Monsieur Scaley Fang McLeatherskin, the Sneak

If you're ever in a horror movie, avoid the long grass.
Yes, even if the creatures you see appear harmless and cute.

In practically every horror monster movie I've seen, the monster has snuck up on side characters and then devoured them. It's one of the tropes of the genre, a monster eating a redshirt to show how awful the monster is.

Sure, sometimes the sneaking occurs in a city, or in the halls of a spaceship, or in a forest, or in long grass, or the halls of an old mansion. Sometimes it ends with a chase. But it always ends in a snack for Monsieur Scaley Fang McLeatherskin. (Or Madame if there's a sequel; Monsieur can't lay eggs, after all!)

Have you ever written or read or seen a version of this trope that feels entirely different and new? What made it unique?

Would a monster movie without this trope have as much impact, or are there other ways to create monster horror without having the monster kill a redshirt character?