Daylight Horror: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

{{quote|'''Piglet:''' Once upon a time...

'''Tigger:''' Say! It's the middle of broad daylight! Even a not-so-scary-scary story has to happen at night, ya know.

Sometimes, the writers want to play on the false sense of security we feel about light and turn it on its head. Sometimes, the budget does not allow for any night shots and the filmmakers don't want to use [[Hollywood Darkness]]. Whatever the case may be, we get scenes of frightening imagery in broad daylight or well-lit rooms. The [[Ax Crazy]] serial killer suddenly shows up at your home when all of the lights are on. The [[Eldritch Abomination]] decides to rise on a sunny day. The [[Zombie Apocalypse]] around the corner doesn't care if it's nice out and you've decided to go sunbathing. The point is: you're screwed and you have nowhere to hide.

 

 

{{examples}}

 

* In ''[[Princess Mononoke]]'' both the demon attack in the opening scene, and the final showdown take place in daylight. Though the really freaky stuff starts at sunset, it doesn't end until the sun rises above the mountains, at which point it had been daylight for quite some time.

* ''[[Serial Experiments Lain]]'' is known for the highly contrasting light and shadows in its animation style, creating eerily bright days. There are a number of [[Mind Screw]] scenes that happen in these settings. They can be found [[Serial Experiments Lain/Nightmare Fuel|here.]]

** In fact, quite a bit of the series takes place during the day. Like other zombie shows, its the sheer amount of the creatures that makes them scary, since you may be able to fight some of them off, but you can't hold them off forever, as the characters find out repeatedly and constantly have to retreat to new areas.

* ''[[Uzumaki]]'' almost entirely takes place during the day. There are only a very few scenes that take place at night. Daylight doesn't help the protagonists anyway, since there are no ways out of the valley.

 

== [[Comics]] ==

* The cropduster attack in the cornfield from ''[[North by Northwest]]''.

* ''[[The Hills Have Eyes]]'': Being the sadistic bastards that they are, the mutants preferred to take down most of their victims in broad daylight rather than at night when they're most vulnerable.

* The ''[[Crocodile Hunter]]'' movie mentions on DVD commentary that they had a scene of Steve handling a deadly snake at night but didn't put in the movie because a similar scene during the day looked more dangerous.

* In ''[[Serenity]]'', Miranda is one of the most brightly lit planets we see in the 'Verse, but it's still where our [[Big Damn Heroes]] discover {{spoiler|how the Pax killed almost everyone on the planet and created the Reavers}}. And it's ''terrifying''.

* Many of the scenes of horror in ''[[The Devil's Rejects|The Devils Rejects]]'' take place during the day. One victim even dies the next morning, outside in broad daylight, after the killers have vacated the premises.

 

== [[Video Games]] ==

* ''[[Dead Island]]''. Full stop.

* Many levels in ''[[Resident Evil]] 4'' and ''5'' take place during the day.

** ''4'' is still pretty gray and gloomy, even during the day, but a slim majority of 5 occurs out in the blinding sun.

*** Amplified by the superior lightning effects in ''5'', an enemy with their back to the sun is a major annoyance.

*** Not that it makes a difference - the classic Resident Evil's were never dark to begin with, unless we're talking about a room with a light switch or an area where you have to turn the power on.

* ''[[Left 4 Dead]] 2'''s daytime segments don't just change the lighting, but the behavior of one of the Special Infected. Witches normally sit in one place at night, but during the day they wander around.

* ''[[Batman: The Animated Series]]'': The episode "Home and Garden" shows one of the few times where Batman's in action in broad daylight. Of course, the reality behind Poison Ivy's new domestic life is no picture-perfect fairy tale, either...dear God, the "cabbage plant kids"...

* Extremely noticable in the animated Disney film ''[[Tarzan (Disney film)|Tarzan]]'', especially the scenes involving [[Cats Are Mean|Sabor the leopard.]]

 

== [[Real Life]] ==

[[Category:Weather and Environment]]

[[Category:Drama Tropes]]

[[Category:Horror Tropes]]

[[Category:Lighting Tropes]]