- 03/07/2025
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,
00:04because they love to hide tiny details in the background of shots for their audience to try
00:08and track down. The horror genre is no exception to this, as some of the most famous frightening
00:13films of all time are littered with secrets and easter eggs. Some are pretty obvious,
00:18but others require a much keener eye, or if you feel like cheating, a little help from
00:22the trusty TV remote. Do TVs even have remotes anymore? Who 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. However, some people out there were fast enough to do so,
00:35and we have all those people to thank for this list. And so, with that in mind,
00:39I'm Ellie with WhatCulture, here with 10 Horror Movie Secrets Never Meant To Be Found.
00:45Number 10. Freddy's Glove in Evil Dead 2
00:48The follow-up to Sam Raimi's The Evil Dead holds a special place in many a horror fan's heart.
00:54A much more comedic visit to the land of the Deadites, Evil Dead 2 is considered by many as
00:59one of the greatest horror sequels ever made. One blink and you'll miss it cameo in the movie
01:03comes when Ash is rooting through a tool shed in order to find weapons. He misses a really famous
01:08one as the iconic bladed glove of Freddy Krueger is hanging on the wall right behind him. And this
01:14isn't the first time Raimi has referenced the work of Wes Craven in his output. The glove's
01:19appearance was actually the result of a long-standing contest between the two filmmakers,
01:23as they each tried to cram in bits of each other's canon into their own 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 be here for a
01:42while.
01:43Number 9. The Xenomorph Skull in Predator 2
01:46Another sequel now, although one that was viewed much more negatively than Evil Dead's second go-around.
01:51Predator 2 followed on from the events of the first movie, transposing the action from the
01:56jungle to the streets of Los Angeles. Suppose those are jungles in their own way. There comes a scene
02:01in the movie where we get a look at the Predator's trophy room, a temple to the various kills the
02:06titular alien has scored over the years. Alien is the operative word in that sentence, as one of
02:11the mementos was extremely familiar. In amongst the various skulls mounted on the walls was a long,
02:16cylindrical one that bore a striking resemblance to the Xenomorphs from the Alien series of film.
02:22That's because, well, it was a Xenomorph. Both film series were owned by Fox, and both featured
02:27design work from special effects legend Stan Winston. So as a little treat for keen viewers,
02:32the crew decided to place the skull in the trophy room. Unfortunately, by doing this,
02:36they did manifest into existence the Alien vs. Predator film several years later.
02:40Big mistake, guys. Big mistake.
02:44Number 8. Pennywise's Eyes in It
02:46Try saying Pennywise's eyes five times fast. Bet you can't.
02:50You might think that we're referring to the moment right at the start of It Chapter 1,
02:54where Pennywise's bright yellow eyes can be seen in the darkness behind Georgie Denbrough whilst he's
03:00walking down to the basement. Whilst this is a very subtle hint, and one that you would definitely need
03:04the pause button to notice, it's not what we're on about here. When Georgie is confronted by the
03:09dancing clown in the infamous storm drain scene, his eyes are still that same piercing yellow colour.
03:14However, as the dialogue between the two progresses, they change to blue. Why? Does
03:19he have some sort of magic contact lenses in? Is this some secret clown thing that we don't know
03:23about? Actually, it's way worse than that. Pennywise changes the colour of his irises to
03:28the same colour as Georgie's mother and brothers. This is done to make the boy feel more safe before
03:33his inevitable demise. This is outlined in Stephen King's original novel, but those who have just seen
03:38the film now know the true horrifying cause of the clown's transforming features.
03:437. Matching Shoes in Scream
03:46It's another Wes Craven film, although this one doesn't have any Sam Raimi references in it
03:51that we know of. Scream from 1996 changed the game when it came to slasher film. Not only did it
03:57revitalise the genre by taking several loving jabs at its clichés, but it also completely flipped the
04:03script when it revealed that the main killer wasn't one person, but two. The ghostface mask and
04:08costume were worn by both Billy Loomis and Stu Marker as the two teens sought their revenge on
04:13Sidney Prescott. At the time, this was considered a huge twist, but you would have seen it coming
04:19were you keeping an eye on the boys' footwear choices. Early in the movie, Billy, Stu and their
04:24friends are all sat by a fountain. If you look closely, you can see that the two secret killers
04:29are wearing matching boots, hinting that they are somehow linked. These are also the same shoes we see
04:34ghostface wear later in the picture. If only they'd splashed out for something a bit more
04:39exciting. Maybe they'd have gotten away with it. Number 6, The Dancing Boy in Insidious
04:44To call Insidious creepy would be to do it a massive disservice. The film is full of moments that put
04:50viewers' teeth on edge, and the dancing boy scene is no exception. The Lambert family has just moved
04:55into a new house, hoping to escape the supposed hauntings of their previous abode. Sadly for them,
05:00they brought the ghoulies with them. Always 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 Mother
05:08Renee comes across the vision of a young boy dancing in her living room. The child is wearing
05:13what appears to be Victorian-era clothing, getting his groove on to tiptoe through the tulips by Tiny
05:18Tim. To be fair, a banger. However, with the aid of the pause button, viewers can catch a glimpse of
05:24the young lad before Renee does. Whilst putting away some laundry, Renee walks past a coat hook,
05:29standing just to the left of it, cleverly disguised as more clothing, is the dancing boy.
