There you are — sitting like Weekend at Bernie’s in a dark, eerily quiet theater seat because you know some jump scares are coming! Clutching your soda drink until Dr. Pepper thrusts through the straw-like Old Faithful at Yosemite National Park. You know it’s coming, but you can’t look away.
The screen is dimly lit. The music–that effin’ scary music–is blaring in the surround sound speakers. The characters are idiots. I mean, can’t they see what is bound to happen behind?!
Of course not. Then, it happens…
BAM!
See? You knew it was going to be there. Still, you can’t help but shrill like a schoolgirl seeing Shawn Mendes without a shirt on in concert. That’s the brilliance of a “jump scare.”
Some horror movies do it superbly with surgical precision. Then, there are the others where even Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder could see that thing coming a mile away. Everyone loves a jump scare, but only a handful of directors know how to make them memorable.
You know the ones? The freakish artery-clogging moments that force your Milk Duds to shoot out of the box and land six rows down? Yeah, those.
These are the Top 10 heart-stopping jump scares in horror movie history.
AUTHOR’S MEMO: Look at that picture up there again. While you may snicker looking at Lon Chaney with his inflamed nostrils, bug eyes, and meth teeth, you should know that created jump scares.
It was genius because no one knew that was coming. To make matters worse, it was 1925! The movie was a silent film. No one talked during movies back then, scrolled their bright phone, or brought their teething babies to the show.
When Mary Philbin yanks that hood of The Phantom’s mug, no one was prepared for the heinous visage awaiting underneath. And there has been a love affair with paying money to get the [bleep] scared out of you ever since! That’s a legacy.
On with the show…
10. The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
Please. Like you knew that was going to happen. Every nerd who has absorbed The Lord of the Rings trilogy knows what scene this is, and absolutely none of them expected jump scares in the middle of an innocent conversation between two kind-hearted elves.
Frodo (Elijah Wood), fresh from being stabbed by a Ringwraith, is having a docile moment with Bilbo. Sweet, gentle, old Bilbo (Ian Holm). Then, that damn ring calls him and that’s where this happens. So, so genius in the last place we’d expect it.
I heard screams in that theater louder than anything in the Saw franchise. Why? Because jump scares aren’t only for horror movies. That’s why this one was flawless!
9. Hereditary (2018)
The power of jump scares is when your heart is racing, your blood pressure is climbing, and nothing has even happened…yet. That’s, well, basically the entire movie of Hereditary. One of the best ones takes something so innocent as the clucking of a tongue, which makes your butt pucker in seconds. And, please, you know yours did right along with Toni Collette’s. This was so good.
P.S. If you don’t think Toni Colette deserved an Oscar nomination for that role, we can’t be friends.
8. Sinister (2012)
A dusty film projector that provides grainy footage of what looks like a discount store flashlight and a dark hallway. Of course, a jump scare is coming, but where? We are looking at the film footage along with Ellison Oswalt (Ethan Hawke) when we all get the feeling the jump is closer than we think. A lawnmower? What’s so bad about that?! Watch with the volume up. In the dark. You’ll see. Grab the heart medication first. (And I stopped mowing my lawn for two months after this.)
7. It Follows (2014)
Among horror enthusiasts, It Follows is one of the most underrated films in history. The premise is a nasty STD among some horny kids that take on human form and “it” never stops hunting for victims. That’s original, and so is this splendid jump scare–namely, when things slow down to a respectable chill. If you have never seen the movie, shame on you. You owe it to yourself to turn the volume and put this in full screen. Time to meet the “Tall Man.”
6. The Conjuring 2 (2016)
While not as spooky as the original, the noteworthy scene with Valak–that cantankerous old broad, The Nun–and her creepy portrait did exactly what you didn’t think would happen. Sure, something was coming alive but for a body to start running?!
You knew as soon as Ed (Patrick Wilson) made that ugly piece of art it would come back to haunt us later. But for Lorraine (Vera Farmiga) to walk toward it?! She must have been high. No one thought the stew of CGI, music, and scream would affect us like that. So good.
