Casey Chong looks at ten essential horror movie jump scares…
Horror movies are all about the cinematic experience of scaring the hell out of you, keeping you on the edge of your seat and startling you while watching a scene. The latter is especially true with jump scares, one of the most widely-used visual techniques in the horror genre designed to evoke your surprise or shock response. Unfortunately, jump scares are often abused to the point they become more distracting or cheaply made just for the sake of them. Of course, there are plenty of horror movies that know how to make the best use of jump scares to their advantage.
Now, coinciding with the release of Parker Finn’s much-anticipated Smile 2 [read our review here], it’s time to look back at ten of the creepiest jump scares in horror, in order of release date…
Encounters Mrs. Bates in the fruit cellar – Psycho (1960)
Alfred Hitchcock’s seminal 1960 psychological horror Psycho may have been over 60 years old. But it remains a cinematic milestone in its storytelling ingenuity and the way Hitchcock twists the otherwise traditional narrative inside out. He even throws in a few surprises and shocks, one of which includes the iconic shower scene. The other? That would be the ending as Lila Crane (Vera Miles) sneaks into Norman Bates’ (Anthony Perkins) house and heads down the fruit cellar. She saw Mrs. Bates sitting on the chair facing behind her. Well, what happens next startles Lila to the point she accidentally hits the light and screams her lungs out. Then comes Bernard Herrmann’s distinctly orchestral score, which helps elevate the already-tense moment. What makes the jump scare effective is the shocking discovery of Norman Bates’ mother, who is largely obscured throughout the movie until the end.
The boy emerged from the lake – Friday the 13th (1980)
The Friday the 13th franchise may have been known for its gory kills, body counts and, gratuitous sex and nudity. Not to mention the seemingly unstoppable serial killer Jason Voorhees, one of the most popular horror icons in the genre. In the first movie, director Sean S. Cunningham does a good job pulling off a last-minute surprise. It was least expected too, especially if you are watching it for the first time. What begins as a seemingly happy ending with Harry Manfredini’s score offering a glimmer of hope and a scene where Alice (Adrienne King) is lying on the boat in the calm and peaceful lake. Besides, everything’s over before an unexpected jump happens: A horribly disfigured boy emerges out of the lake all of a sudden and grabs Alice from behind.
“Wanna see something really scary?” – Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983)
The anthology-style Twilight Zone: The Movie contains four segments, each directed by John Landis, Steven Spielberg, Joe Dante, and George Miller. Landis, who directed the prologue, is a masterclass of deliberate build-up as we follow a driver (Albert Brooks) and a passenger (Dan Aykroyd) from singing along to playing trivia of TV theme music. It’s all fun and games as they continue to recap some of their favourite Twilight Zone episodes they have seen. Until Dan Aykroyd’s character asks if he “wanna see something really scary”, which requires Albert Brooks the driver to pull over, leading to a jump scare. What makes it so effective is the smart casting of Dan Aykroyd because no one would have thought a comedian like him would pull off, well, something really scary. And he did when you least expected it before the prologue ends with the familiar eerie theme of The Twilight Zone.
The hospital hallway – The Exorcist III (1990)
William Friedkin’s The Exorcist may have been the holy grail of the possession-horror movie. And between the atrocious sequel, two different cuts of prequels and a legacy sequel, writer-director William Peter Blatty, who adapted from his own book Legion, manages to create a slow-burn dread of a horror genre backed by George C. Scott’s solid lead performance in the third movie. The Exorcist III has plenty of creepy moments but it was the hospital hallway scene that stands out the most. The jump scare works so well because Blatty uses a static shot that predominantly stays there as we watch the security guards doing their routines while the night-shift nurse is at her station. Blatty incorporates the use of sound and even at one point, a false alarm, and the stillness of the hospital hallway. Then, the real jump scare happens when you least expect it.
The footage from a TV news broadcast – Signs (2002)
Excluding Praying with Anger and Wide Awake, M. Night Shyamalan has struck box-office gold in his following four movies including The Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs and The Village. He may have been synonymous with his twist endings but it’s easy to forget that he knows how to deliver occasional genuine jump scares in some of his movies. The alien-invasion horror movie Signs happens to be one of them, which can be seen during a scene where Joaquin Phoenix’s Merrill is awakened to watch a live news broadcast on TV as the news anchor unveils the footage. The news anchor even issued a warning that “what you’re about to see may disturb you” and to one’s (the viewer) mind, how disturbing can an alien be? That’s what Shyamalan wants you to think, allowing him to pull off a jolt of surprise as Merrill pulls his chair closer and observes the footage. It was a shot of little kids at a birthday party screaming and peeking outside filmed on a camcorder. The combination of curiosity and anxiety leads to a surprise reveal of the otherworldly invader, all perfectly timed between the kids shouting and Merrill’s shocking reaction watching from home.
