History NightmareRetardant / LiveActionFilms

* The so-called "Republic Robot" from the Creator/RepublicPictures {{film serial}}s ''Film/UnderseaKingdom'', ''Film/MysteriousDoctorSatan'', ''Film/CommandoCodySkyMarshalOfTheUniverse'', and ''Film/ZombiesOfTheStratosphere''. Supposedly a KillerRobot, it's a TinCanRobot that walks in a slow shuffle and looks like a walking water heater. It's Nightmare Fail is specifically lampooned in ''Film/JMenForever'' and ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'''s ShowWithinAShow ''Film/TheAdventuresOfCaptainProton''.

* The so-called "Republic Robot" from the Creator/RepublicPictures {{film serial}}s ''Film/UnderseaKingdom'', ''Film/MysteriousDoctorSatan'', ''Film/CommandoCodySkyMarshalOfTheUniverse'', and ''Film/ZombiesOfTheStratosphere''. Supposedly a KillerRobot, it's a shuffling TinCanRobot that looks like a walking water heater and its Nightmare Fail is lampooned in ''Film/JMenForever'' and ''Series/StarTrekVoyager's ShowWithinAShow ''Film/TheAdventuresOfCaptainProton''.

* ''Film/TheSnowman2017'' is a film about a serial killer whose CallingCard is leaving a snowman next to his victims, with a frowny face. The film tries to play this as a sign of him being a PsychopathicManchild, but it ''really'' doesn't work. It doesn't help that the [[Literature/HarryHole source material]] played this for BlackComedy rather than playing it straight as the film does.

* Despite its potentially creepy premise,[[note]]college girls are hunted down by a cult masquerading as a fraternity [[/note]] many viewers felt ''Film/BlackChristmas2019'' rarely managed to pull off genuine horror and was even [[{{Narm}} unintentionally funny]] at times. Most of the "scary" moments come in the form of cheap {{Jump Scare}}s you can see coming from a mile off and the more violent scenes are heavily (and awkwardly) [[GoryDiscretionShot edited]], which undercuts much of the tension. The big twist that the killers are [[spoiler:being mind-controlled and given preternatural strength/endurance by ''magic black goo'']] was also widely found too silly and outlandish, given the movie's attempt at a serious tone.

* The title character from ''Film/RobotMonster'' (pictured above) was a guy in a gorilla suit. And a diver's helmet.

* ''Film/TheSnowman'' is a film about a serial killer whose CallingCard is leaving a snowman next to his victims, with a frowny face. The film tries to play this as a sign of him being a PsychopathicManchild, but it ''really'' doesn't work.

* The "crab walk" DeletedScene in ''Film/{{Alien}}''. It features the titular alien attracting attention to Lambert, the film's HystericalWoman, with its very long tail. The alien is menacingly sitting on the ground, blending in with the environment... and then proceeds to awkwardly scoot across the floor to Lambert and showcase what is [[SpecialEffectFailure obviously just a man in a suit.]] The scene is just so laughably odd and off-putting, even if that was the intention in the first place.

* The original ''Film/KingKong1933'' was released as a very frightening horror movie and was effective as such for many years. There were people fainting in the audience when it was first shown. [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny Advanced effects have made us jaded]]. The [[Film/KingKong1976 version from 1976]] has aged even worse, mostly because it doesn't even ''try'' to have Kong move like anything but a guy shuffling around in a gorilla suit.

* In ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', the Wicked Witch of the West and her flying monkeys [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny don't pack the terrifying punch they used to]], though they still scare some younger kids.

* The movie ''Film/{{Link}}'' from 1986 is about a chimpanzee called [[AntagonistTitle Link]] who goes on a rampage killing people. While that does sound like a pretty neat concept for a horror film, it is ruined by several things, the first problem being he's [[WTHCostumingDepartment dressed up in a butler's outfit]], making him look rather silly and not very threatening, and the second biggest problem is that he's [[WTHCastingAgency played by an Orangutan]], something that the filmmakers tried (and failed) to hide by [[SpecialEffectFailure shaving the Orangutan's fur shorter, then dying it black]], even though anyone with a brain can easily tell that Orangutans and Chimps physically look nothing alike, making the character look even more ridiculous and hard to take seriously, especially considering that Orangutans aren't particularly scary. To make things more jarring, they already had actual chimps used in the movie, leaving one to wonder why they couldn't just use a chimp to play Link instead of a Orangutan poorly disguised as one. The end result is [[{{Narm}} unintentional comedy]] from start to finish.

