It’s one of the oldest horror movie tropes played in the genre-the jump scare. Some film snobs think it’s cheap, tacky, and just plain overused. I can agree to some extent that it can be used as a lazy way to scare the viewer without putting a lot of effort behind it, however, when done properly, it can elevate the movie to an entirely different level of heightened emotions that leaves us remembering that movie for pretty much the rest of our damn lives. As someone who lives with a debilitating anxiety disorder, the PTSD after a well-executed jump scare is one that I welcome, since I’m just an anxiety cucumber anyway.
You know, mostly made of water and anxiety. Actual photo of me in the wild.
Anyway, the jump scare is a fine art that shouldn’t be used lightly or in a cheap manner that attempts to compensate for poor storytelling in a shit-horror movie. It all comes down to proper timing and set-up for it to actually be a memorable that we, as the viewer, will take home with us thinking about it for days on end. Audio, for example, plays a big part in pulling off a successful startle. An auditory stimulus can be processed faster than a visual one. You can close your eyes or look away from a nasty image, but you sure as shit can’t close off your ears. Sound plays a crucial role in both parts of a scene that end with a jump scare—in both the buildup and the climax. Without sound, establishing an atmosphere of dread or apprehension is crucial for fulfillment, and can make the execution a little more difficult, but the pay-off is unremarkable and, truly, some of the best ones are silent. As stated, for someone like me who dreads the unknown, this is the way to really mess with us.
If you’re like me and jump out of your seat and start air-swimming away like a zany-cartoon character, I see you. And we’re going to honor those moments in horror movies where the jump scare goes from a bargain-basement scare tactic, to a fine art that acknowledges what a filmmaker can do with something simple as a noise or a sudden reveal. Remember-These are just my personal opinions and what has scared the crap out of me.
That being said, I want to start off with an honorary mention that is NOT a horror movie, but a recent series that literally had me throwing a chair because of this startle.
The Haunting of Hill House
I’m usually pretty damn good at predicting when a cinematic rush of adrenaline will happen, but this REALLY caught me off guard and fucked my whole night up. That being said, shout out to Mike Flanagan for killing me dead on my couch for this one.
10. Lake Mungo
Imagine going out into the night and seeing a figure coming towards you out of the darkness, and you learn that it’s your own bloated corpse staring right at you. This startled the ever-loving shit out of me, and I’m willing to bet I’m not alone here.
A perfect example of something so simple as a head-turn being effective and making you want to straight jump out of a window. This scene just elevated that whole movie and was worth the watch just for this alone.
8. JAWS
The oldest on this list and one that still haunts me is Ben Gardener’s severed head discovered by Hooper. Paired with John Williams score, it’s just classic. I can also appreciate that this same audio was used in JAWS 2 in the infamous unrated helicopter attack scene.
The music set this scene up for perfection and had us thinking it was all over upon a first-time viewing. A tried and true classic that’s been both copied and parodied countless times because of its perfect execution.
One of the best things about this scene is when the blood reacts, it’s someone MacReady was not expecting, so he’s barely paying attention. It just comes out of nowhere for the audience, too. Fantastic work by Carpenter here, conditioning us into thinking nothing is going to happen and then BOOM.
5. Sinister
The lawnmower scene got me REAL good, and it is pure magic my friends. The foreboding atmosphere that surrounds the set-up to this is one of horror’s finest pieces of cinematic art.
4. Insidious
The appearance of what we all like to refer to as “Derpy Darth Maul” behind the head of Patrick Wilson has become one of the most infamous horror movie shots of modern times and with good reason. This scared the bejeezus out of nearly everyone who saw it for the first time. Now, it’s just hilarious to me, but that first go-around… OOOF.
3. Signs
I will forever champion this scene as one of the greatest, most tension-building set-ups of all time. The range of emotions you feel alongside Joaquin Phoenix as you stare in disbelief of what is unfolding right in front of you is an emotion I never forgot and sticks with me every time I see this.
2. Se7en
Listen. I nearly melted into my seat when I saw this in the movie theater as a teenager and is a prime example of how a jump scare can be done brilliantly. Of course, for added effect, none of the actors in this scene knew Vincent (Sloth) was going to move, so those reactions are genuine and ripple down towards us the viewer because that shit was terrifying. Also, I just love how they draw their weapons like he’s a zombie or something like that.
To absolutely no one’s surprise, the nurse and hospital hallway scene from The Exorcist III is the Mona Lisa of all horror movie jump scares. I saw this in the theater when I was eight-years-old, folks. My dad took me to see this along with my uncle and cousin, not giving two shits that he was supposed to be taking me to see Three Men and a Little Lady, I mean that’s what he told my mom anyway. While I was too young to understand a lot of what was going on, I understood one thing quite perfectly- that William Peter Blatty could successfully make me squirt lemonade in my pants.
Nothing has ever, and possibly will ever, top the tension-driven slow-build of the climatic fate of Nurse Keating. The silence of nothing but the rustling of papers and doors closing per a normal night shift desk job, with the security guards milling in and out of the scene, times it up so well. We are lulled into almost boredom until it happens, and it then knocks us right out of our chairs. But perhaps one of the biggest payoffs, is the fake-out jump scare that happens right before the big reveal, tricking us viewers into thinking the danger is gone. PERFECTION.
Tip of the Hat Mention: Silver Bullet
Growing up in a horror household, there wasn’t a lot that scared me as a kid, being as how I was watching things like Halloween and Jaws in my diapers. However, and I still can’t explain why, Stephen King’s Silver Bullet scared the ever-loving piss outta me. And particularly speaking, this scene in general where Joe Haller is poking around in Reverend Lowe’s garage. The music really helped set this one up and I KNEW something was coming. In the end it scared the crap out of me anyway and gave me nightmares for 2 weeks straight. That being said, Silver Bullet became one of my comfort movies after the trauma subsided and went to sleep with it almost everynight a few years later when I was a little older. Some kids go to bed with some Disney shit on the TV, I went to bed with Gary Busey wrasslin’ a werewolf.
Comment below with some of your favorite jump scare stories and scenes!
Nightmare Nostalgia 