A common trope in tension-inducing scenes is the classic Axe Before Entering, where a character breaks down a door with a weapon, usually an axe, in order to get to the victim cowering behind. Then came its Trope Codifier, The Shining, known for one of its most iconic scenes where a crazed Jack Torrance, played by Jack Nicholson, hacks apart his bathroom door with an axe, behind which his wife hides.
The Shining came out in 1980, but the trope's roots are Older Than They Think. The scene itself is a Shout-Out to one from the 1921 silent film The Phantom Carriage, where the main character does the same to get at his family, while Jack's catchphrase (which wasn't even in the script) is actually one to Ed McMahon, the announcer of television Long Runner The Tonight Show who would introduce host Johnny Carson with a very drawn-out "Heeeeeeeeere's Johnny!" since the very first episode in 1962. While the catchphrase was very famous in television history at the time, it wasn't until The Shining that the public conscience forever associated it with the Ax-Crazy Jack Torrance, followed by many future works referencing or spoofing his famous scene to the point of becoming a Stock Parody in its own right. The fact that Carson stepped down from The Tonight Show in 1992 also helped, as it ensured that new generations would have no idea what "Heeeeeere's Johnny!" was meant to referencenote .
Most homages consist of a character reenacting the scene by breaking down a door, wall, or some other barrier, or/after which they peek from behind the door or hole, and say Jack Torrance's iconic line or some variation of "Here's <Proper Noun> —y/ie!", typically referring to themself in the third person, presumably under the mistaken belief Torrance was doing the same, and usually with a Slasher Smile.
Compare You Can't Handle the Parody for another Stock Parody based on one of Jack Nicholson's roles.
Here is a compilation
with a lot of examples.
Examples:
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Advertising
- A commercial for Mountain Dew Zero Sugar not only replicates the famous line and shot, but also other parts of The Shining as well.
- An ad for Bing that parodied The Shining had the "Jack" character say, "Hey, guys! They have a maze back here" when he sticks his head through the wall."
Anime & Manga
- JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders: After seemingly cornering a de-aged Polnareff into a small room, Alessi starts breaking down the door and pokes his head through the hole.
"Oh, Polnareff, here comes Alessi!"
- During Pope Asano's game of tag in Chapter 11 of Koro-Sensei Quest!, he catches Mimura while peering between two trees, making a face that looks exactly like Jack Torrance in the "Here's Johnny!" scene.
- Monster Musume: While Kimihito is hiding from all the farm girls affected by Lunacy, Mil breaks down the door in an iconic manner◊.
- Peter Grill and the Philosopher's Time: Lucy Grill gets pissed off at her brother Peter and chases him. She breaks a hole in a door with her sword and peeks through the hole in the iconic manner.
- Princess Resurrection: Chapter 48 somewhat does this. A house similar to Hime's suddenly appears and the protagonists venture inside. It looks similar save for a photo of people at a party raising their glasses, among which is Hime's sister. Sawawa, Hiro's older sister, suddenly appears, apparently mind controlled, and attacks the group with an ax forcing them to flee and lock themselves into a room. As they try to make sense of things during the brief respite, Sawawa hacks her way into the room. She peers through the hole she made but doesn't say the line.
- The Story Between a Dumb Prefect and a High School Girl With An Inappropriate Skirt Length sees Vice President Kaoru Kogori do this in chapter 32 as he sticks his face between the crack of a door and its frame while he intimidates two students about to agree to go to a dance party together by saying "Intimate contact will be considered an inappropriate relationship...", making him resemble Jack Torrance's Slasher Smile through the broken door.
- Vinland Saga: Thorkell does this near the end of the "Baltic War" arc while chopping his way through the door of Floki's command post. In a minor inversion, he calls out "Theeere's FLOKI!" as he does instead of announcing himself.
Fan Works
- In the Madagascar and The Simpsons Weird Crossover fanfiction Ned Flanders in Madagascar, Ned opens Marty's cage while shouting, "Here-diddly-ere's Neddy!".
