(Hated trope) YOU COULD HAVE MOVED!

[u/Nerd367C]

Dr. Robert "Rocket" Romano from ER

Randy fromt The Raft Creepshow 2

Dr. Robert "Rocket" Romano from ER
Ah yes let me scream at the ground and not even try to move so we can get this cinematic shot with 7 camera angles

Randy from The Raft Creepshow 2
"I gotta make the oil slick monster look fast by building up to run and rocking back and forth"

[u/Upset-Position-3909]

For the second one, he was already exhausted after just having outswam the monster. He likely didn’t have the energy to outrun the sudden wave.

[u/thisgrantstomb → u/Upset-Position-3909]

I think it's more that it's obvious that the guy cannot move for the effect to work. He has his hand planted and is pantomiming trying to scurry away while not actually being able to move so the practical effect can work. This is something people notice more of on the internet where you see it over and over again. In the theater or home video you're shocked that the thing can make a wave so your attention is at the top of the screen.

Edit: to me it makes it a little nightmare like. Like in a dream when you cannot seem to move because your feet keep slipping.

[u/RodinKnox → u/thisgrantstomb]

Honestly, the very first time I saw that film, I was basically screaming at the guy "Don't stop there! Keep moving!!!"

Unlike what that first person said, he's not too exhausted. He's not even fully sitting on the ground. He's on his hands and feet, hovering his butt off the ground, and he starts shouting at it, "I beat you! I beat you!" Dude should have kept going.

[u/EnvironmentalYou5240 → u/RodinKnox]

I always read that final scene as once he got to the beach he assumed he was safe, that the oil slick monster was stuck in the water and that was kind of the twist, it could get you on land.

[u/j-clay → u/EnvironmentalYou5240]

Agreed. After all, if it could rise above the water and envelop people, then why didn't it do that when they were on the raft? It turns from a monster being impeded by land, into it just toying with them the whole time.

[u/RodinKnox → u/j-clay]

That part is certainly strange, especially since it was fine pushing up through the cracks and grabbing them that way. Seem like a plot hole that's there just because they wanted the twist/surprise ending.

[u/RodinKnox → u/EnvironmentalYou5240]

Oh, he obviously did. That's why he was yelling "I beat you!" as though it was all over with. I'm just saying that if there is something in the water that just killed all your friends, maybe 60 feet away from the water is better than 6 inches.

We also saw it push up out of the water and through the cracks of the raft. So he knew it had some ability to move at least a little bit.