Line #61 Main/WhenPropsAttack


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4	[[quoteright:299:[[Film/FrankensteinConquersTheWorld https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/0491f7e67b477f4216ad457027d2b114.png]]]]
5	[[caption-width-right:299:Some fights come with strings attached.]]
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10	Where SpecialEffectFailure overlaps with FightSceneFailure, this is a scene where a supposedly animate object or creature attacking a character is obviously an inert object that the actor is trying to manipulate while supposedly "fighting" it.
11
12	Usually this involves something small strangling someone or biting someone's throat, which allows the actor to stagger around holding the {{Prop}} to their neck and occasionally wiggling bits of it.
13
14	A common necessity in an era before cheap CGI or animatronics, but often looks rather comical now.
15
16	----
17	!Examples:
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19	%%% This page has been alphabetized. Please add new examples in the correct alphabetical order.
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21
22	[[foldercontrol]]
23
24	!!In-universe
25
26	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
27	* ''ComicStrip/CalvinAndHobbes'' had several examples, including Calvin's dad pretending that he was being attacked by a poltergeist to scare Calvin. It's implied that this is what onlookers see when Calvin and Hobbes "fight".
28	* A late 2011 ''ComicStrip/{{Garfield}}'' strip had Garfield eating cookies in the cookie jar, but when Jon catches him, Garfield pretends that the cookie jar is eating him. Jon isn't fooled one bit by it:
29	-->'''Garfield:''' Help! I'm being eaten by a cookie jar!\
30	'''Jon:''' Get out of there!
31	* Back in the very early days of ''ComicStrip/{{Peanuts}}'' when Charlie Brown was more mischievous, he once made it look like a snowman was chasing him by towing it around in a wagon.
32	[[/folder]]
33
34	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
35	* In ''Film/{{Beethoven}}'', the crooked vet simulates an attack by the title dog by smearing fake blood on his arm, then grabbing Beethoven's face and shaking it.
36	* ''Film/EdWood'' includes a dramatization of the real-life incident during filming of ''Film/BrideOfTheMonster'' where Creator/BelaLugosi had to fight an inert giant octopus prop.
37	* ''Film/SinginInTheRain'': During the "Make 'Em Laugh" scene, Cosmo "flirts" with a headless mannequin, which proceeds to slap him and they tussle for a minute or two off screen.
38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
41	* The second episode of ''Series/GarthMarenghisDarkplace'', "Hell Hath Fury", in which the characters are fighting {{Animate Inanimate Object}}s. Including Sanchez struggling with his own gun, then battling a kitchen whisk trying to stab him in the neck, and then wrestling a garbage can.
42	* Parodied in the ''Series/MontyPythonsFlyingCircus'' "Scott of the Sahara" sketch, in which Scott wrestles a lion which is partially StockFootage, partially a guy in a lion costume, and partially this.
43	* An episode of ''Series/PoliceSquad'' has Frank Drebin react this way to a ''wig'' tossed in his face, staggering around and grunting in pain for several seconds before pulling it aside.
44	[[/folder]]
45
46	[[folder:Webcomics]]
47	* The main plot of ''Webcomic/ThePropDept'' is that props from a prop department have come to life and have to be defeated by the main characters.
48	[[/folder]]
49
50	[[folder:Web Original]]
51	* In ''WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment'''s video on ''VideoGame/UltimaIII'', there's a skit about fighting the floor outside Exodus's castle. In it, WebVideo/BennettTheSage fights with his square of carpet in a very unconvincing manner.
52	[[/folder]]
53
54	!!Real life
55
56	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
57	* A particularly notorious example is the fight between Creator/BelaLugosi's character Dr. Vornoff and a giant octopus in ''Film/BrideOfTheMonster''. Allegedly, the prop was stolen from a bigger studio's store, but a vital electric motor was left behind.
