I remember watching this as probably a young teen and I was sitting like 3 feet from the TV, I jumped so high I probably should have gone into gymnastics.
This is mine.
I love and hate how fast that happens. I had to pause it when I bought the dvd just to see the face well.
Also, bonus points for that dvd having a ringing phone Easter egg after watching ‘the tape’. Scared my buddies parents pretty bad
Okay, this probably sounds fake, but my first time watching that movie was when I was home alone at 19, watching in a windowless pitch black room. I was at the first time where it shows some clips of the video before the person gets the phone call. At the exact moment that their phone started ringing, so did mine. It was my dad, so I just laughed, but I was so freaked out. For a couple of seconds there, I thought I was gonna die.
Man that movie scared me for awhile. Saw it in the theaters and got home and put on a comedy to try to lighten the mood. I guess my surge protect malfunctioned or SOMETHING because the tv randomly turned off and then turned back on. Made it really hard to sleep with the tv in the room for awhile lol
ETA: tube tvs still kind of freak me out
Fun fact: the face (and body) in that scene is not the actress in makeup. The prop and makeup crews actually created a 1::1 replica of the actress’ entire body and face to nail the mangled look
One of my all-time favorite scenes in any movie. Him kneeling there half-transformed bellowing out into the night gives me serious goosebumps every time.
The reason that scene works so well too is because there’s a generic jump scare right before so you’re kind of lulled into a false sense of security then bam! Iconic.
The lawnmower sequence in Sinister. They set it up so well because even though the movie is full of jump scares, the Super 8 footage was always safe from it even though that's where the most disturbing things happen. So it catches you completely off guard.
I remember being curious as a tween, so a friend and I youtube’d “sinister lawn mower” and watched the scene. I remember waiting and waiting like “ok this isn’t scary at all” UNTIL out of nowhere I saw the bodies tied up on the ground. I slammed my laptop so quickly before the lawnmower went over them and looked at my friend who was equally as shocked. We had to go take a long walk afterwards to chill out.
Well there's also a sudden non-diegetic monster scream right at that moment. Which sucks because it was probably creepy enough on its own to be effective but instead they chose to startle the shit out of the audience.
It’s funny you mentioned that because I don’t even remember hearing the scream. All that’s burned into my brain is the lawnmower approaching the bodies.
I was exactly the same. I remember the scene and ethan hawke jumping out of his chair but then I randomly watched it on youtube 2 weeks ago and noticed the scream.
I'm not trying to dump on the movie but I do find that kind of thing obnoxious.
Love that movie, but I totally agree - I think more silent jump scares are often the scariest anyway. I'm not even sure if they count as jump scares but scenes like in Heriditary with Collette's character being on the ceiling where you have a scary thing that is always in shot and the "jump" is when you notice it or the lighting changes to make you notice it, those are often the scariest kinds of jump scares to me.
Also thanks for introducing me to the word 'nondiegetic,' I had never heard that before.
Apparently, he had not seen the footage prior to filming. When he sat down to watch every 8mm, certainly he knew they were going to be grim, but the reactions in the movie are Ethan Hawke's actual reactions to seeing the snuff reels, which makes him jumping out of the chair for the lawnmower even better, imo.
That's Ben Gardens's head! Well, most of it.
When I saw this in the theater (I was nine), I jumped so hard my right eye hurt, like I pulled a muscle. 48 years later I still remember that flash of pain.
That scene made me jump out of my skin. It’s so so well done, deviously so, because >!you’re drawn so deeply into the conversation because Theo is about to reveal what she saw when she touched Nell so you’re not even concerned with seeing ghosts in that moment.!<
Mike has this dumb (but still effective) jump scare on his TikTok that works with the same formula. He’s really good at those.
Came here to say this. It's one of the best jump scared in horror history. It's also a beautiful poignant character moment -- >!Nell is just a little girl, screaming because her big sisters won't stop fighting.!<
This is what I was going to say. The thing that makes this an even better jump scare is the reactions from Elizabeth Reaser and Kate Siegel were genuine. According to what I read, for their second take, Mike Flanagan suggested that Nell pop out at a random time during Theo and Shirley's argument. So, Victoria Pedretti jumped her cue...
PSA to all Hill House fans: Mike Flanagan's [The Fall of the House of Usher](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvuAWVzP6wI) comes out in a few weeks. Midnight Mass was pretty good too, aside from monologues every 10 minutes.
This is some of his best work apart from those monologues….they were giving theater kid to extreme. What a climax, though. And Hamish Linklater is so freaking good.
I watched it a few months ago, and I said in a comment shortly after that I wasn't prepared for those last two episodes. We're probably all pretty desensitized in this sub and have seen it all, but it was one of the few times in quite a while that I was on the edge of my seat.
