The mightyjump scarehas been done particularly well in manyhorror movies, but a select few stand out as particularly terrifying. Jump scares have been a staple ofhorror moviessince the first ever use of the technique was demonstrated in 1942’sCat People. Some of thescariest horror filmshave been using them since, lulling audiences into a false sense of security before shocking them with a sudden horrifying image or action that grips them in fear.
Jump scares can often be seen as a cheap way for horror movies to stir fears up, giving them something of a bad reputation as time has gone on. Whilehorror movies that don’t rely on jump scaresor gore have become increasingly popular because of this perception, a well-executed jump scare can easily put them all to shame.Well-done iterations of the technique will be fast, ferocious, unexpected, and linger in the brain long after credits have rolled.
10The Lawmower Scene
Sinister (2012)
Described by some as the scientifically scariest horror movie when measured against its peers,Sinisterhas quite the lofty reputation thanks in part to its blood-curdling jump scares. The film revolves arounda true crime writer who finds a box of film rolls containing horrific acts of violencein his new home, investigating them with macabre curiosity. Of course, each of the murders detailed in the nauseating Super 8 footage has taken place in the very same house.
Sinister
Cast
Sinister is a supernatural horror movie that centers around a washed-up true-crime writer named Ellison Oswalt, who finds a box of Super 8 home movies that suggest the murder he is currently researching is the work of a serial killer whose macabre work dates back to the 1960s. As he begins to write a biography about the case, terrifying images start to seep into his consciousness, making him question reality as the horrors of old are made new again.
One particularly grisly scene video shows a point of view perspective of someone mowing the lawn of the property at night. The shaky handheld footage follows the dimly-lit path of the lawnmower beforethe terrified head of a victim with his mouth duct taped shut comes into view, going under the blades. The jump scare is punctuated by a terrifying auditory cue, and Ethan Hawke’s realistic reaction to the footage only enhances how scary it truly is.
9The Demon’s Face
Insidious (2010)
Insidioushelped establish an entireInsidiousmovie serieshelmed by famous horror visionary James Wan. The first movie sets the stage with a tale about a couple whose son falls comatose, becoming a vessel for dangerousghosts and demons from beyond the astral plane. It’s up to a team of paranormal investigators to help purge the troubled lad of the entities once and for all.
Insidious
When Josh (Patrick Wilson) and Renai (Rose Byrne) move into a new home, their son Dalton (Ty Simpkins) explores the attic and discovers a malevolent entity. After Dalton slips into an unexplained coma, Josh and Renai enlist the help of spiritual medium Elise (Lin Shaye) to enter the spirit world and recover Dalton’s consciousness, which they believe is being held by an unknown hostile force.
The main antagonist ofInsidiousis the red-faced demon that is alluded to first when the comatose boy’s grandmother comes to visit, describing a daunting nightmare in which she observed such a creature. While listening to her story,the creature violently manifests behind Patrick Wilson’s Josh, scaring the poor old woman and the audience half to death. Even if the film later makes the red-faced demon almost charming by having him jam out to Tiny Tim while working, his first appearance is a harrowing jump scare.
8"I Saw Her Face"
The Ring (2002)
Inspired the Japanese horror movieRingu, Gore Verbinski’sThe Ringknows how to inspire fears great and small. The film follows the investigation into an urban legend of a videotape that is said to kill those who view it in seven days. One of the most visceral jump scares of the entire film happens early on, when the protagonist, Rachel, is first informed of the urban legend by her sister, whose daughter fell prey to it.
The Ring
An American remake of the original Japanese supernatural horror film, Ring, The Ring follows a journalist who discovers she has seven days to live after watching a cursed videotape. Attending the funeral of a girl who dies under mysterious circumstances, the victim’s mother asks Seattle journalist Rachel to investigate the death. After learning about the urban legend behind the video tape the girl watched, Rachel views the tape in the hopes of finding a lead - only to find herself succumbing to the same curse.
During their tearful conversation, Rachel’s sister Katie harrowingly admits that she “saw her face”, prompting the camera to suddenly cut to the discovery.The ghastly look on Katie’s daughter’s face as she slumps over in a closet deadis a spine-chilling image that sticks with the viewer throughout the entire film and beyond. Part of what makes this jump scare so effective is just how entrancing and alluring Rachel and Katie’s quiet, morbid conversation is, drawing the viewer closer into the screen before assaulting them with it.