* ''Film/EightLeggedFreaks'', though played for BlackHumor, had a potentially very scary premise: realistic-looking giant spiders are pretty horrifying by themselves, but the decision to give the spiders all sorts of "wacky" jabbering noises as they run amok utterly wrecks the terror for the most part. There are some scenes that aren't played for laughs that manage to be genuinely frightening, but they are rare. There is a memorable scene where a spider jumps on the stuffed head of a moose, only to take a bite and look visibly annoyed at the taste. Though the shot of a truly gigantic tarantula moseying through a parking lot to a sinister, minor-key riff of "The Incey Wincey Spider" can be rather effective.

* ''Film/{{Nosferatu}}'': in the opening scenes, the villagers claim a werewolf roams through the forest at night. The atmosphere is really creepy and the audience wonders what this creature will look like. When the protagonist goes to sleep the camera shows a wolf-like creature walking in the forest, but it's clearly not a werewolf, left alone a wolf, but a striped hyena! And it's strange to downright ridiculous that this animal is walking around in Transylvania, Romania. This is one that was FairForItsDay, as a hyena would have a been a much more obscure animal than it is now to European viewers, and appeared almost wolf-like but not quite, befitting the appearance of a werewolf.

* Creator/WesCraven's ''Film/{{Cursed|2005}}'' was a good example of this trope, where the scenes meant to be scary were downright funny, and the scenes meant to be funny were downright cheesy. From the predictable plot to the bad acting, to the [[{{Narm}} cheesy dialogue]], this movie has it all. Strange how a film intended to [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent reinvent the werewolf genre]] ends up falling back on every single [[NewerThanTheyThink Hollywood werewolf convention]]. There's the scene where a werewolf appears above the balcony after Christina Ricci's character taunts its fashion sense, flipping the bird and roaring "fuck you!", before dying in a hail of bullets. To be fair though, the movie turned out this way in part due to ExecutiveMeddling.

* On the other hand, the Phantom in [[Film/ThePhantomOfTheOpera2004 the 2004 movie musical version]] gets his mask pulled off to reveal... [[spoiler: Gerard Butler with a nasty sunburn.]]

* ''The Monster of Piedras Blancas'' initially just shows glimpses of its title monster, and when its face is finally shown, it is inexplicably vomiting water at the same time.

* A lot of Film/{{Sy Fy Channel Original Movie}}s suffer from this. Hard. Considering that the movies are made almost exclusively by the infamously Z-quality [[Creator/TheAsylum Asylum Studios]], this is hardly surprising. Every now and then, Syfy actually comes up with ideas that sound promising and might be a little scary. [[SpecialEffectsFailure Then the monster appears.]]

* The dancing ghost boy in ''Film/{{Insidious}}''.

