behind Georgie
02:59Denbrough whilst he's walking down to the basement.
03:01Whilst this is a very subtle hint, and one that you would definitely need the pause button
03:05to notice, it's not what we're on about here.
03:07When Georgie is confronted by the dancing clown in the infamous storm drain scene, his
03:12eyes are still that same piercing yellow colour.
03:14However, as the dialogue between the two progresses, they change to blue.
03:18Why?
03:19Does he have some sort of magic contact lenses in?
03:21Is this some secret clown thing that we don't know about?
03:24Actually, it's way worse than that.
03:26Pennywise changes the colour of his irises to the same colour as Georgie's mother and
03:30brothers.
03:31This is done to make the boy feel more safe before his inevitable demise.
03:35This is outlined in Stephen King's original novel, but those who have just seen the film
03:39now know the true horrifying cause of the clown's transforming features.
03:437.
03:45Scream
03:47It's another Wes Craven film, although this one doesn't have any Sam Raimi references
03:51in it.
03:52That we know of.
03:53Scream from 1996 changed the game when it came to slasher film.
03:56Not only did it revitalise the genre by taking several loving jabs at its cliches, but it
04:01also completely flipped the script when it revealed that the main killer wasn't one
04:05person, but two.
04:07The ghost face mask and costume were worn by both Billy Loomis and Stu Marker as the
04:11two teens sought their revenge on Sidney Prescott.
04:14At the time, this was considered a huge twist, but you would have seen it coming were you
04:19keeping an eye on the boy's footwear choices.
04:21Early in the movie, Billy, Stu, and their friends are all sat by a fountain.
04:26If you look closely, you can see that the two secret killers are wearing matching boots,
04:31hinting that they are somehow linked.
04:33These are also the same shoes we see ghost face wear later in the picture.
04:36If only they'd splashed out for something a bit more exciting.
04:40Maybe they'd have gotten away with it.
04:416.
04:42The Dancing Boy in Insidious To call Insidious creepy would be to do it
04:47a massive disservice.
04:48The film is full of moments that put viewers' teeth on edge, and the dancing boy scene is
04:53no exception.
04:54The Lambert family has just moved into a new house, hoping to escape the supposed hauntings
04:58of their previous abode.
04:59Sadly for them, they brought the ghoulies with them.
05:02Always check your pockets for spirits, people.
05:04One of the earliest signs that their new home is just as weird as their last one is when
05:08the mother Renee comes across the vision of a young boy dancing in her living room.
05:12The child is wearing what appears to be Victorian-era clothing, getting his groove on to tiptoe
05:17through the tulips by Tiny Tim.
05:19To be fair, a banger.
05:21However, with the aid of the pause button, viewers can catch a glimpse of the young lad
05:25before Renee does.
05:26Whilst putting away some laundry, Renee walks past a coat hook.
05:30Standing just to the left of it, cleverly disguised as more clothing, is the dancing
05:34boy.
05:35Children are creepy at the best of times, but this was just freaky.
05:385.
05:39The Babadook's Face in The Babadook
05:41Home to the most annoying child in cinema history, The Babadook came out in 2014 and
05:47made everyone absolutely petrified to go to sleep.
05:49Jennifer Kent's first feature-length film told the story of the titular being a horrifying
05:54monster that haunts the home of Amelia, a single mother to a young son.
05:58The film is symbolic of the struggles of parenthood and the perils of being a woman in the modern
06:02age, but is also just straight up frightening at times, as Mr Babadook goes to town on his
06:07poor victims.
06:08Like all good horror monsters, The Babadook is mostly kept in the shadows.
06:12We never really catch a glimpse of what it looks like outside of drawings in the pop
06:16up book.
06:17However, during a scene where The Fiend crawls across Amelia's bedroom ceiling, we spy
06:21the briefest of looks at Mr B's grisly face.
06:25Pale white skin, large black circles round the eyes, jet black teeth, jeez has this guy
06:30never heard of Colgate?
06:31Whilst keeping it out of sight was a great way of maintaining the creature's mystique,
06:35this fleeting glance at its horrifying visage actually makes things even worse.
06:404.
06:41Monster Cameos in Cloverfield
06:43Big monsters smashing up the place were nothing new when Cloverfield first premiered in 2008,
06:49but this Matt Reeves-directed flick did something really interesting with the genre.
06:53A found-footage style film, Cloverfield put viewers right in the action as they witnessed
06:58New York fall from the perspective of those on the ground.
07:01As helping to move the genre forward, the movie also pays homage to those films that
07:05came before it.