58	* The unused US ending for ''Film/FrankensteinConquersTheWorld'' has Frankenstein fight a giant octopus. The effect looks okay for the most part, but it’s noticeable in a few shots that Frankenstein’s actor, Koji Furuhata, is moving the prop’s tentacles himself.
59	** The page image demonstrates an interesting version of this trope; as the film was shot at normal speed, for scenes where Frankenstein lifts Baragon, Haruo Nakajima would step out of the suit, which would then be filled with fabric stuffing to keep its shape. The suit was then hoisted on wires to allow it to move, and also to make it easier for Furuhata to lift the suit up above his head.
60	* The fight between George and the lion in ''Film/GeorgeOfTheJungle'', partially.
61	* The fight between the Skeleton and the Mutant in ''Film/TheLostSkeletonOfCadavra''. Like with the rest of the movie's bad effects, it's [[AffectionateParody all part of the fun.]]
62	* The original KillerRabbit in ''Film/MontyPythonAndTheHolyGrail''.
63	[[/folder]]
64
65	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
66	* In a section of the ''Ancient Prophecies'' series, we see an Aztec family being attacked by their own wooden tools, and a modern family attacked by their kitchen and IT equipment, both done like this.
67	* In a sketch on ''Series/TheBennyHillShow'', Benny plays a TV nature presenter parodying Creator/DavidAttenborough. One of the animals he shows is a giant spider, which is really a prop that Benny slips onto his hand and his fingers are the spider's legs. While Benny is holding the "spider" and talking about it, the spider crawls up Benny's chest towards his neck. Benny drags the spider back down to abdomen level, and it starts crawling up again. He also gets attacked by an offstage "elephant", which is somebody's arm in a gray sleeve simulating the elephant's trunk.
68	* The non-CGI parts of the fight between Buffy and the giant enchanted snake in the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' episode "[[Recap/BuffyTheVampireSlayerS5E8Shadow Shadow]]", which reverses the usual by having a small actor clinging onto a very large almost-inert prop.
69	* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
70	** The scenes with Nestene-possessed objects in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS8E1TerrorOfTheAutons Terror of the Autons]]".
71	** Aversion: The "organism" in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS10E1TheThreeDoctors "The Three Doctors"]]. It ''would'' have been a case of this had the effects team not had the idea to render the blob-like thing ''electronically'', eliminating the need for a risible physical prop.
72	** When unshelled Daleks attack people in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E4GenesisOfTheDaleks Genesis of the Daleks]]" and [[Recap/DoctorWhoS21E4ResurrectionOfTheDaleks Resurrection of the Daleks]]".
73	** The Cybermat attacking Sarah in [[Recap/DoctorWhoS12E5RevengeOfTheCybermen "Revenge of the Cybermen"]].
74	** The bat attacking the Doctor in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS18E4StateOfDecay State of Decay]]".
75	** The severed Auton arm attacking the Doctor in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS27E1Rose Rose]]".
76	** The Cybermat attacking Craig in "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS32E12ClosingTime Closing Time]]".
77	* PlayedForLaughs in an episode of ''Series/TheGoodies'' where Graeme is supposedly being attacked by a bat.
78	* The Polymorph going for Lister's throat while disguised as a shami kebab in the ''Series/RedDwarf'' episode "Polymorph".
79	* In ''Series/SapphireAndSteel'', "Assignment 3" features a series of poltergeist attacks by animal spirits, leading the spectacle of David [=McCallum=] being "attacked" by a pillow that's supposedly animated by the ghosts of the birds whose feathers it's stuffed with.
80	* In ''Series/{{Scrubs}}'', J.D. imagines a demon baby launching out of Jordan and attacking him. The baby in question is a lumpy plastic doll.
81	* In one episode of ''Series/VanPires'', the Motorvators' fight against [[ItMakesSenseInContext a living electric guitar]] is half the actors waving around a very obviously inanimate prop guitar pretending it's attacking them and half [[SpecialEffectsFailure a really cheaply rendered CGI guitar]] just kinda flopping around.
82	[[/folder]]
83

Context Main / WhenPropsAttack