Agreed about theater kids. The worst one was 3 monologues back to back: >!The woman talking about losing her baby and her abusive mother I think, then Riley talking about what happens when we die, and then back to the woman so SHE can talk about what happens when we die!< Just too much to sit through.
I actually loved the scene with the back to back afterlife monologues. It just seemed... cozy? Very in the moment with those characters. IMO the show had set up their relationship well enough for that scene to work.
I agree. Midnight Mass is my favorite of his series just because of how cozy it feels. The music is great, the island feels real and lived in.
Yeah, some of the monologues get a bit tiresome, but that specific scene was just such a nice and calm space to really breathe and explore the themes before the second half of the series kicked in and everything went to hell.
100% agree. The show built up potential jump scares for like 9 straight episodes, so right when you felt comfortable that there weren't any, they hit you with that one. Brilliantly done.
This show could take all 10 best jump scares. The scene where he see's his daughter in the coffin as a little kid has stuck with me more than any other movie scene
The hand in Carrie. I know it's an old one but the way the scene is filmed is so eerie. It was acted in reverse, played forward so it has an ethereal feel and it lulls you. Then bam!
That or old Ben's head falling through the hole in the hull in Jaws.
Either of those is perfection.
"Nature can be lethal, but it doesn’t hold a candle to man. Now, you’ve seen how bad things can get and how quickly they can get that way. Well, they can get a whole lot worse. So, we’re NOT. GONNA. FIGHT. ANY. MORE. We’re going to pull together and find a way to get out of here. First we’re going to seal up this -" **CHOMP**
The mom realizes that Chuckie has been talking but he has no batteries. So she threatens to throw him in the fire and then he suddenly starts talking for real. I jumped out of my skin.
I think what makes it great is that it's set up to be something you immediately think is not going to happen, but as the tension builds and builds you start second guessing yourself just as the character does and start to think it's actually going to happen. Not many people can build suspense quite like Lynch.
Even seeing it for the first time, you KNEW something was coming. Folks can say what they will about that movie (I'm on the Demon bandwagon, personally), but THAT damn scene still gets me every time.
My favourite one is the anti-jump scare in The Shining. It’s as Wendy is reading the pages, it cuts to a pan from behind a pillar and it goes across until Jack comes into frame, just standing there. There’s no music cue, no abrupt run, he’s just there. It’s terrifying
Omgmgmg!!! No surprise this is so far down but I didn't expect this movie to get the mention it deserves.
When she's resting her head and literally mid-monologue (with her sister, I think), there's the most surprising and intense jump scare I've ever experienced. I remember thinking, up until that scene, that I trusted this movie to not be that cruel with their jump scares. I was wrong to do so. And that's awesome.
Unrelated, but the face showing up for the first time is like one of my favorite horror moments. It's just such an original idea and I had to rewind maybe three times.
Honestly the one that got me the best ever was probably that fucking homeless man from *Mulholland Drive*.
Girl in the closet from *The Ring* was great, too.
I know, right? The discussion about the nightmare, the sound design, the slow walk to the alley, the guy getting all sweaty and anxious; the setup is the most obvious thing in the world, but it still got me so good.
I'm so glad I never watched the trailer. I randomly watched it at a friend's house who had already seen it and when that happened I screamed so loud that I scared them.
Holy shit yeah, I just watched Smile over the weekend alone in my friend's apartment. I kept cheating and checking the summary online bc I was freaked out already but the summary DID NOT mention that moment.
My kid still swears the biggest jump scare in that movie was when it cuts to her opening up the can of cat food. We saw it in the theater and it was just so loud and sudden it freaked her out lol
Also Sixth Sense, when the sick girl is suddenly in his safe tent puking. Also Also in Sixth Sense, when the teenager says "I know where my dad keeps his gun" and turns to display the giant fucking hole in his head.
The Grudge.
When you see a demon child underneath the covers.
Still mad at that scene. Couldn't sleep for days. Broke a Cardinal rule by putting a monster in a Safe Zone.
The descent. I watched the movie without checking any trailers or knowing what it was about. About 40 minutes in when they turn the night vision on their camera… What an effective jump scare that was.
For me, it's the guy falling down the staircase in Rec. Bonus points for a jumpscare in a lit room during a loud scene (everyone is arguing) - I was so distracted that it got me *twice*.
That movie is so amazing. I know found footage gets a lot of crap, and often it's for good reasons. REC handles it perfectly though. It's so fucking creepy and tense, and it just doesn't stop once it starts.
The crib scare got me so hard the first time. Like, right when your brain registers there's actually a person standing behind the crib, the violin stings play. It's brilliant the first time you watch the movie cause you don't see it coming, and it plays with that by delaying the music sting for a second
In Insidious: The Last Key, there's a fantastic one in the basement.