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* The creature from Creator/RogerCorman's ''Creature from the Haunted Sea'' (1961) is one of the goofiest looking monsters in the history of cinema-- though considering the movie's supposed to be a comedy this may be intentional.
* More or less the entirety of ''Film/ExorcistIITheHeretic'' - quite infamously, given that it's the sequel to what's often considered the scariest movie ever. Highlights include a goofy "mind synchronizer" device, Reagan suffering an attack during a jazzy tapdancing performance, reams of nonsensical pseudo-metaphysical exposition, and James Earl Jones dressed up as a giant locust, spitting a leopard from his mouth.
* The dancing ghost boy in ''Film/{{Insidious}}''.
* The scene in ''Film/DragMeToHell'' wherein the goat is possessed by the malevolent spirit and the lamia dances. Although, being directed by Creator/SamRaimi, this was probably the goal.
* All five of the ''Film/ScaryMovie'' films, along with ''Film/StanHelsing'', are based entirely on this trope. Best exemplified in the 2nd ''Scary Movie'', when Brenda points out how stupid it is to run away from DemBones, [[TakeThat comparing it to running away from]] Creator/CalistaFlockhart.
* Narrowly avoided during shooting of the original ''Film/{{Predator}}''. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1GfUoB0kog The original costume had a bulky space suit with a snake-like head sticking out that bounced around like crazy.]] It was everything the directors did ''not'' want and they demanded a new design after one day. (also helping was changing the actor from [[Creator/JeanClaudeVanDamme a short martial artist]] to [[EvilIsBigger a huge man]])
* ''Film/EightLeggedFreaks'', though played for BlackHumor, had a potentially very scary premise: realistic-looking giant spiders are pretty horrifying by themselves, but the decision to give the spiders all sorts of "wacky" jabbering noises as they run amok utterly wrecks the terror for the most part. There are some scenes that aren't played for laughs that manage to be genuinely frightening, but they are rare. There is a memorable scene where a spider jumps on the stuffed head of a moose, only to take a bite and look visibly annoyed at the taste. Though the shot of a truly gigantic tarantula moseying through a parking lot to a sinister, minor-key riff of "The Incey Wincey Spider" can be rather effective.
* The 1931 version of ''Film/{{Dracula|1931}}'' contains two misguided attempts at symbolism: a close-up shot of a Jerusalem cricket (which looks a lot like a giant bee) crawling out of a coffin and a "giant rat," played by an opossum. In the Spanish version of the film, the "giant rat" falls off of the ledge it is walking on during the shot. And then there are the [[MisplacedWildlife armadillos]] and the ''"terrifying"'' rubber bats on strings in that and ''so many other'' early Dracula films.
* ''Film/TheThingFromAnotherWorld'' builds up suspense very competently, but the reveal is let down a lot by the very unscary alien, who basically just looks like a big bald guy with a swollen forehead, a far cry from the shapeshifting assimilator of [[Literature/WhoGoesThere the original novella]] and [[Film/TheThing1982 the 1982 remake]].
* ''Film/TheFly1986'' was kind of scary; [[Film/TheFly1958 the older movie it was a remake of]], not so much. One of the biggest problems while filming the movie was having to cut the scenes short because Creator/VincentPrice couldn't [[{{Corpsing}} help but laugh]] at co-star David Hedison's costume in the middle of filming. Many viewers had a similar problem.
* ''Film/{{Nosferatu}}'': in the opening scenes, the villagers claim a werewolf roams through the forest at night. The atmosphere is really creepy and the audience wonders what this creature will look like. When the protagonist goes to sleep the camera shows a wolf-like creature walking in the forest, but it's clearly not a werewolf, left alone a wolf, but a striped hyena! And it's strange to downright ridiculous that this animal is walking around in Transylvania, Romania. This is one that was FairForItsDay, as a hyena would have a been a much more obscure animal than it is now to European viewers, and appeared almost wolf-like but not quite, befitting the appearance of a werewolf.

