History Main / DangerTakesABackseat

* ''Film/NightOfTheDemons2'' has Angela popping out of the trunk to interrupt two [[DeathBySex horny Catholic school students.]]

%%* The classic ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode "[[Recap/TheTwilightZoneS1E16TheHitchHiker The Hitchhiker]]".
* Referenced in ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'' episode "Perchance to Dream". Edward Hall tells the psychiatrist Dr. Rathmann that he once nearly got into a car accident because his overactive imagination led him to believe that he was living out one of these stories in real life. As he looked into his rearview mirror he thought he saw a pair of strange catlike eyes, something that distracted him enough to nearly hit another car.

** Happens in "The French Mistake", where [[spoiler:a depowered angel]] hides in the backseat of Misha Collins' car. He himself lampshades it.

** It occurs in the series [[Recap/SupernaturalS01E01Pilot pilot]] as well; one of the victims of the MonsterOfTheWeek agrees to take her home, but when he reaches the house she vanishes. As he's driving away he checks the rear-view mirror and sees her sitting in the back seat. Cue GoryDiscretionShot. JustifiedTrope as she was a ghost.

* Happens to a policeman in ''Film/TheLastStarfighter''. He goes and gets into his squad car, only to be attacked and killed by a shapeshifting alien "hitbeast" called a Zando-Zan.

* ''Series/ThePunisher2017''. A non-lethal version when Turk finds a NotQuiteDead [[TheDreaded Frank Castle]] waiting in his backseat.
-->'''Turk:''' [[OhCrap Oh, hell no.]]\\
'''Frank:''' ''(amused)'' Oh, hell yeah.

* In ''Series/{{Hawkeye|2021}}'', knowing that Kazi is the only person who can get through to Maya, Clint waits for him in the backseat of his car and threatens him, demanding he talk Maya into calling off her vendetta before things escalate any further.

* ''Series/PersonOfInterest''. Combined with DyingMomentOfAwesome in "Dead Reckoning". [[spoiler:RogueAgent Kate Stanton has forced Mark Snow to wear an ExplosiveLeash and carry out her orders for months. Finally she sets the timer to blow him up, only [[TheDogBitesBack to find him]] sitting in the back seat of her car [[TakingYouWithMe as the last few seconds count down]].]]

* In ''Series/TheXFiles'' episode "Alpha", the killer is a dog who shapeshifts between a human and canine form, meaning he/it can be small enough to hide in the back, yet is also able to open the car door.

* In the movie ''Film/{{Firewall}}'' the hero is kidnapped by two thugs waiting for him inside his car.

* Justified in ''Literature/TheGodfather'' when Peter Clemenza arranges for Paul Gatto to be whacked, because he goes to a lot of trouble to set things up. He arranges for Gatto to be his driver for the day, with Rocco Lampone sitting behind him, but when a nervous Gatto asks Rocco to move across to the other side of the seat he does so without argument. They then drive around for several hours to lull Gatto's suspicions, until Clemenza tells Gatto to pull over so he can take a leak. When he's finished doing so, he tells Rocco to pull the trigger.

* ''Literature/NickVelvet'': In "The Theft of the Campaign Poster", Nick gets threatened by a thug hiding in the back of his car who puts him in a choke hold and then knocks him out.

** In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'', the following two instances have the VillainOfTheWeek hiding in the Mystery Machine. Played straight in "[[Recap/ScoobyDooWherAreYouS2E1NowhereToHyde Nowhere to Hyde]]", when the Ghost of Mr. Hyde hides in the van after stealing a necklace while the gang is at the malt shop, then is discovered by Scooby when the latter grabs the beach blanket the former was hiding underneath to keep the gang warm due to van's broken air-conditioning unit, which then kicks off the mystery; it's also {{lampshade}}d when [[TemptingFate Shaggy and Velma are discussing]] the BMovie ''I Was a Teenage Blob''. Inverted near the end of "[[Recap/ScoobyDooWhereAreYouS2E4JeepersItsTheCreeper Jeepers, It's the Creeper]]" when the titular Creeper is found in the ''driver's seat'' when the gang is about to contact the sheriff when they, at first, suspect a hermit they visited as the culprit.

** In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'', the following two instances have the VillainOfTheWeek hiding in the Mystery Machine. Played straight in "[[Recap/ScoobyDooWherAreYouS2E1NowhereToHyde Nowhere to Hyde]]", when the Ghost of Mr. Hyde hides in the van after stealing a necklace while the gang is at the malt shop, then, while the gang is discussing a is discovered by Scooby when the latter grabs the beach blanket the former was hiding underneath to keep the gang warm due to van's broken air-conditioning unit, which then kicks off the mystery; it's also {{lampshade}}d when [[TemptingFate Shaggy and Velma are discussing]] the BMovie ''I Was a Teenage Blob''. Inverted near the end of "[[Recap/ScoobyDooWhereAreYouS2E4JeepersItsTheCreeper Jeepers, It's the Creeper]]" when the titular Creeper is found in the ''driver's seat'' when the gang is about to contact the sheriff when they, at first, suspect a hermit they visited as the culprit.

