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Over-the-Shoulder Murder Shot

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"Oh my gawd! He ate Kenny!"

The heroes are looking for something suspicious. Possibly a murderer.

They find him busy at work on his grisly deed, but he perks up and notices our heroes.

Bonus points if the murderer is having lunch in the process.

This is pretty much always shot from behind the murderer for dramatic reasons—it partially obscures the victim, lending ambiguity and tension to the scene and helping the audience's imagination to fill in the grisly details. As a result, it's a Sub-Trope of Over the Shoulder.

May involve a Face-Revealing Turn.


Examples:

    open/close all folders 

    Films — Live-Action 
  • Commonplace in Zombie Apocalypse films. The heroes see somebody crouched over a body, then the zombie looks up and it's obvious they are eating from the body.
  • Partial example in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone when Harry, Draco and Fang accidentally interrupt Voldemort's unicorn meal in the Forbidden Forest. He doesn't turn around, but he does look up, and there is blood on his lips.

    Tabletop Games 

    Webcomics 
  • Appetite: Dohoon learns of Aji's inhuman nature when he finds her chowing down on a man's head. She turns and glances at him, mouth bloodied.

    Video Games 
  • In Bloodborne, Father Gascoigne is introduced hacking a beast to death with his Hunter's Axe.
  • One of the most iconic moments in the Resident Evil franchise. In the first game, a zombie (the first one you ever encounter in the game) does this as he's eating Kenneth. This example gets bonus points since you can later find and watch a video of it from Kenneth's perspective filmed on his camera.
  • In The King of Fighters, 'Riot of the Blood' Iori does this in one of his desperation moves: tackling his enemy to the ground, clawing at them, then momentarily looking back towards the camera before slamming his fists into them.
  • Early in F.E.A.R., Paxton Fettel is occupied over a labcoat's body. He looks back at the camera to reveal the blood smeared around his mouth.
  • Saya no Uta has Saya doing this. Fuminori doesn't catch it because of his warped vision.

    Western Animation 
  • SpongeBob SquarePants: Parodied in the episode "Bummer Vacation", in which SpongeBob goes crazy after being forced to take a vacation, with Patrick taking his place at the Krusty Krab. Near the end of the episode Patrick finds SpongeBob maniacally mumbling to himself, when Patrick calls for him, SpongeBob faces him and screams "I've been waiting for you, Patrick!".

Alternative Title(s): Murdering Over My Shoulder

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