* The title character from ''Film/RobotMonster'' (pictured above) was a guy in a gorilla suit. And a diver's helmet.
* The [[Series/MysteryScienceTheater3000 MST3K]] commentary for ''Film/TheIncrediblyStrangeCreatures'' --which definitely ''definitely'' fits here-- was one of the earliest uses of the term "Nightmare Fuel". The earliest was ''Film/SantaClaus1959'' -- which actually ''was'' pretty scary, but not in the intended scenes.
* In ''Attack of the Prehistoric Women'', the women at one point need to defend themselves from a ferocious dinosaur, [[{{Slurpasaur}} played by a superimposed iguana]].
* ''Film/NightOfTheLepus'' is about giant rampaging killer rabbits... which are played either by cute little bunnies on a scale-model set, or people wearing garish rabbit suits. Yes, it's as hilariously awful as it sounds. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Od92391upY Here.]] The saddest part is that the portions of the movie where the rabbits aren't on screen are actually pretty decent, and the miniature work is, for the most part, very good. It's just that, well, you've seen the clip. One instance of miniature work that ''isn't'' good is the down-the-empty street shot... with the 'giant killer stagehand' stepping off to the side.
* ''Film/BeginningOfTheEnd'' featured giant mutant grasshoppers played by regular-sized grasshoppers crawling across pictures of the Chicago skyline.
* ''Film/TeenagersFromOuterSpace'' used the shadow of a lobster for its giant monster.
* ''Film/Werewolf1996'' had a monster that changed its look throughout the film. One of which being the producer's own pet dog. Yuri's ''[[ImprobableHairstyle hair]]'' was scarier than the Werewolves.
* Any character played by Creator/TorJohnson. "Time for go to bed!" As parodied in Creator/TimBurton's ''Film/EdWood''. Although the above line was from ''Film/TheUnearthly'', which wasn't a Wood movie.
* A lot of Film/{{Sy Fy Channel Original Movie}}s suffer from this. Hard. Considering that the movies are made almost exclusively by the infamously Z-quality [[Creator/TheAsylum Asylum Studios]], this is hardly surprising. Every now and then, Syfy actually comes up with ideas that sound promising and might be a little scary. [[SpecialEffectsFailure Then the monster appears.]]

** The production team and writers seemed to invoke this trope willingly for ''Film/JasonX'' when he's presented with a hologram of 2 busty, naked co-eds saying that they love partying and having unprotected sex. HilarityEnsues. [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTIuYjzqBU0 After a cut-back]] to the crew of the ship.

* ''Film/SpiderMan3'': ComicBook/{{Venom}} is pretty much living horror, so it's a little disconcerting to hear Creator/TopherGrace's voice coming out of his mouth. And whenever he talks he pulls back the face so Topher Grace's face can be seen; that also doesn't help. As lampshaded by ''WebAnimation/HowItShouldHaveEnded'', what was [[FridgeLogic even the point]] of having the scary [[GameFace Venom face]], if he just pulls it back when he talks?
* ''Film/Venom2018'' is not much better, with the titular symbiote [[MakesJustAsMuchSenseInContext developing a taste for tater tots]] and admitting that he is a loser on his homeworld, which is used to justify his HeelFaceTurn.
* There is one part of the video-game-to-film adaptation of ''Film/SilentHill'' in which the CreepyChild bursts into flame and says "Look...I'm burning." Owing to how subjective this trope is, you either were creeped out by it or laughed your head off.
* ''Film/Troll2''. The first one was no masterpiece, but this not-really-a-sequel about goblins who turn people into spinach or something is just SoBadItsGood. [[BigOMG "Oh my GAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWWWWWSH!"]]
* A lot of other horror/comedy movies just aren't scary because, no matter how much blood, gore, and death the sadistically evil villain leaves in his wake, he's so absurdly funny that you're laughing too much to take him seriously. For example, there's ''Film/{{Leprechaun}}'' (leprechauns aren't scary, no matter how ugly they are, especially when they're afraid of four-leaf clovers), ''Film/SantasSlay'' (a BadSanta is ''funny'', not scary), ''Film/JackFrost1997'' (you can have this guy rape a woman in the shower if you want, but the fact that he's a snowman still makes it hard to take him seriously), and ''Film/TheGingerdeadMan''. (This guy is ''a living gingerbread cookie''! How is anyone supposed to be scared of ''that''?)
* In ''Film/TheWizardOfOz'', the Wicked Witch of the West and her flying monkeys [[SeinfeldIsUnfunny don't pack the terrifying punch they used to]], though they still scare some younger kids.