7The Nightvision Camera
The Descent (2005)
One of the best horror movies from the 2000s,The Descentdeserves more credit as a masterclass creature feature. The movie centers on a group of adventurous young women who go spelunking, led into an uncharted cave network by a particularly thrill-seeking member of the friend group, only to find themselves lost after an earthquake seals their exit.
The creature’s slack-jawed expression and stealth cranks the sense of danger up to a whole new level.
To make matters worse, they soon stumble across the lair of a horrific group of sub-human cannibals.The Descentuses elements of found footage throughout, particularly harrowing during one of the earliest scenes in which one ofthe so-called “crawler” creaturesappears.
The Descent
The Descent is a horror film that follows a group of thrill-seeking friends who find themselves fractured after one of them loses their husband and daughter in a car accident. Attempting to rejuvenate her friend Sarah and bring her back to the group, Juno convinces her to follow her and their friends to a mysterious cave system they find in the mountains. However, when they find themselves traped with no way out, she reveals she took them to an uncharted region with no chance of rescue, hoping to give them the adventure of the life time. Angry, fearful, and low on supplies, the group travels further into the caves only to discover they’re not alone.
Once enveloped in the darkness of the caves, one of the women uses the night vision mode of a camera to see without expending valuable light sources. Doing so results in the horrifying realization thatone of the monsters is standing face-to-face with her friend, making for an eerie sight. The creature’s slack-jawed expression and stealth cranks the sense of danger up to a whole new level.
6The Blood Test Scene
The Thing (1982)
John Carpenter’sThe Thingis a venerated horror classic for a good reason, weaponizing tense pacing, lurid cinematography, and jaw-dropping practical effects with terror and fury. The story follows the crew of an Antarctic research base who are attacked by a shape-shifting alien who can accurately disguise itself as anyone.
10 Most Tragic & Heartbreaking Scenes In Horror Movies
The best horror movies are terrifying not just because of the scares but also because of what they make the characters, and the audience, go through.
To weed out the intruder, Kurt Russell’s R.J. MacReady devises a simple blood test, knowing that the creature seems to hate heat. Drawing blood from each of his crewmates, MacReady pokes their fluids with a hot piece of wire to elicit a reaction.
The Thing
A team of researchers set out to study an alien spacecraft found in Antarctica, where they also discover an alien body on the site. The alien buried in ice is actually alive and has the ability to imitate human form. The group must find a way to distinguish who the real person is from The Thing and stay alive. John Carpenter’s 1982 film is a remake of 1951’s The Thing from Another World and stars Kurt Russel as the hero RJ MacReady.
Just as it seems the test may be bunk, as no single man’s blood seems to react upon contact with the hot copper, Palmer’s blood suddenly shrieks and forms a creature, causing the men to scream in terror astheir comrade shakes and morphs into an eldritch horror. Carpenter understands that a good jump scare needs to interrupt a long moment of tense quiet, revealing Palmer is The Thing just as MacReady levels accusations at someone else.
5The Boat Scene
Friday the 13th (1980)
At this point,theFriday the 13thfranchiseis more well known for its myriad of sequels featuring the hockey mask-wearing Jason Voorhees than anything else. But the overlooked first film, in which Jason’s mother is the true threat, shouldn’t be glossed over in the conversation for best horror movie jump scare.
While the first film hardly features Jason at all, when he does finally make his grand entrance, he certainly makes a big splash. Exhausted and battle damaged,the final girl Alice seems to have escapedthe clutches of the mad Mrs. Voorhees once and for all.
Friday the 13th
Friday the 13th is a horror-slasher film by director Sean S. Cunningham and follows a group of camp counselors who are stalked and murdered by an unknown assailant while trying to reopen a summer known to be the site of a child’s drowning and a grisly double murder. The film began a decades-long franchise that would eventually lead to the creation of Jason Vorhees, one of the most popular horror icons of all time.
Just as the dreamy music and triumphant imagery lures the viewer into a false sense of security,the rotten and waterlogged corpse of Jason appears, dragging Alice into the drink with stunning ferocity. Few jump scares are strong enough to create an entire iconic slasher franchise, but that’s exactly what Jason’s very first appearance was able to do.
4The Hospital Hallway Scene
The Exorcist III (1990)
The originalThe Exorcistmight be a revered horror classic, but itssequels don’t get nearly the same amount of attentionor praise. This may or may not be deserved, butThe Exorcist IIIat least worms its way into the conversation for one of the greatest cinematic jump scares ever. The third film centers on an investigator who takes the case of a series of murders that resemble the Gemini Killer’s work.
