Terror at Make-Out Point

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.

Teenagers enjoy making out in cars. This is probably because they expect that no one will see them, and they won't see anyone. However, teenagers at Make-Out Point ironically tend to be the first witnesses of the alien invasion, or the zombie apocalypse, or the impending shortage of toilet paper. Quite often, they will be brutally murdered to show that the Monster of the Week means business. Why? Perhaps Rule of Funny. Perhaps they are considered Acceptable Targets. (Bonus if they get shot at.)

Somewhat of a Dead Horse Trope nowadays, considering it is parodied more than it is used.

Always involves a Make-Out Point and Auto Erotica, or at least teenagers contemplating such.

Examples of Terror at Make-Out Point include:

Advertising

  • Used in an Italian advertisement about a snack of chocolate and puffled rice: the various puffled rice grains are attacked and "swallowed" by a Blob made of chocolate, and two of said grains are surprised in a parked car in a typical horror movie fashion.

Film

Live Action TV

  • Happens in the episode "Jose Chung's From Outer Space" in The X-Files, though it's not actually clear whether their attackers were really aliens.
  • The Fringe episode "The Man From The Other Side" begins with two teens getting stoned in a car (presumably before or after making out) who quickly have their identities stolen by interdimensional shapeshifters.
  • Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In "Phases" Xander and Cordelia are making out in her car when a werewolf attacks them. The following night Buffy and Giles are looking for the werewolf and Giles suggests knocking on a few car windows and asking if anyone's seen the creature. Buffy gives him a What an Idiot! look. "Giles, no-one's seen anything."

Music

  • The Garth Brooks song "The Night Will Only Know" has two married people (as in married to other people) witnessing a murder during their night of passion in the backseat. The murderer gets off scot-free because the lovers can't reveal what they know about the murder without also revealing their affair, resulting in the victim's death being ruled a suicide.

Video Games

  • Subtly parodied in Destroy All Humans!. Near the starting point of one of the levels is a Make Out Point with two cars, windows steamed over and rocking back and forth. Naturally, you can do whatever you'd like to them at this point, such as telekinetically toss the cars off the cliff, or blow them up with a raygun. Might be considered an inversion as well, since here you're playing the alien sneaking up on the occupied teenagers.

Web Comics

Western Animation

  • Happens in Futurama, "Fear of a Bot Planet", in a robot horror film the characters are watching.
  • There's a scene in an episode of Teen Titans where Robin is chasing a villain on his motorcycle and said chase ends up bouncing off the car of a couple making out.
  • Spoofed in the Shrek Christmas Special Shrek the Hall, where Gingy's recolection of the story of Christmas is of him and his girlfriend sitting in a car when they are attacked by Santa Claus, who eats the girlfriend.