coupon shot

While a brilliant monster reveal in a film (e.g. Alien, Jaws, The Thing) is normally referred to as the "money shot", a bad monster reveal is referred to as a "coupon shot". Coined by RedLetterMedia in their reviews of the films Biohazard and Carnosaur 2.

"I thought we were gonna get a great reveal of the monster, but instead we get another awkward coupon shot of the alien just standing there next to a guy in the back of a truck" - Rich Evans

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Coupon shot

A term coined by Rich Evans from Red Letter Media to refer to a sudden reveal of a fully visible creature in a movie.

It’s not a direct comparison to the term know as “Money Shot” but rather an analogy comparing how in some movies having a slow and gradual monster reveal produces anticipation just like someone slowly unwrapping a present, while on the other hand having a full body rubber monster suddenly appear out of nowhere is like someone just throwing a gift certificate on the viewer’s face.

A “Coupon Shot ™” may be used as an attempt to make a reveal shocking instead of exciting but most often is just the result of bad film making or terrible editing.

(while watching a movie the scene suddenly changes to a the view of a full rubber monster costume that immediately proceeds to attack and kill some character) “WOW! Where did that come from? What a Coupon Shot™”

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