- The New Adventures of Invader Zim: At one point in Season 2 Episode 5, a Monster Clown created by Zim is chasing Dib and his friends through a Haunted House. Grabbing an ax, it busts down a door it thinks they're hiding behind and growls "Here's Johnny!"... at which point it's shown to be the front door, and Johnny the Homicidal Maniac quips "No, I'm over here" as he walks down the street.
- Ben 10: Reincario: Sandbox gives a variant of this in Chapter 9. After slipping into the cockpit of the Mini-Mecha Billy Billions is using, he forms his head first to say "HERE'S SANDY!"
Films — Animation
- Finding Nemo: When Bruce the Great White Shark goes into a feeding frenzy and chases after them, Dory and Marlin find themselves seemingly trapped within a locked off corridor in the submarine wreck. Shortly after they do find an escape, Bruce nearly breaks through the metal door, saying, "Here's Brucie!".
- My Little Pony: The Movie (2017): When visiting Capper, one of the ponies opens the door to leave, and is greeted by Verko saying "Here's Verko!".
Films — Live-Action
- In Cape Fear, the Film Within a Film that Robert De Niro laughs loudly at while annoying Nick Nolte and his family has a character stick his head through a door and say, "Here's daddy!"
- Seed of Chucky: During the climax, Chucky hacks through the door of Jennifer Tilly's hospital room, smirks for a few seconds, then says, "I can't think of a thing to say!"
- He would later say, "Heeeeeere's Chucky!" in the first season finale of the TV series.
- It: Chapter Two: When Pennywise traps Beverly in a flooding bathroom stall, he shifts through various disguises to further torment her, eventually turning into a young Henry Bowers and shouting the iconic line.
- The Man Who Knew Too Little: Lori's being attacked on the other side of a locked door, so Wallace grabs a conveniently placed croquet mallet and busts a hole through the door. Since Wallace is also an overacting goober who thinks this entire scenario is just a game, he makes sure to shout "Heeeeere's Johnny!" as soon as the hole is big enough to look through.
- The Whoopi Goldberg film Burglar has the Johnny Carson version as a clue to the identity of the killer, whose name is also Carson.
Live-Action TV
- A Comic Relief spoof horror movie in 1989 had a comedy-hating critic threatened by horror versions of various comedy acts, including Karl Howman hacking down his door as his Brush Strokes character while saying "Here's Jacko!" Closely followed by Howard Lew Lewis adding "An' here's Elmo too!"
- Community: Pierce helps Shirley prepare for a presentation in front of her marketing class, giving her several ideas of how to sell her product. Part of her presentation includes her pulling her hair back from her forehead and stating, "Heeeere's brownies!"
- Gilmore Girls: In "The Prodigal Daughter Returns", Lorelai is locked out of her house. While she waits for Luke to open the door, she calls out, "Landshark?.... Candygram?.... Here's Johnny?"
- In the Jessie episode "The Whining", when Jessie catches the kids skipping their curfew at a party, she bashes her head through the door and yells, "Heeeeeeere's Jessie!"
- One MythBusters episode had an intro, filmed as a Silent Movie, in which an Ax-Crazy Jamie is hunting down Tory, and included a "Here's Jamie!"
- When Jack rehearses for a televised cooking demonstration in Three's Company, Larry jumps up at the first opportunity and says "And now, hereeeee's Jacky!", adding I Always Wanted to Say That.
- The Noddy Shop had some episodes which used a parody of the original use of this line on The Tonight Show to introduce Johnny Crawfish, a spoof of Johnny Carson, before he tells a joke.
- Lampshaded in the Supernatural episode "Appointment in Samarra". Sam breaks through a door with an ax to get to Bobby, leading Bobby to snark, "Don't say 'Here's Johnny'."
- Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps: In "When Janet Killed Johnny", Johnny sneaks up on Janet and scares with the classic line.