** In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'', the following two instances have the VillainOfTheWeek hiding in the Mystery Machine. Played straight in "[[Recap/ScoobyDooWherAreYouS2E1NowhereToHyde Nowhere to Hyde]]", when the Ghost of Mr. Hyde hides in the van after stealing a necklace while the gang is at the malt shop, then is discovered by Scooby when the latter grabs the beach blanket the former was hiding underneath to keep the gang warm due to van's broken air-conditioning unit, which then kicks off the mystery. Inverted in "[[Recap/ScoobyDooWhereAreYouS2E4JeepersItsTheCreeper Jeepers, It's the Creeper]]" when the titular Creeper is found in the ''driver's seat'' when the gang is about to contact the sheriff when they, at first, suspect a hermit they visited as the culprit.

** In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'', the following two instances have the VillainOfTheWeek hiding in the Mystery Machine. Played straight in "[[Recap/ScoobyDooWherAreYouS2E1NowhereToHyde Nowhere to Hyde]]", when the Ghost of Mr. Hyde hides in the van after stealing a necklace while the gang is at the malt shop, then is discovered by Scooby when the latter grabs the beach blanket the former was hiding underneath to keep the gang warm due to van's broken air-conditioning unit, which then kicks off the mystery. Inverted in "[[Recap/ScoobyDooWherAreYouS2E4JeepersItsTheCreeper Jeepers, It's the Creeper]]" when the titular Creeper is found in the ''driver's seat'' when the gang is about to contact the sheriff when they, at first, suspect a hermit they visited as the culprit.

** In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'', the following two instances have the VillainOfTheWeek hiding in the Mystery Machine. Played straight in "Nowhere to Hyde", when the Ghost of Mr. Hyde hides in the van after stealing a necklace while the gang is at the malt shop, then is discovered by Scooby when the latter grabs the beach blanket the former was hiding underneath to keep the gang warm due to van's broken air-conditioning unit, which then kicks off the mystery. Inverted in "Jeepers, it's the Creeper" when the titular Creeper is found in the ''driver's seat'' when the gang is about to contact the sheriff when they, at first, suspect a hermit they visited as the culprit.

** In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'', the following two instances have the VillainOfTheWeek hiding in the Mystery Machine. Played straight in "Nowhere to Hyde", when the Ghost of Mr. Hyde hides in the van after stealing a necklace while the gang is at the malt shop, then is discovered by Scooby when the latter grabs the beach blanket the former was hiding underneath to keep the gang warm due to van's broken air-conditioning unit. Inverted in "Jeepers, it's the Creeper" when the titular Creeper is found in the ''driver's seat'' when the gang is about to contact the sheriff when they, at first, suspect a hermit they visited as the culprit.

** In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'', the following two instances have the VillainOfTheWeek hiding in the Mystery Machine. Played straight in "Nowhere to Hyde", when the Ghost of Mr. Hyde hides in the van after stealing a necklace while the gang is at the malt shop, then is discovered by Scooby when he grabs the beach blanket he was hiding under to keep the gang warm due to van's broken air-conditioning unit. Inverted in "Jeepers, it's the Creeper" when the titular Creeper is found in the ''driver's seat'' when the gang is about to contact the sheriff when they, at first, suspect a hermit they visited as the culprit.

** In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'', the following two instances have the VillainOfTheWeek hiding in the Mystery Machine. Played straight in "Nowhere to Hyde", when the Ghost of Mr. Hyde hides in the van after stealing a necklace while the gang is at the malt shop. Inverted in "Jeepers, it's the Creeper" when the titular Creeper is found in the ''driver's seat'' when the gang is about to contact the sheriff when they, at first, suspect a hermit they visited as the culprit.

** In ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooWhereAreYou'', both instances has the VillainOfTheWeek hiding in the Mystery Machine. Played straight in "Nowhere to Hyde", when the Ghost of Mr. Hyde hides in the van after stealing a necklace while the gang is at the malt shop. Inverted in "Jeepers, it's the Creeper" when the titular Creeper is found in the ''driver's seat'' when the gang is about to contact the sheriff when they, at first, suspect a hermit they visited as the culprit.

* ''Series/PersonOfInterest''. Combined with DyingMomentOfAwesome in "Dead Reckoning". [[spoiler:RogueAgent Kate Stanton has forced Mark Snow to wear an ExplosiveLeash and carry out her orders for months. Finally she sets the timer to blow him up, only to find him sitting in the back seat of her car as the last few seconds count down.]]

* ''Film/TheGodfather''. "Hello, Carlo". Explainable, as it wasn't Carlo's car.

* Supposedly, the "Killer in the Backseat" (or "High Beams") urban legend originates from an event that happened in New York during 1964, where a police officer found an escaped murderer in the backseat of police car and shot him dead.

* In ''Series/{{Hawkeye}}'', knowing that Kazi is the only person who can get through to Maya, Clint waits for him in the backseat of his car and threatens him, demanding he talk Maya into calling off her vendetta before things escalate any further.

* In ''Film/ScareTactics'', Emma and JD pile into the minivan and attempt to escape the AbandonedHospital. However, they can't find the keys and JD jumps out to retrieve a spare set. After he is gone, a blood covered Rohan rises from the backseat and lays his hand on Emma's shoulder.