05:34Children are creepy at the best of times, but this was just freaky.
05:38Number 5, The Babadook's Face in The Babadook
05:41Home to the most annoying child in cinema history, The Babadook came out in 2014 and made everyone
05:47absolutely petrified to go to sleep. Jennifer Kent's first feature-length film told the story
05:52of the titular being, a horrifying monster 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 age,
06:03but is also just straight-up frightening at times, as Mr Babadook goes to town on his poor victims.
06:08Like all good horror monsters, The Babadook is mostly kept in the shadows. We never really catch
06:13a glimpse of what it looks like outside of drawings in the pop-up book. However, during a scene where
06:18The Fiend crawls across Amelia's bedroom ceiling, we spy the briefest of looks at Mr B's grisly face.
06:24Pale white skin, large black circles round the eyes, jet black teeth. Jesus, this guy never
06:30heard of Colgate? Whilst 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.
06:40Number 4, Monster Cameos in Cloverfield.
06:43Big monsters smashing up the place were nothing new when Cloverfield first premiered in 2008,
06:48but 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
06:57New York fall from the perspective of those on the ground. Whilst helping to move the genre forward,
07:03the movie also pays homage to those films that came 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.
07:15And access to the internet. At different points, you can catch sightings of the giant ants from
07:201954's Them, the titular beast from 20,000 fathoms from 1953, and the mac daddy of movie monsters
07:27himself, King Kong, turns up in all his original black and white glory. Sorry Godzilla, we're just
07:32huge fans of the huge ape. Not only is this a sweet tribute to some vintage cinema, it also adds to
07:37the overwhelming nature of the film. As if it needed to be any more intense, just reading the title
07:42is enough to make some people want to puke. Number three, hidden cult members in Hereditary.
07:48If you ever feel like your family is messed up, just watch Hereditary and you'll feel a whole lot
07:52better. A series of deaths leads the Graham family to become entangled with a demon worshipping cult.
07:58Multiple creepy things happen as the film speeds towards its horrific climax, but one spooky
08:03occurrence was so subtle that most viewers missed it the first time around. Right before Peter wakes up
08:08to see his mother Annie hanging from his ceiling, you know, just normal family stuff, there's a
08:13fantastic wide shot of the Graham's home that quickly transitions from daytime to night. In
08:18Amongst the Darkness, the very, very eagle-eyed Amongst Hereditary's audience can make out the
08:23silhouettes of about a dozen cult members scattered around the property. A few minutes later, those same
08:28cult members storm the house, and they're all naked. Seriously, this film has got a lot going on.
08:33Not only does this secret give away what's coming next, but it also serves as a metaphor for the
08:38Graham situation in the film. They're completely surrounded by this cult, but they don't realise
08:43until it's too late. Number two, Mother's Skull in Psycho. Is Norman Bates really a psycho? Well,
08:50yeah, he killed two people dressed up as his dead mother. Also, he agreed to appear in the Psycho
08:55sequel movies. Those are both instances of severely unhinged behaviour. The point we're trying to make is
09:00how much of that is Norman's fault, and on a wider scale, how responsible individuals are for their
09:06own actions. Bates' twisted relationship with his deceased mother is perfectly exemplified during
09:11the film's closing sequence. As Norman is being taken away by the police, he stares directly down
09:17the lens and smiles. As 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. It's incredibly brief, even when slowed down, but it's just enough of a
09:28flicker to drive the point home. Considering that this would have been much harder to edit together
09:33in the early 1960s, this scene shows just how dedicated Alfred Hitchcock was to his craft,
09:39and how layered his films actually were. Or it was a stray piece of film left him by accident.
09:44Just kidding, this was 100% on purpose. Or was it? Yeah, it was.
09:49Number one, William Friedkin relentlessly messing with us in The Exorcist.
09:53The Exorcist remains one of the easiest ways to lose three nights of sleep to this very day.
09:59Released in 1973, this adaptation of William Peter Blarty's novel is still utterly chilling for a
10:05number of reasons. Some obvious, some less so. Director William Friedkin made it his personal
10:10mission to scare the living bejesus out of every single one of his viewers in ways they couldn't
10:15even comprehend. He would lay 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. Flight.
10:27Always flight. And then there are the faces. So many faces!
10:33The movie is peppered with subliminal frames of the demon Pazuzu's face that crop up out of nowhere.
10:38Exorcist fansite Captain Howdy has an incredibly detailed catalogue of all of them,
10:43if you fancy 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 new ways
10:56to make you scream even after so many years. And that concludes our list. If you think we missed
11:00any then do let us know in the comments below, and while you're there don't forget to like and
11:04subscribe and tap that notification bell. Also head over to Twitter and follow us there,
11:09and I can be found across various social medias just by searching Ellie Littlechild.
11:13I've been Ellie with WhatCulture, I hope you have a magical day, and I'll see you real soon.
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