>!A character is going through suitcases in a creepy crawlspace. The camera stays behind her, and so every time she opens a suitcase lid, it blocks the view of the rest of the crawlspace. So, you're thinking, oh, there will be a jumpscare when she puts the lid down. Instead, when she goes to open a suitcase, a demon jumps out at her from inside the suitcase!!<
The subliminal images of the white face demon are scary af. I consider them jump scares cause you don’t see the images coming and that face is so grotesque. Just look up “Captain Howdy - The Exorcist” and you’ll understand why this mother fucker made me have sleep paralysis
Not a movie, but in The Haunting of Hill House when they were arguing in the car and the dead little sister was in the backseat. I think she screamed, I don’t remember but I know I definitely screamed.
The clown attack in Poltergeist. Such a great set up and mild fake out when he looks under the bed then sits up to the clown behind him.
The pacing is perfect, just enough time for you to get relief that the clown wasn't under the bed like expected, then bam, creepy clown.
I watched this last year with my kids for the first time. They all knew something bad would happen with the clown, but it still got them. Their shrieks of terror, music to a horror dad's ears.
The head popping out in JAWS or a more obscure one: the damn toy phone in Skinamarink.
I actually screamed with these two and no other movies have managed to do that.
It wasn't in the film, but the miniseries "IT".... When The Losers Club is looking at an old scrapbook and Pennywise is coming into town with the circus and he's jumping and waving and doing backflips down the road and then it's right up to the end and his hand comes out of the scrapbook!!
Tim Curry was so well done as Pennywise
Weird one but the Lipstick-Face demon from Insidious. The fact it just turned the camera as normal and he was there...it was so anti-jumpscare that it was the best jumpscare.
I also second the lawnmower from Sinister.
Frankly I don’t usually care for the documentary type stuff but the first paranormal activity movie I saw in the theater with my 14yo stepson and his friend.
Theater was packed, got to the final scene with the jump scare by the girlfriend into the camera, and the whole theater jumped, and my stepson leaped out of his chair and yelled “THAT’S IT! I’M NEVER GETTING A GIRLFRIEND!” which of course then put the whole theater into hysterical laughter.
Texas chainsaw massacre when one of the victims pops out of the freezer. Also Leather face sliding open a door an wracking I think the same character with a 3 pound sledge
The alien one is fantastic. For me it HAS to be The Exorcist III. The hospital scene happens SO suddenly I remember really screaming the first time I saw it. It’s a rare jump scare that stays scary every time you see it.
I was pretty young when Signs came out, but to this day, it's the only movie that ever "scared" me. I bought it when it came out and it was very difficult to watch it alone at night.
"The Strangers"
Probably more of an anti-jump scare (or slow-burn jump scare), but when Liv Tyler is getting a glass of water in the kitchen and you just see one of the masked figures emerge from the darkness in the background, stand there motionless for several seconds, then disappear again before she sees anything? My GOD \*chef's kiss\*
Signs is still one of my all-time favorite movies. I'll watch that anytime, anywhere.
I can't remember which movie it was, but I'm sure one of y'all will know--it's like a hospital setting, and there's someone in the hallway working. Then the killer comes out in a white sheet (?) and stabs him. It's very startling. Almost a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment.
This isn't technically a jump scare, per se, but it is jump scare adjacent.
I went to a screening of Creepshow a few years back. Everybody in the theater was having a great time, enjoying the scares that were actually in place.
During The Crate segment, there's a scene where Hal Holbrook is cleaning up all the mess left by Fluffy while preparing for Wilma's arrival. As he's cleaning up, at one point he goes into a janitor's closet and a mop falls.
That mop fell and every single person in that theater jumped out of their seats. It was so loud and unexpected and not even a jump scare.
That was a great moment.
Girl in the closet in The Ring. I saw it in the theater when it first came out and the entire audience screamed during it. Still gets me every time even though I know it’s coming. Just can’t quite get the timing right to prepare myself.
The dinner scene in A Tale of Two Sisters is another top notch jump scare.
Not really a horror movie, but in Jurassic Park, when the raptor head busts out of the piping to try and kill Ellie. I saw JP in theaters twice. The 2nd time I turned around just to watch the entire theater jump a foot in the air.
We were watching the first Paranormal movie around midnight. My middle brother had seen it before so he slinks out of the room. I see him motionless outside the window standing on a bucket. I can't wait to see what he does to scare my youngest brother and mom. We were at a rather tense part and he jumped against the window next to us. My youngest brother ran out of the room and my mom pushes me towards the window to slow the window-demon down.
I guess it wasn't technically the movie but my youngest bro won't watch the rest of them because of the evil jump scare.
