Identify Iconic Horror Films from Their Key Plot Devices: Ultimate Trivia Quiz

Answers at the bottom — no peeking!

Think you can recognise horror masterpieces by their signature plot devices? From cursed objects and relentless killers to supernatural hauntings, this quiz features 20 questions ranging from easy classics to devious modern twists. Grab a pen, no Googling, and test your film knowledge!

Questions

Question 1: A cursed videotape watched by a journalist promises death exactly seven days later unless the curse is copied and passed on?

A. Pulse
B. The Grudge
C. The Ring
D. One Missed Call

Question 2: A Lament Configuration puzzle box is solved, summoning leather-clad Cenobites who offer extreme sensations?

A. Cube
B. Hellraiser
C. Saw
D. Phantasm

Question 3: A burned child molester invades teenagers’ dreams wearing a bladed glove and striped jumper?

A. Halloween
B. A Nightmare on Elm Street
C. Friday the 13th
D. Fright Night

Question 4: A family of cannibalistic degenerates, led by a chainsaw-wielding giant named Leatherface, terrorise travellers in rural Texas?

A. House of 1000 Corpses
B. The Hills Have Eyes
C. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
D. Wrong Turn

Question 5: A 12-year-old girl becomes possessed by a demon, leading to a dramatic Catholic exorcism with levitation and head-spinning?

A. The Conjuring
B. The Exorcist
C. The Rite
D. Deliver Us from Evil

Question 6: A ‘Good Guy’ doll named Chucky is possessed by the soul of a stabbed serial killer who then goes on a murderous rampage?

A. Annabelle
B. Child’s Play
C. Dead Silence
D. Dolly Dearest

Question 7: An escaped mental patient in a boiler suit and pale mask silently stalks and murders a babysitter on Halloween night?

A. Scream
B. Halloween
C. Prom Night
D. My Bloody Valentine

Question 8: Friends recite passages from the Necronomicon Ex-Mortis, unleashing flesh-possessing Deadites in a remote cabin?

A. Army of Darkness
B. The Evil Dead
C. Book of Blood
D. Necromentia

Question 9: A shape-shifting Antarctic parasite perfectly imitates its victims, sowing paranoia among an isolated research team?

A. Slither
B. The Thing
C. The Faculty
D. Invasion of the Body Snatchers

Question 10: Masked killers in black robes taunt their victims with phone calls asking ‘What’s your favourite scary movie?’?

A. Urban Legend
B. I Know What You Did Last Summer
C. Scream
D. Final Destination

Question 11: A writer trapped in an isolated hotel has visions of blood flooding from an elevator and chops a bathroom door yelling ‘Here’s Johnny!’?

A. Doctor Sleep
B. 1408
C. Room 237
D. The Shining

Question 12: A camp counsellor’s son, revived after drowning, returns wearing a hockey mask to slaughter at Crystal Lake?

A. Sleepaway Camp
B. Friday the 13th
C. Jason X
D. Maniac Cop

Question 13: A shape-shifting entity posing as a clown named Pennywise lures children to Derry’s sewers with balloons and fear?

A. Killer Klowns from Outer Space
B. It
C. Clownhouse
D. Stitches

Question 14: Saying the name ‘Candyman’ five times in front of a mirror summons a hook-handed bee-infested ghost?

A. Bloody Mary
B. Candyman
C. Urban Legend
D. Beetlejuice

Question 15: A dying man awakes chained in a dingy bathroom with a fellow captive and must cut flesh to escape intricate traps?

A. Hostel
B. The Collector
C. Saw
D. Would You Rather

Question 16: A suburban family battles malevolent spirits that communicate through TV static and abduct their youngest daughter into another dimension?

A. Insidious
B. Poltergeist
C. The Others
D. What Lies Beneath

Question 17: Stick-figure effigies made of twigs mark the territory of a witch in the Black Hills Forest during a doomed documentary shoot?

A. The Ritual
B. The Blair Witch Project
C. The Woods
D. Exists

Question 18: An Antichrist child is marked by ‘666’ on his scalp, and horrific accidents befall those who discover his true nature?

A. The Omen
B. Damien: Omen II
C. Rosemary’s Baby
D. The Devil’s Advocate

Question 19: A sexually transmitted curse manifests as a tall, denim-clad entity that pursues victims at a walking pace until they pass it on?

A. The Ring
B. It Follows
C. Happy Death Day
D. The Bye Bye Man

Question 20: Hypnosis sends a black man to the ‘Sunken Place’, allowing his white girlfriend’s family to auction and control his body?

A. The Skeleton Key
B. Get Out
C. Us
D. The Visit

Answers

  1. C. The Ring (2002) – Rachel watches the grainy tape that kills in seven days; Pulse involves internet ghosts, The Grudge a crawling spirit, One Missed Call cursed ringtones.
  2. B. Hellraiser (1987) – Frank solves the box, summoning Pinhead’s Cenobites; others feature traps but no sadomasochistic dimensions.
  3. B. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) – Freddy Krueger kills only in dreams; Halloween’s killer is silent, Friday the 13th’s masked, Fright Night vampire.
  4. C. The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) – Leatherface’s family butchers victims; others have mutants but no iconic chainsaw patriarch.
  5. B. The Exorcist (1973) – Regan’s Pazuzu possession requires exorcism; others involve exorcisms but lack the pea soup and 360-degree head turn.
  6. B. Child’s Play (1988) – Charles Lee Ray transfers into Chucky via voodoo; Annabelle is haunted, not killer-speaking.
  7. B. Halloween (1978) – Michael Myers’ white-masked pursuit of Laurie; others have masked killers but not this babysitter origin.
  8. B. The Evil Dead (1981) – Ash battles Deadites from the Book of the Dead; sequels expand, others lack the cabin Necronomicon.
  9. B. The Thing (1982) – John Carpenter’s assimilator sparks blood tests; predecessors like Body Snatchers use pods.
  10. C. Scream (1996) – Ghostface’s meta phone taunts define the kills; others have slashers without the film trivia calls.
  11. D. The Shining (1980) – Jack Torrance’s axe and elevator visions; others haunt rooms/hotels but lack the Overlook specifics.
  12. B. Friday the 13th (1980) – Jason Voorhees’ mask debuts later, but drowning revenge starts here; Jason X is future sequel.
  13. B. It (2017) – Pennywise preys cyclically on Derry kids; others feature clowns but not this ancient fear-eater.
  14. B. Candyman (1992) – Hook-handed spectre summoned by mirror chant; Beetlejuice needs three names, not five.
  15. C. Saw (2004) – Jigsaw’s iconic bathroom key-in-bathtub game; others gore but lack the moral trap philosophy.
  16. B. Poltergeist (1982) – ‘They’re here!’ via TV portal; Insidious uses astral projection.
  17. B. The Blair Witch Project (1999) – Found-footage twig men lead to witch’s corner; others forest horrors lack the sticks.
  18. A. The Omen (1976) – Damien Thorn’s 666 and raven-assisted deaths; Rosemary’s Baby lacks the mark.
  19. B. It Follows (2014) – Unstoppable walker transferable by sex; others curse differently.
  20. B. Get Out (2017) – The Armitage family’s body-snatching hypnosis; Us is tethered doubles.

How many did you get right? Share your score in the comments and challenge friends to beat it – true horror fans ace this!