5. Psycho (1960)
When doing listicles for Geek Vibes Nation, one should always be mindful of the classics. Regardless if they still “hold up,” we wouldn’t have the vivid imagination and fodder today if it weren’t for the genius of yesterday.
Take Alfred Hitchcock and the absolute OG of jump scares. You already know what it is, and folk probably were a little gamy for months. Who wanted to take a shower after Jamie Lee Curtis’ mama yelled for her life? That was “Mrs. Bates” (Anthony Perkins) slicing and dicing Marion (Janet Leigh) to the creepy tones of Bernard Herrmann. Chef’s kiss!
4. Paranormal Activity 2 (2010)
Jump scares are old hat these days, which is why the masters need to reinvent the thing and find different ways to deliver them. That’s when “live” movies and “found footage” happened (i.e., The Blair Witch Project). What Paranormal Activity did for horror was refresh this genre terribly needed. The diverse POVs allowed us to see the terror in different ways and from different angles, but during different times–like, daytime?!
There is a creep factor going on in Kristi’s (Sprague Grayden) house, but hey, there is nothing more settling than a fresh PB&J, right? Well, if it’s this kitchen, hell to the no. This was a great scene because of the volume, timing, and sudden explosion.
3. Insidious (2010)
Many call it “The Face of Fire.” Others couldn’t speak after this scene. But if you saw this in the movie, you called it only those special words you hear in military boot camp or junior high as kids are learning how to curse.
This scene is harrowing, largely because of the set-up with the shadow figure in the previous cutaway clip. It tricks the audience because you think you already got the jump scare and survived to talk about it.
Not so much when… BOO! Lorraine (Barbara Hershey) goes crazy and no one knows why, except us. Josh is oblivious (Patrick Wilson), which doesn’t help. I laughed when it happened, but I’m screwed up in the head that way. This scene was amazing.
2. The Conjuring (2013)
This was the moment when James Wan arrived.
He has already taken us on a heart-palpating ride of terror — the staircase, the basketball, the lightbulb. Yet, nothing prepared us for this. Again, genius architecture builds a scene where you know something is coming. You begin to form a perfect fetal position in your chair when…
CLAP! CLAP!
Oh dear Gawd! It was the best jump scare of the decade and freaks people out every single time. Think about it: the scare was so good, they made a trailer out of it. And who didn’t pee a little during that trailer?!
1. The Exorcist III (1990)
If you are a true fan of William Peter Blatty’s classic, you weren’t much of a fan of the sequels. But, the dude knew how to scare the hell out of you. Take this jump scare in the third installment of his franchise, which absolutely is near the top of every list of heart attack moments in film.
Lovingly known as “The Nurse Scene,” this is easily the best part of the movie and definitely perfect classic jump scare material here. (Then, the body bag? C’mon. That’s greatness.)
Sweet nurse making her hospital runs. It’s sterile to the ear, like no sound at all. In this list or in the privacy of your home, you know a jump scare is coming. Even ice cubes get scary. Then… a hospital janitor pops up. That’s not it.
Some dude who looked like he got caught playing tag in the laundromat comes out of nowhere! So does the music. And the zoom lens? Shoot. The setup is so smart. Boring scene. Paranoid nurse. Simple background. And a locked door (twice). Then, AHHHHHHHHHHH!
Trust me. Watch this sequel. Turn up the volume full blast. This scene will immediately get etched in the back of your medulla. It was that good. Truly masterful at scaring the bejebus out of anyone.
Since he saw ‘Dune’ in the $1 movie theater as a kid, this guy has been a lover of geek culture. It wasn’t until he became a professional copywriter, ghostwriter, and speechwriter that he began to write about it (a lot).
From the gravitas of the Sith, the genius of Tolkien and C.S. Lewis, or the gluttony of today’s comic fan, SPW digs intelligent debate about entertainment. He’s also addicted to listicles, storytelling, useless trivia, and the Oxford comma. And, he prefers his puns intended.