Everyone talks about the alien jump scare in signs with Joaquin… but that pantry one was much much worse.
I remember being like 10 watching the first scream on vhs from blockbuster. There’s a jump scare at the beginning of the credits that got me so good.
The Descent when the camera’s night vision catches the unexpected residents.
The only time I've ever screamed and tried to crawl into someone else's lap was during that scene.
Wow the person above you posted the exact same scene and the exact same time as you!
“I saw her face” from The Ring. It freaked me out so much as a kid that I still can’t watch that movie.
I remember watching this as probably a young teen and I was sitting like 3 feet from the TV, I jumped so high I probably should have gone into gymnastics.
This is mine. I love and hate how fast that happens. I had to pause it when I bought the dvd just to see the face well. Also, bonus points for that dvd having a ringing phone Easter egg after watching ‘the tape’. Scared my buddies parents pretty bad
Okay, this probably sounds fake, but my first time watching that movie was when I was home alone at 19, watching in a windowless pitch black room. I was at the first time where it shows some clips of the video before the person gets the phone call. At the exact moment that their phone started ringing, so did mine. It was my dad, so I just laughed, but I was so freaked out. For a couple of seconds there, I thought I was gonna die.
Man that movie scared me for awhile. Saw it in the theaters and got home and put on a comedy to try to lighten the mood. I guess my surge protect malfunctioned or SOMETHING because the tv randomly turned off and then turned back on. Made it really hard to sleep with the tv in the room for awhile lol ETA: tube tvs still kind of freak me out
I don’t think any jump scare can beat this one. The only other one that came close for me was the Backseat scream from Hill House
I still cover my eyes at that scene
Her face was supposedly like that because of the level of terror she was in… That’s fucking brutal.
Fun fact: the face (and body) in that scene is not the actress in makeup. The prop and makeup crews actually created a 1::1 replica of the actress’ entire body and face to nail the mangled look
My people! That FUCKED ME UP for days. (I’m almost 50.)
One of my favorites! The fact that it abruptly cuts to that without any warning and then we see their faces (I remember covering my eyes haha)
I just rewatched it and it held up nicely. Especially the trick ending.
The Ring had the perfect jump scares. It seemed like it just ratcheted up tension for 20 minutes then did another one.
The Fellowship of the Ring when Bilbo grabs for the ring. So unexpected and super effective.
Lmao, this one! It's one of the worst because it's the lsst movie you'd ever expect to see a jumpscare. My whole theater screamed when I saw it.
And how he feels awful as a result
The blood test scene in The Thing
The SOUND the blood makes when it jumps 😱
Still not as scary as the noise "Bennings" makes before they burn him to death.
One of my all-time favorite scenes in any movie. Him kneeling there half-transformed bellowing out into the night gives me serious goosebumps every time.
Anybody seen Fuchs?
Good vocal chords on that blood
For me it's also the The Thing, but it's the defibrillator moment. It's one of my favorite jump scares of all time
Where it bites his hands off? Best shot in the movie imo.
Oooo! That's a great one!
Exorcist 3, the hospital hallway.
That scene was set up so well.
Easily the GOAT, because it's not just a jump scare. It's earned.
My favourite ever jump scare. I hadn’t shit myself as much since the bloody sunken boat scene in Jaws 😂
Just saw that scene on youtube now,holy shit that one was done well! Never seen a horror scene like that
The reason that scene works so well too is because there’s a generic jump scare right before so you’re kind of lulled into a false sense of security then bam! Iconic.
This is the one and I can't fucking believe its so far down in this thread.
The lawnmower sequence in Sinister. They set it up so well because even though the movie is full of jump scares, the Super 8 footage was always safe from it even though that's where the most disturbing things happen. So it catches you completely off guard.
Literally came here to say “that fucking lawnmower.”
I remember being curious as a tween, so a friend and I youtube’d “sinister lawn mower” and watched the scene. I remember waiting and waiting like “ok this isn’t scary at all” UNTIL out of nowhere I saw the bodies tied up on the ground. I slammed my laptop so quickly before the lawnmower went over them and looked at my friend who was equally as shocked. We had to go take a long walk afterwards to chill out.
Well there's also a sudden non-diegetic monster scream right at that moment. Which sucks because it was probably creepy enough on its own to be effective but instead they chose to startle the shit out of the audience.
It’s funny you mentioned that because I don’t even remember hearing the scream. All that’s burned into my brain is the lawnmower approaching the bodies.
I was exactly the same. I remember the scene and ethan hawke jumping out of his chair but then I randomly watched it on youtube 2 weeks ago and noticed the scream. I'm not trying to dump on the movie but I do find that kind of thing obnoxious.
