Index of Insider Movie Terms
Spring-Loaded Cat:
The cat that jet propels itself out of nowhere to create a false scare. Some movies have expanded this idea (Spring-Loaded Dogs, Spring-Loaded Boyfriends, I once saw a Spring-Loaded Statue of Jesus), but the Cat remains the industry standard.
The Voorhees Unreality Engine:
The warping of time, space, physical laws, and logic. This is most often used by serial killers to teleport in front of fleeing victims, hide underneath hammocks without being seen, or to kill someone, move the body, and clean every trace of blood from the scene within the space of 60 seconds. Large monsters also utilize this ability: At the end of Jurassic Park, the T-Rex that shakes the earth with every step appears silently out of nowhere to eat the velociraptors.
Idiot Picture: (Coined by Roger Ebert)
A film whose plot can proceed only if everyone in the film is an idiot. "Three of our friends have been killed by a maniac? Let's split up and have sex."
Hero’s Death Exemption:
Invariably, the monster or murderer will have to spend at least ten times the amount of time and effort killing the hero or heroine than anyone else in the picture.
Expendable Meat:
Also called 'Redshirts'. These are the members of the cast that are quickly and easily dispatched with one swipe/chop/stab/claw by the monster or murderer mentioned in Hero’s Death Exemption™.
The Godzirra Effect:
This occurs when a movie is shot in English but without sound due to budget constraints. Often the dialogue and foley work dubbed in afterward is executed so poorly that you feel like you're watching a 50's Godzilla movie.
Not In The Face!:
This stipulates that someone wearing body armor will never have his or her exposed parts targeted. Robocop is a perfect example: At one point he takes roughly 6,000 rounds with not a single one damaging his exposed lower face. A variation of this rule applies to monsters that can be damaged but not killed by gunfire (zombies, etc) to prevent anyone from taking their legs out and rendering them immobile.
Day-For-Night:
Photography shot during the day using tinted filters to decrease light levels. Done properly, it makes a scene look like it was shot at night. Done improperly, it makes a scene look like it was shot in bad day-for-night.
Monster Cam:
A point of view shot often using a filter, overexposure, or a digital effect allowing the audience to 'see' through the monster's eyes. The infrared POV shots in the Predator movies are a clear use of the Monster Cam. This can be further reclassified on a movie-by-movie basis: Snake Cam, Spider Cam, Shark Cam, etc.
Stewed Monster Cam:
A low-budget Monster Cam™ shot accomplished by simply walking or running with a handheld camera. The end result is inevitably so shaky that the monster in question appears to be drunk off his ass.
McGuffin: (coined by Alfred Hitchcock)
A McGuffin is a generic whatsis, often a prop, that drives the plot of the movie. The Ark of the Covenant was the McGuffin in Raiders of the Lost Ark. The One Ring is currently the undisputed World Champion of McGuffins, being the prevalent driving force behind not only numerous books and movies, but an entire geek subculture.
Non-Renewable Plan:
This dictates that if a plan to capture or kill the monster fails, the same plan cannot be revised and tried again, even if the failure was due to a total fluke or accident. Instead, an entirely new plan must be created from scratch. A slight variation of this rule applies when a plan actually succeeds to guarantee it will never succeed again. Watch the original Tremors to see this variation enforced: The dynamite-on-a-string trick works perfectly once, with the second attempt resulting in predictable disaster.
Non-Renewable Technology:
This occurs most often in series entries, but sometimes appears in a stand-alone movie. The Star Trek franchise is a prime offender. Star Trek V featured anti-gravity boots that would have been shockingly useful in later installments of the series, yet they never appear again. Likewise the stealth suit utilized in Star Trek: Insurrection. Batman is also notorious for his use of Non-Renewable Technology.
Non-Renewable Ability:
The third entry in the Non-Renewables, describing a power or skill that is used once and then discarded forever. Superman is our poster child here; in Superman IV he displays his amazing 'Rebuildovision' by reconstructing the Great Wall of China by simply looking at it; an ability that has never appeared before or since and is fucking ridiculous in the bargain. And don’t even get me started on the Super-emblem from part 2.
Final Girl:
Occasionally the Final Boy or Final Couple, but the industry standard is the Final Girl. As should be obvious this is the last remaining survivor in a film, nearly always due to the Hero's Death Exemption™. The usual qualifications for the position of Final Girl include never drinking, using drugs, smoking, having sex, or going topless. Back before known celebrities started appearing in horror films, picking out the Final Girl could be an entertaining sport. Nowadays seeing Sarah Michelle Gellar on the cover kind of takes the challenge away.
Informed Attribute:
This is when a character is supposed to have some skill or attribute that he is obviously devoid of, leaving it up to the other characters to inform the viewers of these traits. Audiences have been informed of many a scientist's genius even while he is in the process of proving himself a complete moron. In the movie Mutant, we are informed that Wings Hauser is a hunky and seductive individual, while it is clear to anyone watching that he is a pudgy, goofy-looking dork with a really bad white-guy afro.
Idiot World:
An expansion on the Idiot Picture™. An Idiot World is an overall setting where even the background characters are so inept that you feel you could take over the world yourself. See Battlefield Earth for a glorious example of an Idiot World.
Shatner Fight Music:
Occurs when an onscreen fight is so poorly blocked out and executed that you find yourself humming the fight music from the original Star Trek series.
It's In The Script:
Commonly abbreviated IITS, this manifests as the explanation for ludicrous behavior in a movie that can't otherwise be defined as a bona fide Idiot Picture™. Why did the characters read aloud incantations from the book they knew was capable of summoning demons? IITS. A slight variation exists known as INITS (It's Not in the Script). Why didn't the characters simply call the police when they found their friend decapitated? INITS.
Terminal Honesty:
Known informally as Fuck the Truth!, this is a phenomenon that occurs when a character has actually succeeded in contacting the authorities and then proceeds to blow the whole thing by telling the truth. Instead of saying "Killer Klowns From Outer Space are wrapping townsfolk up in cotton candy", a simple "An armed street gang is attacking people!" would have served much better in acquiring police intervention. Let the cops figure it out for themselves once they get there.
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Turbo Towel 2000: If you’re a female, wrap yourself in one of these babies and it will become permanently affixed to your body. It’s not coming off until a scene change or someone gives you some clothes, it doesn’t matter what’s chasing you.
Universal Laws of High-Altitude Death: If you are ever killed by gunfire near a window or ledge that is more than six feet from the ground, two things will happen. You will go over the side even if the impact would have driven you in the other direction, and you will scream even if your lungs and windpipe have been shredded to confetti.
Flesh Wound: Anything that doesn’t involve decapitation.
Atomic Hand Grenade: Any tiny device that creates an explosion out of proportion to the amount of explosive it could have contained without a dimensional portal.
Nature’s Special Effects: Boobs.