07:06Spliced in throughout the picture are several single frames from classic monster movies.
07:11Normal folk would miss something like this, but luckily for you, we have superhuman vision.
07:16And access to the internet.
07:17At different points, you can catch sightings of the giant ants from 1954's Them, the titular
07:22beast from 20,000 Fathoms from 1953, and the mac daddy of movie monsters himself, King
07:28Kong, turns up in all his original black and white glory.
07:31Sorry, Godzilla, we're just huge fans of the huge ape.
07:34Not only is this a sweet tribute to some vintage cinema, it also adds to the overwhelming nature
07:38of the film.
07:39As if it needed to be any more intense, just reading the title is enough to make some people
07:44want to puke.
07:453.
07:46Hidden Cult Members in Hereditary
07:48If you ever feel like your family is messed up, just watch Hereditary and you'll feel
07:52a whole lot better.
07:53A series of deaths leads the Graham family to become entangled with a demon-worshipping
07:57cult.
07:58Multiple creepy things happen as the film speeds towards its horrific climax, but one
08:03spooky occurrence was so subtle that most viewers missed it the first time around.
08:07Right before Peter wakes up to see his mother Annie hanging from his ceiling, you know,
08:11just normal family stuff, there's a fantastic wide shot of the Graham's home that quickly
08:15transitions from daytime to night.
08:18In Amongst the Darkness, the very, very eagle-eyed Amongst Hereditary's audience can make out
08:23the silhouettes of about a dozen cult members scattered around the property.
08:27A few minutes later, those same cult members storm the house, and they're all naked.
08:31Seriously, this film has got a lot going on.
08:34Not only does this secret give away what's coming next, but it also serves as a metaphor
08:38for the Graham situation in the film.
08:40They're completely surrounded by this cult, but they don't realise until it's too late.
08:452.
08:46Mother's Skull in Psycho
08:48Is Norman Bates really a psycho?
08:50Well, yeah, he killed two people dressed up as his dead mother.
08:53Also, he agreed to appear in the Psycho sequel movies.
08:56Those are both instances of severely unhinged behaviour.
08:59The point we're trying to make is how much of that is Norman's fault, and on a wider
09:03scale, how responsible individuals are for their own actions.
09:07Bates' twisted relationship with his deceased mother is perfectly exemplified during the
09:11film's closing sequence.
09:13As Norman is being taken away by the police, he stares directly down the lens and smiles.
09:18As the scene fades into the next one, we can spot a brief overlay of his mother's
09:23skull on top of Norman's face.
09:25It's incredibly brief, even when slowed down, but it's just enough of a flicker
09:29to drive the point home.
09:31Considering that this would have been much harder to edit together in the early 1960s,
09:35this scene shows just how dedicated Alfred Hitchcock was to his craft, and how layered
09:39his films actually were.
09:41Or it was a stray piece of film left in by accident.
09:44Just kidding, this was 100% on purpose.
09:47Or was it?
09:48Yeah, it was.
09:491.
09:50William Friedkin Relentlessly Messing With Us in The Exorcist
09:54The Exorcist remains one of the easiest ways to lose three nights of sleep to this very
09:58day.
09:59Released in 1973, this adaptation of William Peter Blatty's novel is still utterly chilling
10:04for a number of reasons, some obvious, some less so.
10:08Director William Friedkin made it his personal mission to scare the living bejesus out of
10:13every single one of his viewers in ways they couldn't even comprehend.
10:17He would layer the movie's score with deeply unsettling noises like bees buzzing or heavy
10:22machinery going off, in an attempt to trigger audiences' fight or flight responses.
10:26Flight.
10:27Always flight.
10:28And then there are the faces.
10:31So many faces.
10:33The movie is peppered with subliminal frames of the demon pazuzu's face that crop up
10:37out of nowhere.
10:38Exorcist fansite Captain Howdy has an incredibly detailed catalogue of all of them, if you
10:44fancy freaking yourself out for half an hour.
10:46So much work went into making The Exorcist what it is, and it all paid off.
10:50It still stands head and shoulders above 90% of the horror genre, and we'll still find
10:55new ways to make you scream, even after so many years.
10:58And that concludes our list.
11:00If you think we missed any, then do let us know in the comments below, and while you're
11:03there, don't forget to like and subscribe and tap that notification bell.
11:07Also head over to Twitter and follow us there, and I can be found across various social medias
11:11just by searching Ellie Littlechild.
11:12I've been Ellie with WhatCulture, I hope you have a magical day and I'll see you real soon.