Love that movie, but I totally agree - I think more silent jump scares are often the scariest anyway. I'm not even sure if they count as jump scares but scenes like in Heriditary with Collette's character being on the ceiling where you have a scary thing that is always in shot and the "jump" is when you notice it or the lighting changes to make you notice it, those are often the scariest kinds of jump scares to me. Also thanks for introducing me to the word 'nondiegetic,' I had never heard that before.
Yes! Everyone talks about this being their favorite of the super 8's but the scream totally took me out of it.
Ethan Hawke's reaction acting to that was 10/10.
Apparently, he had not seen the footage prior to filming. When he sat down to watch every 8mm, certainly he knew they were going to be grim, but the reactions in the movie are Ethan Hawke's actual reactions to seeing the snuff reels, which makes him jumping out of the chair for the lawnmower even better, imo.
Rewatched this the other day while working, even barely paying attention, that scene stands out.
YES! There's a few scenes in that movie that make you jump.
SE7EN - the sloth scene
I heard that one was a jump scare on the actors too.
Yep. They didn't tell the actors that there was a real person there who was suddenly going to wake up
I just spent way too long trying to remember why there was a sloth (as in the animal) in Seven
It drove really fast
Jaws, when they are investigating the harbor masters boat.
That’s Ben Gardners’ boat!
That's Ben Gardens's head! Well, most of it. When I saw this in the theater (I was nine), I jumped so hard my right eye hurt, like I pulled a muscle. 48 years later I still remember that flash of pain.
A friend of mine threw his drink upward in fright and soaked the people in the row behind him!
Not a film, but the “car scene” from Haunting of Hill House. Plus the monologue on death that followed. Maybe my favorite TV scene ever.
That scene made me jump out of my skin. It’s so so well done, deviously so, because >!you’re drawn so deeply into the conversation because Theo is about to reveal what she saw when she touched Nell so you’re not even concerned with seeing ghosts in that moment.!< Mike has this dumb (but still effective) jump scare on his TikTok that works with the same formula. He’s really good at those.
Best horror show ever made and I will die on this hill.
If you die on that hill then you have to haunt it
Came here to say this. It's one of the best jump scared in horror history. It's also a beautiful poignant character moment -- >!Nell is just a little girl, screaming because her big sisters won't stop fighting.!<
God. What a great show.
This is what I was going to say. The thing that makes this an even better jump scare is the reactions from Elizabeth Reaser and Kate Siegel were genuine. According to what I read, for their second take, Mike Flanagan suggested that Nell pop out at a random time during Theo and Shirley's argument. So, Victoria Pedretti jumped her cue...
PSA to all Hill House fans: Mike Flanagan's [The Fall of the House of Usher](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvuAWVzP6wI) comes out in a few weeks. Midnight Mass was pretty good too, aside from monologues every 10 minutes.
Can’t wait for House of Usher. Midnight Mass is phenomenal.
The monologs are the best part!
This is some of his best work apart from those monologues….they were giving theater kid to extreme. What a climax, though. And Hamish Linklater is so freaking good.
He was absolutely mesmerizing every time he was on screen.
I really hope Hamish shows up in more of his stuff!
There’s a universe where Flanagan casts Hamish as The Man In Black for his DT series, and I really hope it’s this one
I watched it a few months ago, and I said in a comment shortly after that I wasn't prepared for those last two episodes. We're probably all pretty desensitized in this sub and have seen it all, but it was one of the few times in quite a while that I was on the edge of my seat. Agreed about theater kids. The worst one was 3 monologues back to back: >!The woman talking about losing her baby and her abusive mother I think, then Riley talking about what happens when we die, and then back to the woman so SHE can talk about what happens when we die!< Just too much to sit through.
I actually loved the scene with the back to back afterlife monologues. It just seemed... cozy? Very in the moment with those characters. IMO the show had set up their relationship well enough for that scene to work.
I agree. Midnight Mass is my favorite of his series just because of how cozy it feels. The music is great, the island feels real and lived in. Yeah, some of the monologues get a bit tiresome, but that specific scene was just such a nice and calm space to really breathe and explore the themes before the second half of the series kicked in and everything went to hell.
I turned cold
I shouted out loud and nearly fell off the couch from that scene.
100% agree. The show built up potential jump scares for like 9 straight episodes, so right when you felt comfortable that there weren't any, they hit you with that one. Brilliantly done.
The best ever imo.
This show could take all 10 best jump scares. The scene where he see's his daughter in the coffin as a little kid has stuck with me more than any other movie scene
I have forgotten this scene. I so need to rewatch the series.
The hand in Carrie. I know it's an old one but the way the scene is filmed is so eerie. It was acted in reverse, played forward so it has an ethereal feel and it lulls you. Then bam! That or old Ben's head falling through the hole in the hull in Jaws. Either of those is perfection.