* On the other hand, the Phantom in [[Film/ThePhantomOfTheOpera2004 the 2004 movie musical version]] gets his mask pulled off to reveal... [[spoiler: Gerard Butler with a nasty sunburn.]]
* Listen to the noise the parasites in ''Film/{{Cloverfield}}'' make. It sounds like WesternAnimation/DonaldDuck, for God's sake. Or maybe Yoshi. Fortunately, Clover's roar more than made up for the silly parasite chittering.
* In ''Film/TheCreepingTerror'', the eponymous creeping terror was an alien who ate things to study their biology (or something like that), and it was clearly supposed to strike fear in the viewers, but only made them giggle. It resembled a large carpet slug that shuffled along slowly, and its victims, instead of running away like most sensible people would have done, stood there and screamed while the creature ate them. The costume was such that the victims actually had to crawl into the hole in the front that was supposed to be its mouth.
* Creator/WesCraven's ''Film/{{Cursed|2005}}'' was a good example of this trope, where the scenes meant to be scary were downright funny, and the scenes meant to be funny were downright cheesy. From the predictable plot to the bad acting, to the [[{{Narm}} cheesy dialogue]], this movie has it all. Strange how a film intended to [[OurWerewolvesAreDifferent reinvent the werewolf genre]] ends up falling back on every single [[NewerThanTheyThink Hollywood werewolf convention]]. There's the scene where a werewolf appears above the balcony after Christina Ricci's character taunts its fashion sense, flipping the bird and roaring "fuck you!", before dying in a hail of bullets. To be fair though, the movie turned out this way in part due to ExecutiveMeddling.
* Another example from Wes Craven that ended up this way due to ExecutiveMeddling is ''Film/DeadlyFriend'', in large part because it ''wasn't even originally intended to be a horror film'', but the studio wouldn't allow Craven to film it any other way. Most infamously, the scene where Samantha [[YourHeadAsplode obliterates an old woman's head with a basketball]] is played for horror value, but it's so ridiculously filmed and [[SpecialEffectsFailure looks so unconvincing]] that it's impossible to find it horrifying in the slightest. Even worse in this regard is the GainaxEnding where [[spoiler:Samantha transforms into a robot and strangles Paul to death]].
* The [[ScareChord Scare Chords]] in the otherwise creepy ''Film/TheDescent''.
* The 1989 horror movie ''Film/FoodOfTheGods2'' has a scene in which giant rats attack a swimming competition. The cheesy special effects, however, kills any shred of horror from the scene. The intercutting shots of panicked people in a normal sized competition pool with shots of ordinary-sized rats walking around and splashing in an obvious miniature pool had no credibility whatsoever.
* The original ''Film/TheFoodOfTheGods'' featured similar "giant" rat scenes and was just as unscary.

* The '80s horror film ''Film/{{House}}'' has [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmzsp4zbtG0 Sandywitch,]] a disgusting, nightmarish monster that attacks and tries to kill main hero Roger Cobb. But any pretenses of it being scary quickly fade when it speaks, as it talks in a high-pitched chipmunk voice.

