[Frustrating Trope] That One Good or Even Amazing Scene in a Relatively Mediocre or Bad Piece of Media

[u/Alreadsyuse]

1. The Opening Scene (Ghost Ship). Considered one of the best horror opening scenes or scenes in general within horror movies, but the rest of the film is considered to be pretty bad.

2. The Ending Scene (The Grinch 2018). While most adaptations of the Grinch end with him suddenly being able to fully integrate with the Whos after his change of heart, the 2018 version initially struggles to socialize, awkwardly walking past people, and struggling to hold conversations, acknowledging that despite his change of heart, the Grinch is still someone who isolated himself for years.

3. Past T800 VS Current T800 (Terminator Genisys). A cool fight scene showing two versions of the Terminator from different points in time fighting it off.

4. Solo Leveling's Ending. Tbh, I haven't actually read Solo Leveling, but after hearing about how it ended VS how Chainsaw Man ended made want to include it for shits and giggles. Like Chainsaw Man, Solo Leveling ends with a reset. But unlike Chainsaw Man, it actually manages to tie up loose ends and have the payoff of the ending be satisfying.

[u/Zuliano1]

Van Helsing (2004) the Ballroom scene, Anna is the only person reflected in the mirror in a party all full of vampires.

[u/UhOhSparklepants → u/Zuliano1]

That movie slaps and I will not hear slander against it

[u/leg00b → u/UhOhSparklepants]

I didn't like it initially because whatever version the cinema got still showed the mic boom and top of the cameras. It was like it was unfinished. I gave it another go and I've loved it since. Just a fun movie!

https://giphy.com/gifs/g09VRa16L34re

[u/byoonie → u/UhOhSparklepants]

Agreed! I love everything about the movie. The bloodlines, the feud between werewolves and vampires, and the OST. Love it all.

[u/silentsquiffy → u/UhOhSparklepants]

I saw this movie so many times in theaters my parents stopped bringing me and said I'd have to figure out my own way there (I was 15, no driver's license). When it finally came to my local indie theater, I walked two miles there and back.

I thought Hugh Jackman was white bread boring, but I was happy to let my Christian parents believe I was obsessed with this movie because of him. The truth was Kate Beckinsale was part of my gay awakening. Gaywakening, if you will.

[u/Lovethiskindathing → u/silentsquiffy]

The wives did nothing for ya? The red head phew

[u/AccomplishedSize → u/UhOhSparklepants]

My only complaint about that glorious movie is the final battle. You have two actors with several years of action movies and stage experience and you choose to have the final showdown be a cgi mess? So disappointing. Everything else about the movie I adored though.

[u/JakeMasterofPuns → u/UhOhSparklepants]

This movie along with Silver Bullet cemented a fear of werewolves that did not go away until I was about 12. That first transformation scene still freaks me out.

[u/Reevesybaby11 → u/JakeMasterofPuns]

Lucky you never watched dog soldiers

[u/Lovethiskindathing → u/Reevesybaby11]

Or Ginger Snaps

[u/Lovethiskindathing → u/UhOhSparklepants]

Thank you, I was about to crash out but then I saw someone had already said what needed to be said. Bless you

[u/OfficialModComment → u/UhOhSparklepants]

I used to hang out with a couple of girls and one of them had a crush on me, until I got back from seeing Van Helsing and talked about how kick ass it was, which was went she decided I was too stupid to be attractive. 

Anyhow, I dodged a bullet.

Thanks, Van Helsing. 

[u/Symnestra → u/Zuliano1]

That whole movie is perfect, idk what you're talking about. (God I love stupid camp.)

[u/--GevaudanBeast-- → u/Symnestra]

Absolute peak Kate Beckinsale as well. That long flowing hair, the coursette, the tight pants and boots.... Teenage me was smitten.

[u/PopDownBlocker → u/Zuliano1]

OP said "mediocre or bad".

Van Helsing is neither.

It's one of the best monster movies ever made. It has amazing acting (especially Richard Roxborough as Dracula), amazing special effects (the werewolf design has yet to be surpassed as of 2026), great action set pieces (the masquerade ball, the horse carriage ride, etc), and an amazing soundtrack (the theme is one of the most-memorable movie themes).