The camera pans up the attic – [REC] (2007)
The Spanish-language [REC] may have spawned three sequels but the 2007 original remains the best in the film series. Shot in a found-footage format, co-directors Jaume Balagueró and Paco Plaza turn the oft-seen possession and zombie movie tropes into a remarkably tense horror thriller. They sure know how to ratchet up the tension and the most terrifying moment comes from the scene where Pablo the cameraman (Pablo Rosso) climbs to the attic of an apartment building and pans his camera around. Viewers may know there must be something going to make them jump but even so, [REC] still effectively delivers its jump scare as the infected little boy appears out of the darkness after the camera rotates around the attic.
The hide-and-seek hand clap – The Conjuring (2013)
Moving away from the torture porn and gore-fest of Saw that earned his breakthrough, James Wan reinvents himself as a master of supernatural horror beginning with The Conjuring. It offers plenty of expertly-staged jump scares best experienced on the big screen and just as effective watching it at home. The best of the lot, of course, is the scene in the basement where Carolyn (Lili Taylor) investigates strange noises in her home. Wan utilises deliberate camera pans and placements to capture the lingering sense of dread, which slowly creeps up on you as Carolyn keeps investigating and looking around. This creates a growing sense of anxiety, making you anticipate what will happen next while Joseph Bishara’s riveting score heightens the tension. The ensuing scene of total darkness and Carolyn lighting the match again and again before it culminates in the startling hand-clap moment.
The girl in the closet – The Ring (2002)
Hollywood often has a bad rep for remaking foreign films. The horror genre is one of them from Pulse to One Missed Call, Mirrors and Goodnight Mommy. There are a few exceptions, though such as Gore Verbinski’s remake of Hideo Nakata’s seminal J-horror Ring. The premise may have been nearly identical but instead of feeling like a rehash, Verbinski manages to justify his American remake with enough atmospheric dread and Naomi Watts’ above-average performance. The Ring also features the best jump scare and interestingly, it was only a glimpse but Verbinski pulls off that moment, thanks to his crafty use of a smash cut. It also works because, upon the first viewing, you would never expect the jump scare to happen since the scene focuses on the conversation between Rachel (Naomi Watts) and Ruth (Lindsay Frost). They are in the kitchen with the latter washing the dishes while talking about her daughter’s mysterious death. Throughout the scene, Verbinski never once drops a clue through visual cues or music score as the scene is just two persons talking and debating. And then, the scene catches you by surprise – a teenager’s rotten-gray corpse with the strangely contorted jaw wide open in the closet.
The Polaroid camera flash – Host (2020)
This micro-budget screenlife indie horror, reportedly cost $100,000 was released at the height of the pandemic. Co-written and directed by Rob Savage, Host runs only 56 minutes long with the story follows a group of friends led by Haley (Haley Bishop) getting together on a Zoom call for a virtual séance. What should have been harmless fun gradually turns into a nightmare as Savage manages to use the confines of a computer screen to create a sense of unease and ominous dread. Jump scares are aplenty here but it was the final scene that sealed the deal. A scene where the panicked Haley in the dark uses her Polaroid and keeps taking a photo with a flash on. The interior darkness, coupled with the deliberate camera placement and the occasional camera flashes to illuminate what’s in front of Haley – it’s the buildup tension that Savage successfully raises the tension until the breaking point.
Rose’s sister approaching her car – Smile (2022)
Parker Finn’s debut feature Smile packs with lots of jump scares. But the best one comes from the scene where Rose (Sosie Bacon) shows up at her sister Holly’s (Gillian Zinser) home to apologize and explain her situation about the curse. Long story short, they argue and Holly slams the door behind her, leaving the dejected Rose walking back to her car. The disturbing moment hits when Holly approaches her car and stands there for a while after knocking on her window. Then, the unthinkable happens as the jump scare is timed perfectly with a blend of body horror, making the scene frighteningly effective. Shame that the scene is spoilt in the trailer but even so, it still sends shivers down your spine watching it unfold again in its entirety.
What are your favourite jump scares? Let us know what we’re missing from this list over on our socials @FlickeringMyth…
Casey Chong