* ''Film/MaryPoppins'' has a nightmarish sequence when the Banks children flee their father's bank after accidentally throwing it into chaos. In their panic, they wander into the East End slums, dodging various frightening people until it climaxes with them colliding with a dark man seeming about to abduct them. However, when that dark man turns out to be their dear trusted friend, Bert, the whole mood instantly lightens with the audience knowing the children are in safe hands now.
* The movie ''Film/{{Link}}'' from 1986 is about a chimpanzee called [[AntagonistTitle Link]] who goes on a rampage killing people. While that does sound like a pretty neat concept for a horror film, it is ruined by several things, the first problem being he's [[WTHCostumingDepartment dressed up in a butler's outfit]], making him look rather silly and not very threatening, and the second biggest problem is that he's [[WTHCastingAgency played by an Orangutan]], something that the filmmakers tried (and failed) to hide by [[SpecialEffectFailure shaving the Orangutan's fur shorter, then dying it black]], even though anyone with a brain can easily tell that Orangutans and Chimps physically look nothing alike, making the character look even more ridiculous and hard to take seriously, especially considering that Orangutans aren't particularly scary. To make things more jarring, they already had actual chimps used in the movie, leaving one to wonder why they couldn't just use a chimp to play Link instead of a Orangutan poorly disguised as one. The end result is [[{{Narm}} unintentional comedy]] from start to finish.
* ''Film/TheHappening'' could, at one point, have been a suspenseful horror with a strong mystery element. Poor acting and the ridiculousness of the premise scuttle any chances of that, however. It's a tough ask to find walking around open, grassy fields in sunshine scary. It's a bigger ask to buy that some people nevertheless manage to get run over by harvesters.
* Most of shark attack scenes in ''Film/{{Jaws}}'' are terrifying since you don't actually see the shark. Then when the shark does appear in the end, it looks so fake that it becomes laughable. Even when the film was being made, Creator/StevenSpielberg felt the shark looked too phony, resulting in the NothingIsScarier approach. Spoofed by Marty [=McFly=] in ''Film/BackToTheFuturePartII'' when the future's 3D Jaws sequel: "Eh, Shark still looks fake."
* Invoked in ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984''. Freddy loses a lot of his menace when Nancy essentially [[ImNotAfraidOfYou wishes him out of existence]]. The last scare at the end attempts to revert this, but to a lot of viewers, [[GainaxEnding it just came off as weird]].
* Ultron's moveable humanoid face throughout ''Film/AvengersAgeOfUltron''. For some, it's just not as scary compared to the other images that closely resemble the twisted metal abomination he's based on. Also, the fact that Ultron appears to have ''[[ToothyBird teeth]]'' despite being a robot with no seeming need for human food. Ultron's penchant for snappy one-liners utterly ruins his scary factor. Compare to his first appearance, where he can barely talk.
* ''Franchise/{{Ghostbusters}}'' has this trope as the whole premise of the franchise: there are horrific and powerful forces lurking in the shadows ready to do their evil at any time. However, they can be studied scientifically by learned experts, who in turn can develop effective and easy to use weapons and countermeasures those eldritch menaces will never see coming. In short, if you have the knowledge, the tools and the courage to face these supernatural entities of your darkest nightmares, they will have real reasons to ''fear you!''
* ''Film/TheByeByeMan'':
** The fact that the killer's name is [[UnfortunateNames the Bye Bye Man]].
** The Bye Bye Man's [[SpecialEffectFailure dog]].
** Elliot convulsing while driving and singing along to "Bye Bye Love" by Music/TheEverlyBrothers.
* ''Film/TheInvasion'' suffers many moments like this. For one, Nicole Kidman's character searches for the term ''my son is not my son'' on Google with no quotation marks. In another scene, many people are avoiding showing emotion to avoid the body snatchers. They tell the protagonist not to show emotion, then one of them snaps. The entire group, minus the protagonist, then fails to escape, even though nothing was stopping them beyond fear of a railway line (the alternative being captured by monsters and, for all they know, killed). In early scenes, the sense of paranoia is ruined when groups of people who very blatantly have something wrong with them are roaming around, long before anything being wrong with them is introduced as a concept.
** This movie avoids calling itself a horror movie (a trait which, in horror stories, is associated with being made by people thinking their movies are "too good" for the horror genre). It's the only adaptation of the source story to replace the pod aliens with drink-infecting chemicals. Yep, it almost screams "never mind the shoddy writing, we've got rape imagery! Everyone's going to take us seriously now!"
* ''Film/MuppetTreasureIsland'' makes no attempt to soften the numerous deaths and murders from its source material... and gets away with that by adding generous amounts of this. The fearsome Captain Flint, for example, is shown at the beginning murdering fifteen of his own crew to keep his treasure a secret. Later, Long John Silver laughs over Flint's chosen signpost of two dead bodies on the path to the treasure. And finally... we find out that Flint once dated Benjamina Gunn...who is played by Miss Piggy. Who complains that ''he was co-dependent.''
* The ''Film/FinalDestination'' series usually thrives on ParanoiaFuel, taking ordinary situations and turning them deadly in rather unexpected, but at least plausible manners. However, the more implausible deaths tend to have the opposite effect, and either has you rolling your eyes or laughing hysterically. This was especially bad in the [[Film/FinalDestination3 third]] and [[Film/FinalDestination4 fourth]] films, where both of them include the overuse of illogical [[RubeGoldbergDevice domino effects]].
* ''Film/TheLostWorldJurassicPark'' had the velociraptors suffer badly from this trope. WebVideo/HonestTrailers noted it, and dubbed [[SoundtrackDissonance Yakkity Sax]] over the scene where a raptor chases Malcom around an abandoned laboratory to highly how far the predators had fallen as it continually fails to catch a middle-aged mathmatician due to repeated pratfalls. And then a teenage girl manages to kill a velociraptor with gymnastics.
* One scene in ''Film/JurassicPark3'' features Alan Grant falling asleep on a plane to [[LivingDinosaurs Isla Sorna]]. When he wakes up, the plane is abandoned and still flying through the sky. Then Grant hears [[RoarBeforeBeating a low growl]] to his left, and turns to see [[RaptorAttack a Velociraptor sitting right next to him!]] It's surreal and unnerving...until the Raptor [[SuddenlySpeaking suddenly blurts out "Alan!"]], its lips matching the words perfectly and [[DissonantSerenity his arms resting peacefully on the seat in front of him]]. [[AllJustADream Alan then immediately wakes up]], finding the plane back with its original passengers. It's such [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment a bizarre and out of left-field scene]] that most people end up [[{{Narm}} laughing at it]].
* ''The Monster of Piedras Blancas'' initially just shows glimpses of its title monster, and when its face is finally shown, it is inexplicably vomiting water at the same time.
* ''Film/Aladdin2019'': Jafar's genie form looked outright diabolical in the animated version. In live action? He just gets bigger. Audiences actually seemed more freaked out by Will Smith's UnintentionalUncannyValley genie.
* "Mrs Kersh" from ''Film/ItChapterTwo'' was fairly creepy when she was assuming the form of an old lady. Then she goes on the attack and transforms into... [[https://youtu.be/SWt8NfN-gL4?t=162 this.]]