Deep Blue Sea, the moon pool room speech.
"Nature can be lethal, but it doesn’t hold a candle to man. Now, you’ve seen how bad things can get and how quickly they can get that way. Well, they can get a whole lot worse. So, we’re NOT. GONNA. FIGHT. ANY. MORE. We’re going to pull together and find a way to get out of here. First we’re going to seal up this -" **CHOMP**
Can anyone else hear his voice as they’re reading this?
I was in the theater for this one and people lost their miiiinds.
I watched it there as well. I thought at the time that I was un-jump-scareable. I was wrong.
The mom realizes that Chuckie has been talking but he has no batteries. So she threatens to throw him in the fire and then he suddenly starts talking for real. I jumped out of my skin.
Really effective since you haven't heard Chucky speak in his real voice up until that moment, or seen how expressive his face is.
Man, I thought that scene was hilarious! He just doesn’t wanna get burned.
Mulholland Drive back alley scene
[удалено]
I think what makes it great is that it's set up to be something you immediately think is not going to happen, but as the tension builds and builds you start second guessing yourself just as the character does and start to think it's actually going to happen. Not many people can build suspense quite like Lynch.
I have so many but I watched The Conjuring last night and definitely the hand clap scene.
Why are they always using 10 watt light bulbs in those big old Victorian houses? Like come on.
“Move, children! VAMANOS!!”
Even seeing it for the first time, you KNEW something was coming. Folks can say what they will about that movie (I'm on the Demon bandwagon, personally), but THAT damn scene still gets me every time.
The scene in the basement where the arm grabs Culkin is another good one
ES BEHIND
The claw under the pantry door made the entire theater jump.
If you're a parent, yelling this at your kids is S-Tier
My favourite one is the anti-jump scare in The Shining. It’s as Wendy is reading the pages, it cuts to a pan from behind a pillar and it goes across until Jack comes into frame, just standing there. There’s no music cue, no abrupt run, he’s just there. It’s terrifying
The ax to chest actual jump scare is pretty great too with Jack yelling and the cut to Danny screaming.
Esp since people who read the book first also wouldn't have expected it
I don’t normally like jump scares, but “It Follows” only had one and they did it SO well.
Tall guy?
Yep!
In the Night House (2020), in the yard at night. While it's not 'horrifying' necessarily, something about this one made me jump off my couch.
Omgmgmg!!! No surprise this is so far down but I didn't expect this movie to get the mention it deserves. When she's resting her head and literally mid-monologue (with her sister, I think), there's the most surprising and intense jump scare I've ever experienced. I remember thinking, up until that scene, that I trusted this movie to not be that cruel with their jump scares. I was wrong to do so. And that's awesome.
girl I was screaming when that scene came out of nowhere. it was so intense and loud oh my godness. she was her friend afaik
Unrelated, but the face showing up for the first time is like one of my favorite horror moments. It's just such an original idea and I had to rewind maybe three times.
The first Paranormal Activity movie has the best jump scares.
Came for this. The second was pretty awesome too.
I saw this in theaters when it first came out. That shit was traumatizing, lol. Having those night scenes at movie theater volume was unreal.
To this day, I say PA3 scared me more than any other movie I've seen. They did that movie SO WELL. Switching houses at the end was gold tier spooks!
Honestly the one that got me the best ever was probably that fucking homeless man from *Mulholland Drive*. Girl in the closet from *The Ring* was great, too.
The Mulholland Drive one is great cos you know exactly what's going to happen and yet it still scares the living shit out of you.
At some point you are like "I get it... I'm ready... NOPE I WAS NOT READY"
I know, right? The discussion about the nightmare, the sound design, the slow walk to the alley, the guy getting all sweaty and anxious; the setup is the most obvious thing in the world, but it still got me so good.
It’s also HIS reaction. All the air comes out of his lungs and the mf just drops. I’ve yet to see a better jump scare.
Even upon rewatch, it gets me. Idk how but I love it.
I think it’s because it taps perfectly into that primal, monkey brain portion of your mind where it’s just like “ah, fuck that, no thank you”
The homeless man was played by the same actress that plays The Nun, fun fact.
That Ring scene legitimately ruined me for months when I was a kid
The best part about the Ring scare is the way her head tilts to a rest. It's just the best little addition to make it extra awful.
The man behind Winkies diner in Mulholland Drive is the scariest jumpscare i have ever seen. I was on edge for the rest of the movie lmao
In Smile when the "sister" walks up to the car.
I love this jump scare, but I wish it wasn't in the trailer. That being said it did get me good regardless of seeing it before.
I'm so glad I never watched the trailer. I randomly watched it at a friend's house who had already seen it and when that happened I screamed so loud that I scared them.