The Exorcist III
The Exorcist III is a supernatural horror film written and directed by William Peter Blatty. Set over a decade after the events of the original Exorcist film, The Exorcist III Follows Lieutenant Kinderman as he investigates a murder that shares similarities to a killer who was executed fifteen years earlier - and a patient at a local psychiatric ward claims to be that same man.
At one point, his travels take him to a mental hospital. Here is whereThe Exorcist IIIunveils its strongest jump scare, as the camera unassumingly lands on a hallway corridor down which a nurse is walking. Out of nowhere, a menacing figure in a white sheet suddenly follows her at a great speed while brandishing a pair of shears. Despite all the supernatural phenomena associated with the series,The Exorcist IIIproves thatrunning with scissors can be just as scary as demonic possessions.
3The Moon Pool Scene
Deep Blue Sea (1999)
Among the manycharacters of Samuel L. Jackson, his role inDeep Blue Seaisn’t all that memorable, but the way he goes out is one of the greatest jump scares ever devised. The film takes place in an underwater research facility that is attacked by hyper-intelligent sharks created by research to cure Alzheimer’s disease.
After infighting begins to take hold of the group,Samuel L. Jackson’s Russell gives a rousing and disturbing speechthat almost rallies them together while standing next to the facility’s moon pool. Russell describes an avalanche disaster he survived, revealing that two of the fatalities around the event were the result of murderous infighting.
Deep Blue Sea
A sci-fi action horror film released in 1999, Deep Blue Sea follows a group of scientists trapped in the ocean deep within a research facility as several massive genetically altered sharks begin to wreak havoc. Despite the researcher’s best intentions, the scientific experiments conducted in this facility have grown hyper-intelligent and incredibly strong, making them apex predators the likes that have never been seen.
Just as it seems his words are being heeded,a shark suddenly jumps up from the moon pool behind him and devours him, bloodying the waters. The CGI of the shark might be wonky, but the irony of Jackson’s character being eaten alive just as he’s suggesting to seal off the pool that allowed the shark to kill him is icing on the cake.
2Hooper Discovers Gardner’s Boat
Jaws (1975)
By modern standards,Jawsisn’t all that frightening of a horror movie, with creative but dated special effects and presentation that has been parodied to the point of meaninglessness. Yet the film still manages to hold up so well with a handful of scenes that remain spooky even well into the current age of horror.
The sheer terror the gruesome body illicits as it grimly stares one-eyed back at the viewer is still potent all these years later.
The best example of this is whenHooper investigates one of the shark’s victims, discovering Ben Gardner’s boat. Surveying the wreck underwater, the film’s infamous score creeps in as Hooper pries out a shark tooth as wide as his hand from the hole in the vessel’s hull.
Jaws
Jaws, directed by Steven Spielberg, follows the residents of Amity Island as they face terror from a menacing great white shark. The town’s police chief, a marine biologist, and a seasoned shark hunter join forces to track and kill the predator threatening their coastal community. Released in 1975.
But the true evidence of what happened to the ship is punctuated by the sudden appearance of Gardner’s own waterlooged corpse, suddenly floating into view alongside a musical sting. The sheer terror the gruesome body illicits as it grimly stares one-eyed back at the viewer is still potent all these years later.
1The Dangling Head
Smile (2022)
One of the most frightening horror movies to be released in recent memory,Smilemaintains a thrilling balance of classic jump scares and the dreadful build-up of tension.Smilecenters on a woman cursed by a horrific demon that manifests as various smiling people, psychologically torturing her into committing suicide and passing the curse along.
10 Disturbing Behind-The-Scenes Details About Classic Horror Movies
While tragedies and strange occurrences can happen during the making of any movie, the ones that involve horror films often become even more notable.
After her psychosis causes her to ruin her nephew’s birthday party, her sister haughtily approaches her while sitting in the car. But soon,theSmileentity reveals itself as her sister’s head unnaturally swivels downwardsto come into view, revealing yet another traumatizing smile.
Smile
A psychological horror film written and directed by newcomer Parker Finn, Smile is the story of a woman who, after witnessing a traumatic incident involving a patient, terrifying incidents keep occurring in her life. Sosie Bacon stars as Dr. Rose Cotter, the woman afflicted by these new realistic nightmares. The horrifying occurrences happen so frequently that Rose realizes she’ll have to confront past trauma to escape this new reality and survive the supernatural forces trying to kill her.
The film does a great job disguising the scare, with the sister’s disapproving body language as she walks up to the car and the audience bracing themselves for the inevitable fallout between the two. Morehorror moviescould do with jump scares as terrifying and well-executed asSmile’s.