* The second segment of ''{{Film/XX}}'', ''The Birthday Party'', revolves around a woman trying to hide the fact her husband has died during their daughter's birthday party, but it's difficult to find scary at all due to the absence of any real threats, the lack of a spooky atmosphere (outside of a handful of cheap {{Jump Scare}}s) and the sheer ridiculousness of the story (the woman could resolve the issue quite easily by calling the police, but chooses to try and hide the corpse in increasingly complicated and outlandish ways). It works a lot better as a straight-up BlackComedy than as a horror story, even though [[OddballInTheSeries it's part of a horror anthology film]].
* Despite its potentially creepy premise,[[note]]college girls are hunted down by a cult masquerading as a fraternity [[/note]] many viewers felt ''Film/BlackChristmas2019'' rarely managed to pull off genuine horror and was even [[{{Narm}} unintentionally funny]] at times. Most of the "scary" moments come in the form of cheap {{Jump Scare}}s you can see coming from a mile off and the more violent scenes are heavily (and awkwardly) [[GoryDiscretionShot edited]], which undercuts much of the tension. The big twist that the killers are [[spoiler:being mind-controlled and given preternatural strength/endurance by ''magic black goo'']] was also widely found too silly and outlandish, given the movie's attempt at a serious tone.
* ''Film/BloodFreak'': The idea of a vampire (or vampire wannabe) feeding on the blood of drug addicts could make for a genuinely good horror story, but the [[NoBudget visibly low budget]], said vampire's ridiculous appearance as a man in a cheap turkey mask, and the awkwardly shoehorned-in religious message make it impossible to take any of it seriously.
* ''Film/{{Signs}}'' is one of the more infamous cases. The direction surrounding the aliens is genuinely creepy, but by the end of the movie, you realize that you were cowering in fear of a monster with a very unoriginal design, is barely stronger than a normal human, treat a garden hose like a flamethrower and have trouble with ''pantry doors.''
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* The second segment of ''{{Film/XX}}'', ''The Birthday Party'', revolves around a woman trying to hide the fact her husband has died during their daughter's birthday party, but it's difficult to find scary at all due to the absence of any real threats, the lack of a spooky atmosphere (outside of a handful of cheap {{Jump Scare}}s) and the [[IdiotPlot sheer ridiculousness]] of the story (the woman could resolve the issue quite easily by calling the police, but chooses to try and hide the corpse in increasingly complicated and outlandish ways). It works a lot better as a straight-up BlackComedy than as a horror story, even though [[OddballInTheSeries it's part of a horror anthology film]].