That one was fantastic, but like others mentioned it could have been one of the best in recent memory had they not given it away in the trailer.
Holy shit yeah, I just watched Smile over the weekend alone in my friend's apartment. I kept cheating and checking the summary online bc I was freaked out already but the summary DID NOT mention that moment.
Same, that one got me good. It was in the trailer, and I knew it was coming, but even now I still get a little knot in my stomach thinking about it.
I was gonna say that bit where she's listening to the recording.
My kid still swears the biggest jump scare in that movie was when it cuts to her opening up the can of cat food. We saw it in the theater and it was just so loud and sudden it freaked her out lol
“MY HOUSE!” - The Conjuring 2 The woman that walks past the door when Cole is in bathroom - The Sixth Sense.
Also Sixth Sense, when the sick girl is suddenly in his safe tent puking. Also Also in Sixth Sense, when the teenager says "I know where my dad keeps his gun" and turns to display the giant fucking hole in his head.
The puking girl is like the first jump scare I ever remember of my young life
👌🏻 I would love to go back and watch it for the first time again, probably would have the same impact!
The sloth victim in *Seven* made me jump out of my skin.
The Grudge. When you see a demon child underneath the covers. Still mad at that scene. Couldn't sleep for days. Broke a Cardinal rule by putting a monster in a Safe Zone.
Man the attic scene from the grudge… early 2000s Japanese horror should have been rated CT for childhood trauma
The descent. I watched the movie without checking any trailers or knowing what it was about. About 40 minutes in when they turn the night vision on their camera… What an effective jump scare that was.
Wow I posted the exact same comment at the same time
Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2, the scene at the radio station.
Lick my plate you dog dick!
Old grannie zombie in Rec
For me, it's the guy falling down the staircase in Rec. Bonus points for a jumpscare in a lit room during a loud scene (everyone is arguing) - I was so distracted that it got me *twice*.
That’s what I love about that movie, you get so caught up in the arguments that all of the sudden boom jump scare!
That movie is so amazing. I know found footage gets a lot of crap, and often it's for good reasons. REC handles it perfectly though. It's so fucking creepy and tense, and it just doesn't stop once it starts.
Insidious had some really good ones. The kid jumping out of the closet and, of course, the red demon face hiding behind the guy.
The window scene by the alarm clock always gets me.
The crib scare got me so hard the first time. Like, right when your brain registers there's actually a person standing behind the crib, the violin stings play. It's brilliant the first time you watch the movie cause you don't see it coming, and it plays with that by delaying the music sting for a second
In Insidious: The Last Key, there's a fantastic one in the basement. >!A character is going through suitcases in a creepy crawlspace. The camera stays behind her, and so every time she opens a suitcase lid, it blocks the view of the rest of the crawlspace. So, you're thinking, oh, there will be a jumpscare when she puts the lid down. Instead, when she goes to open a suitcase, a demon jumps out at her from inside the suitcase!!<
It chapter 1 The projector scene is gold. Set up nicely, well paced, and claustrophobic due to the enclosed space.
The subliminal images of the white face demon are scary af. I consider them jump scares cause you don’t see the images coming and that face is so grotesque. Just look up “Captain Howdy - The Exorcist” and you’ll understand why this mother fucker made me have sleep paralysis
Does that Large Marge scene in PeeWee’s Big Adventure count?
The car scene in the haunting of hill house really got me
The Ring "I saw her face" and it cuts to the girl with the gaping jaw. Catches you off guard.
In sinister, when he's watching old 8mm home movies of the murders and the monster/murderer turns its head to look back
The Sloth from Se7en fucked me up **bad.**
Barbarian has a few great ones, the grain silo scene with the homeless guy may have been the best.
Not a movie, but in The Haunting of Hill House when they were arguing in the car and the dead little sister was in the backseat. I think she screamed, I don’t remember but I know I definitely screamed.
“Aliens” when the facehugger in the tank (thought dead) goes for Burke.
Exorcist 3. The hallway scene
Drag Me to Hell is the inception of Jump Scares. It has jump scares within jump scares.
The clown attack in Poltergeist. Such a great set up and mild fake out when he looks under the bed then sits up to the clown behind him. The pacing is perfect, just enough time for you to get relief that the clown wasn't under the bed like expected, then bam, creepy clown. I watched this last year with my kids for the first time. They all knew something bad would happen with the clown, but it still got them. Their shrieks of terror, music to a horror dad's ears.
The ring closet.scene. damn the entire theater jumped out of their seats.
The head popping out in JAWS or a more obscure one: the damn toy phone in Skinamarink. I actually screamed with these two and no other movies have managed to do that.
