Peek-a-Boo Corpse: Difference between revisions

Yes. Once again, the [[Peek-a-Boo Corpse]] -- the bane of squeamish horror movie watchers ''everywhere'' -- has made an appearance, rearing its ugly, eyeless, wormy head and worming its way into the nightmares of kids and adults alike.

If you're a naive moviewatcher (e.g., a child), there ''is'' no defense from the [[Peek-a-Boo Corpse]], for there is no way to see it coming. Even if you've had ''some'' experience watching horror movies (and can pretty much tell if a desperate [[Damsel in Distress]] is going to run into trouble,) there are still times and places when the [[Peek-a-Boo Corpse]] will pop out unexpectedly, scaring the bejeezus out of even the most hardened of horror fans, especially if it's a particularly hideous one. Most [[Peek-a-Boo Corpse]]s like to hang around haunted houses and cemeteries, but occasionally they'll turn up in clean and innocuous environments where you'd least expect them (and where they'll have maximum shock value). A common way to find out if an ordinary, non-suspicious character is actually a villain is to have the heroine stumble upon a [[Peek-a-Boo Corpse]] hidden in their closet or basement. (Unfortunately, for the heroine, the villain is usually close by, watching this development, if they're not actively chasing her already.)

You can expect the identity of the [[Peek-a-Boo Corpse]] to be:

In order for a body to qualify as a [[Peek-a-Boo Corpse]] , its appearance must somehow jolt the viewer and the person finding it should either be (a) actively engaged in a search for something else or (b) running to escape some real or perceived danger. Note: In the event that the half-destroyed corpse-like body of the villain should pop out and scare the heroes after they had mistakenly thought that they had laid it to rest, it technically doesn't qualify as a [[Peek-a-Boo Corpse]] moment (the main reason being that... well... the villain isn't entirely a ''corpse'' yet...)

* [[Steven Spielberg]] is probably the Grand [[Puppet Master]] of the [[Peek-a-Boo Corpse]]:

** In ''[[Jurassic Park]]'', [[Laura Dern]] has just escaped the raptors when she feels an arm on her shoulder -- oh look, [[Samuel L. Jackson]]'s here! ...Nope, just his arm.

** The movie ''[[Raiders of the Lost Ark]]'' features a scene at the beginning where [[Indiana Jones]], rushing to escape a [[Collapsing Lair]], runs straight into his traitorous -- and now karmically impaled -- former guide, Alfred Molina. But this scene had nothing on the most pants-voidingly traumatic [[Peek-a-Boo Corpse]] gangbang ever filmed -- the scene where Marion attempts to escape from a crumbling Egyptian tomb only to find herself being {{smallcaps|MASS ATTACKED BY A MOB OF HORRIBLE ROTTING MUMMIES WITH SNAKES CRAWLING OUT OF THEIR FACES OH GOD SPIELBERG AND GEORGE LUCAS I HATE YOU}} (Ahem. Didn't mean to yell there. But it's a testament to the effectiveness of that scene that it can still conjure up such revulsion and ire after 20+ odd years...)

** The only scenes which could rival the [[Peek-a-Boo Corpse]] scrum in ''Raiders'' would be those which occurred in the ending of the Spielberg-produced ''[[Poltergeist]]'', which featured, among other things, the mother of the family being assaulted by corpses in the unfinished backyard pool. Later on, the entire family had to escape from a house where corpses in coffins were literally popping themselves up out of the floor and blocking their way. One even tossed itself onto the windshield of their departing car for good measure. (That and the [[Monster Clown|evil clown toy]] are why this editor will never watch a Spielberg movie again...)

* The ''[[Friday the 13th (film)|Friday the 13 th]]'' movies all climax with multiple [[Peek-a-Boo Corpse]]s, in the form of previous victims, all popping up at once to terrorize the [[Final Girl]].

* Subverted in ''[[Beetlejuice]]'', where the ghosts of the main characters attempt to pull [[Peek-a-Boo Corpse]]s on the new tenants of their house. Since [[Invisible to Normals|the living can't see them]], they are totally ignored while the obnoxious new people complain about the size of the closets.

* ''[[Evil Dead|Evil Dead 2]]''. Ever get ''attacked'' by the [[Peek-a-Boo Corpse]]?

* Invoked in-universe in ''National Lampoon's Class Reunion'', where the killer sets a [[Peek-a-Boo Corpse]] on a rope swinging across the auditorium's stage like a pendulum, thus freaking out the attendees ''en masse''.

** Mind you, ''[[Doctor Who]]'' isn't immune from this in itself; it used it straight in an earlier episode. Fortunately, the exact shot of the [[Peek-a-Boo Corpse]] had been used in the trailer, so I think everyone was expecting it.

** Played with in "Dead Things", where Buffy (thanks to a spell) doesn't realize that Katrina is a [[Peek-a-Boo Corpse]] and thinks she's killed her.

* Real life example (reported on the BBC website July 5, 2007): A Belgian man has been arrested after a dinner guest helping to clear up after the meal opened a freezer and found the bodies of the host's wife and stepson. The 42-year-old host had invited guests for dinner at his home in the city of Verviers, 125km (78 miles) east of Brussels, prosecutors said. Ms Wilwerth said: "It was a lady who at the end of the meal at a friend's house, and after washing the dishes... decided to take the leftovers of the meal down to the basement to store in the deep freeze. "Once she opened the deep freeze, she discovered the bodies." Guests then alerted police but refrained from telling the host.

** The very first thing you see in the Ravenholm segment is a faraway corpse hanging from what looks like a gallows. As you get closer to the body, you gradually realize that it's ''only the lower half of the corpse''--a bloody, jean-clad pelvis and pair of legs hanging from a hook, with the upper body nowhere to be seen.