Theatre
- Twisted: The Untold Story of a Royal Vizier: The Genie Speaks in Shout-Outs and this is his first line, so Ja'far (who doesn't know what movies are) thinks his name is Johnny and introduces him as such. Then the Genie says "I'm Turboman!", and Ja'far corrects himself. Then the Genie says "I'm Batman." and Ja'far gives up.
Video Games
- BlazBlue: Continuum Shift: In Hazama's "Help Me, Prof. Kokonoe!" section, when he enters Kokonoe's lab, he announces it by shouting "Heeeeeeere's Terumi!"
- Fate/Grand Order does it during the horror-themed Chaldea Thriller Night summer event, where Columbus breaks through a door with his beard.
- One part of LEGO City Undercover has Chase going undercover at the fire department as Pete Peterson. During training, his instructor has him chop down a door with the provided ax. After he does so, the instructor says "Here's Petey!"
- In MediEvil: Resurrection, one boss introduces himself to Sir Dan this way.
"Heeeere's Mr. Axey!"
- One of Johnny Cage's fatalities in Mortal Kombat X is precisely a homage to this scene, ripping a wide hole in his opponent's chest with his bare hands, then peeking through it and saying Jack's iconic line.
- In the Roblox game Mansion, Zach Nolan uses an axe to tear down the door to the room where his dinner guests are hiding while yelling "HERE'S ZACHY!!!"
- The What If? mode for Spider-Man (2000) has Scorpion saying "Here's Johnny!" after he breaks down a door and jumps through it.
- Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines: A Malkavian Player Character will reference the scene when they break into a prison cell to get at the inmate (albeit to rescue him) by screaming "Heeeeeeere's JOHNNY!". Said inmate is called Carson, who responds with a Never Heard That One Before.
Web Animation
- The Annoying Orange gives us "The Dining", complete with its signature scene acted out by none other than Orange himself.
- Happy Tree Friends: In the episode Aw Shucks!, Lumpy the moose tries to get a crow out of his house, and the crow eventually seeks refuge in his bathroom. Cue Lumpy (with axe in hand) breaking through the door, complete with a Simlish "Heeerrrreee's Lumpy!"
Webcomics
- DICE: The Cube That Changes Everything: One Dicer hunting Mio says "Johnny is here" while breaking into the train.
Web Original
- In the Dont Read This To My Kids book review of The Pout Pout Fish, the narrator adds the phrase "Here's Johnny!" to the picture of the smiling fish.
- The LaserDisc Database at lddb.com has a Randomized Title Screen at the top of the page which changes every time you load a new page. Many of the screens are Shout-Outs to movies made in The '90s and prior. One possible phrase is "Here's... LD!"
Web Videos
- One of EmperorLemon's old YouTube Poops, Mr. Krabs' Unquenchable Blood Lust, has a Shining reference after Mr. Krabs breaks out of Bikini Bottom Jail. When Squidward barricades himself in his house to take a bath, Mr. Krabs somehow finds a way inside and starts breaking down the bathroom door, complete with the door and scene ripped straight out of the movie with Johnny's face replaced with a still image of Moar Krabs. Once the door was fully broken through, he shouts "Oh Yeah, Mr Krabs!" as Squidward screams in fear before he's brutally murdered with an axe to the face and his bathroom window becomes stained with blood, making this one of the few instances of this trope directly leading to someone's death.
- In H.Bomberguy's Climate Change Denial video, after Ben Shapiro suggests people affected by rising sea levels can just sell their homes and move, a frustrated Hbomb smashes through the set wall Here's-Johnny-style with an axe to yell at him.
H.Bomberguy: Just one small problem... SELL THEIR HOUSES TO WHO, BEN?! FUCKING AQUAMAN?!
- Honest Trailers: The Honest Trailer for The Shining points out how many times the famous "Here's Johnny!" scene has been copied and parodied already, to the point it's not even scary anymore.
- Man at Arms: The Keyblade episode concludes with blacksmith Tony Swatton breaking through a door with the newly forged weapon and yelling "HERE'S TONY!"