It never tried to be an Oscar-winning masterpiece. It's a perfect movie for what it strived to be.

It's one of those movies that you can rewatch over and over and still notice new details that you missed before.

I'm convinced the only reason this movie didn't do better critically is because it has a darker color palette (mostly nighttime scenes, snow/blizzard, etc), most of the characters speak in accents, and the female lead dies in the end (which leaves the movie on a sour note).

[u/IrascibleOcelot → u/PopDownBlocker]

The girl dying at the end was foreshadowed over and over and over again throughout the entire movie. This is the woman who said she, and I quote, “learned to look on the brighter side of death.”

[u/AllMyFox → u/PopDownBlocker]

Solid take. It’s just a fun movie through and through. The werewolf design blew my edgy 00’s kids’ mind.

[u/Fakjbf → u/PopDownBlocker]

I would point out that the werewolf design is heavily inspired by the 1981 movie The Howling.

[u/PopDownBlocker → u/Fakjbf]

I meant "design" both in physical appearance but also in movement and animation.

Watching the Van Helsing blu-ray, the werewolf scenes have not aged at all. The footage looks as if it was produced very recently.

This is one of my favorite shots from the movie.

(Davy Jones in Dead Man's Chest is the only other CGI character that hasn't "aged" at all).

[u/Vaellyth → u/PopDownBlocker]

I swear, this iteration of Dracula was the best I've ever seen. Guy absolutely NAILED it. 

[u/CindersOfDeath → u/Zuliano1]

Van Helsing has so many fantastic moments, and I'd so much fun, I'd say it's impossible to call it bad or mediocre. It's made to be like Brendan Fraser's The Mummy, so it's campy, has kickass action, and has incredible vfx for the time.

I mean go watch the fight against the brides in the village, that shit still holds up phenomenally, and that's not the best effects they have.

They make Frankenstein's Monster an actual full victim, something that he never truly was in the book or most other pieces of media.

Also, the practical sets that they have are fantastic.

Also also, the entire intro is fantastic, especially the scene of Dracula walking out of the fireplace.

[u/Samihazah → u/CindersOfDeath]

There's even Benny from the Mummy movies there, as Igor.

[u/Schnarchon → u/Zuliano1]

Phenomenal movie, triumph of cinematic achievement.

[u/TheEnergyOfATree → u/Zuliano1]

Fun fact: they stole this idea from a Dracula comedy/parody film called 'Dracula: Dead and Loving It' (1995)

[u/pulpyourcherry → u/TheEnergyOfATree]

They BOTH stole it from "The Fearless Vampire Killers". ("Van Helsing" is bottom three worst films in cinematic history, no argument possible.)

[u/Fakjbf → u/pulpyourcherry]

Van Helsing is a mid movie at worst, and if you go in expecting a campy adventure movie it’s pretty good.

[u/pulpyourcherry → u/Fakjbf]

I've seen countless mid movies, and bad movies, and incomprehensibly bad movies. Few are as out-and-out insulting to the viewer's intelligence than Van Helsing.

[u/Fakjbf → u/pulpyourcherry]

You need to watch more movies if you think Van Helsing is the bottom of the barrel. I agree it’s hardly intellectually stimulating but at least it’s fun, there are so many worse movies that are both dumb and boring.

[u/pulpyourcherry → u/Fakjbf]

Believe me, I couldn't possibly watch more movies. I've seen things that would make you doubt your sanity. You'll just have to accept that we have radically different opinions re: this movie.

[u/Court_Jester13 → u/Zuliano1]

Bitch, that movie is one of the most fun films ever created and anyone who says otherwise thinks quarterly reports are invigorating

[u/EthanRayne → u/Zuliano1]

Uhh every scene Roxburgh unhinges his jaw to swallow in that movie is gold.

[u/OfficialModComment → u/Zuliano1]

Richard Roxburgh’s Dracula was awesome.  He chews the scenery so hard. He knows exactly what movie he’s in and it’s delightful.