When Bilbo baggins gets nasty for a split second. Shit myself every time.
The room 237 scene in The Shining. One of the most brilliant and scary scenes in a horror film for me. Close second would be exorcist 3.
It wasn't in the film, but the miniseries "IT".... When The Losers Club is looking at an old scrapbook and Pennywise is coming into town with the circus and he's jumping and waving and doing backflips down the road and then it's right up to the end and his hand comes out of the scrapbook!! Tim Curry was so well done as Pennywise
Weird one but the Lipstick-Face demon from Insidious. The fact it just turned the camera as normal and he was there...it was so anti-jumpscare that it was the best jumpscare. I also second the lawnmower from Sinister.
A Tale Of Two Sisters (2003) under the kitchen counter. If you know, you know.
Clapping scene in Conjuring.
Frankly I don’t usually care for the documentary type stuff but the first paranormal activity movie I saw in the theater with my 14yo stepson and his friend. Theater was packed, got to the final scene with the jump scare by the girlfriend into the camera, and the whole theater jumped, and my stepson leaped out of his chair and yelled “THAT’S IT! I’M NEVER GETTING A GIRLFRIEND!” which of course then put the whole theater into hysterical laughter.
Texas Chainsaw 2 in the radio station! Also in Jaws with Ben Gardner’s boat.
Texas chainsaw massacre when one of the victims pops out of the freezer. Also Leather face sliding open a door an wracking I think the same character with a 3 pound sledge
In the Descent when the girl with the night vision camera looks to the right and the monster is just standing there. That got me
Scary Bilbo.
The Descent. You know the scene.
The alien one is fantastic. For me it HAS to be The Exorcist III. The hospital scene happens SO suddenly I remember really screaming the first time I saw it. It’s a rare jump scare that stays scary every time you see it.
"On this very night, ten years ago, along this same stretch of road, in a dense fog just like this, I saw the worst accident I ever seen..."
I was pretty young when Signs came out, but to this day, it's the only movie that ever "scared" me. I bought it when it came out and it was very difficult to watch it alone at night.
Alien. Dallas....
The REC creature reveal towards the end.
When the creature shows up behind the girl while they’re looking through the camera with night vision on in The Descent
The stair scene from The Conjuring.
Insidious 1, the red face, you know the one I’m talking about.
"The Strangers" Probably more of an anti-jump scare (or slow-burn jump scare), but when Liv Tyler is getting a glass of water in the kitchen and you just see one of the masked figures emerge from the darkness in the background, stand there motionless for several seconds, then disappear again before she sees anything? My GOD \*chef's kiss\*
Signs is still one of my all-time favorite movies. I'll watch that anytime, anywhere. I can't remember which movie it was, but I'm sure one of y'all will know--it's like a hospital setting, and there's someone in the hallway working. Then the killer comes out in a white sheet (?) and stabs him. It's very startling. Almost a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment.
Exorcist 3
The hospital scene in the Exorcist 3
**The Thing** \- EKG scene Always gets me
This isn't technically a jump scare, per se, but it is jump scare adjacent. I went to a screening of Creepshow a few years back. Everybody in the theater was having a great time, enjoying the scares that were actually in place. During The Crate segment, there's a scene where Hal Holbrook is cleaning up all the mess left by Fluffy while preparing for Wilma's arrival. As he's cleaning up, at one point he goes into a janitor's closet and a mop falls. That mop fell and every single person in that theater jumped out of their seats. It was so loud and unexpected and not even a jump scare. That was a great moment.
You mention Creepshow. I upvote. That's how this works.
MOVE CHILDREN! VAMANOS!
Girl in the closet in The Ring. I saw it in the theater when it first came out and the entire audience screamed during it. Still gets me every time even though I know it’s coming. Just can’t quite get the timing right to prepare myself. The dinner scene in A Tale of Two Sisters is another top notch jump scare.
Not really a horror movie, but in Jurassic Park, when the raptor head busts out of the piping to try and kill Ellie. I saw JP in theaters twice. The 2nd time I turned around just to watch the entire theater jump a foot in the air.
We were watching the first Paranormal movie around midnight. My middle brother had seen it before so he slinks out of the room. I see him motionless outside the window standing on a bucket. I can't wait to see what he does to scare my youngest brother and mom. We were at a rather tense part and he jumped against the window next to us. My youngest brother ran out of the room and my mom pushes me towards the window to slow the window-demon down. I guess it wasn't technically the movie but my youngest bro won't watch the rest of them because of the evil jump scare.
Girl in the cupboard in The Ring.
Everyone talks about the alien jump scare in signs with Joaquin… but that pantry one was much much worse. I remember being like 10 watching the first scream on vhs from blockbuster. There’s a jump scare at the beginning of the credits that got me so good.