- The Nostalgia Critic: During his review of the miniseries adaptation of the source material, he gets increasingly bored before finally snapping and trying to kill Rachel. Fortunately, his only weapon is a rubber mallet, so after an embarrassingly futile attempt to break down the door between them, he gives up and asks for Rachel to let him in.
Western Animation
- In the Beetlejuice episode "A Dandy Handy Man" Beetlejuice infuriates a Jack Nicholson-faced jackhammer who during the attack cracks up a door and taunts "LEEEEEET'S GET HIM!" terrorizing him and Lydia.
- In the second episode of Bob's Burgers, when Linda's mother searches for Bob in the crawlspace, she crashes Bob through the wall and shouts, "Heeeeeeere's Bobby!"
- In the DuckTales (2017) Halloween Episode, "The Trickening!", a bunch of classic Halloween monsters get scared by Scrooge bashing his way through a door. Rather than the usual quote, he yells "Trick! Or! Treat!"
- Fairly OddParents: In "Homewrecker", there's a scene of Vicky cutting a hole through a door with an axe and saying "Here's Vicky!"
- Fanboy and Chum Chum: In "Digital Pet Cemetary", Yo asks the boys to take care of her digital cat Scampers. After he is accidently killed and resurrected as a zombie (several times), he starts attacking the three. When they try hiding in a room, Scampers breaks through, peers in, and says "Here's Scampers!" Of note is that this line is subtitled since his voice is only electronic meowing.
- Johnny Bravo:
- In one episode, the titular character quotes the line verbatim when entering a bar.
- In another, a talking bear emerges from the bushes while shouting "Here's Johnny". This confuses Johnny, who points out that his name is Johnny.
- My Life as a Teenage Robot: In "Tuckered Out", at one point Jenny busts through a door, upon which Tuck says "Here's Jenny!".
- Rocko's Modern Life: In "Uniform Behavior", Heffer bursts through a door while running away from some ghosts. He encounters some more ghosts who shout "Here's Heffer!"
- In the Samurai Jack episode, Aku's Fairy Tales, Aku retells the story of The Three Little Pigs, replacing the Big Bad Wolf with Jack. Jack uses his sword to slice through the door and says, "Here's Jacky!"
- Parodied several times in The Simpsons.
- In the episode Treehouse of Horror V, which had one of these in "The Shinning":
[Homer chops through a door with an axe]
Homer: Heeeere's Johnny! [the camera pulls back to reveal an empty room] D'oh!
[Homer chops through a second door]
Homer: Daaaaavid Letterman! [the camera pulls back to reveal Grandpa standing at the door]
Abe: Hi David, I'm Grampa!
Homer: D'oh!
[Homer chops through a third door]
Homer: [holding a ticking stopwatch] I'm Mike Wallace, I'm Morley Safer, and I'm Ed Bradley. All this and Andy Rooney tonight on 60 Minutes!
Family: Aaaaah! [they get up and start running] - In "Mypods and Boomsticks", Homer has a dream in which he's flying on a magic carpet, and has a lamp that contains the Genie from Aladdin. Like in said movie, he does a series of impersonations, including a Jack Nicholson impersonation where he shouts "Here's Genie!".
- "Blazed and Confused": When Jack Lassen sees the insult Bart wrote on the chalkboard, he punches the board hard enough to knock a hole in the wall between his class and Lisa's. Afterwards, Millhouse peeks through the hole and shouts "Here's Millie!"
- In the episode Treehouse of Horror V, which had one of these in "The Shinning":
- Family Guy: In "Switch the Flip", Stewie, in Peter's body, locks an extremely horny Lois out of the bathroom, and she ends up breaking a hole in the door with an iron while shouting "MUNCH'A BUNCH'A FRITOS!"
- Codename: Kids Next Door: In "Operation: DIAPER", baby Jackson breaks a door Nigel and Abby were learning on and looks through, shouting ""Heeeere's Jackson!".
