Fighteer
Lost in Space
from The Time Vortex
(Time Abyss)
Relationship Status: TV Tropes ruined my love life
#2: Feb 13th 2011 at 6:24:30 PM
You want Lost And Found, as stated in the sticky thread above.
"It's Occam's Shuriken! If the answer is elusive, never rule out ninjas!"
Total posts: 2

I'm looking for a term (possibly a trope) to encompass what I've always called the "hook" of a horror movie. The "hook" as I think of it encompasses the villain of the film, but also the "rules of engagement", or the definition of the villain's powers. IE, in Ringu you must copy the tape and show it to someone or you die in seven days, in One Missed Call you, shockingly, miss a call and hear your own death in the message, so on. When discussing and comparing horror films, it's annoying not to have a universally understood word for this. For some films (Zombie movies mostly), the "hook" is the premise of the film, but for many these "rules" that define and limit the ability of the malevolent force aren't discovered until the climax.