Although jump scares in horror movies tend to be quite popular and common but many people today along with the critics state that certain movies tend to overuse the jump-scare techniques. You can argue and agree to some extent but you cannot ignore the fact that the technique has become some sort of a legend. Those who know how to use it, have used it the right way and made their way into the history books. Plus, jump scares are not as easy as they might seem. Horror movies employ jump scares that literally make the fans jump from their seats.
The Exorcist III: The Hospital
When it comes to horror, there is hardly any movie that can top the exorcist series. The Exorcist III features an iconic jump scare scene that tops the list. In the movie, there is a scene where Lieutenant William F. Kinderman is seen investigating a series of murders that recaps him of the Gemini Killer. However, the Gemini has been dead for a while. Kinderman then meets a man in a mental hospital that resembles the later Father Damien Karras.
However, in this terrifying hospital scene, a nurse can be seen doing the rounds in an eerily still corridor. Upon hearing a weird sound, she checks around but finds nothing. As she walks back across the way, she is pursued by a figure dressed in white holding a massive pair of shears.
Friday The 13th: Jason Jumps Out Of the Water
In the movie Friday The 13th, young counselors at Crystal Lake are getting the summer camp ready. While in the midst of things, all counselors are murdered, one by one by an unknown assailant. In the last act, the last survivor Alice comes face to face with the killer. Initially, the viewers were made to believe that the murderer is Jason Voorhees, the boy who had happened to drown in the lake years ago.
Once Alice has taken out the threat, she uses a canoe as a refuge and floats out to the middle of the lake. While at that, she thinks she is at peace and the ordeal is over. In an instant, the decomposing Jason Voorhees leaps out of the water and grabs Alice, ending her serenity.
Black Christmas: The Eye
The movie Black Christmas involves a strange and unknown individual who has paid one sorority house a special visit at Christmas time. And it was not Santa Claus. Once the house empties for the holiday break, the stragglers are called by an obscene caller. Upon tracing the calls, the police find out that the calls are coming from within the sorority house. The detective in charge implores another officer to calmly tell the sorority members to leave the house without asking the reason.
However, he is unable to do this. Jess, a character in the movie, not knowing that the calls are coming from inside the house, she ventures upstairs to check on her friends. In doing so, she comes eye to eye with the maniacal stranger that has been living with them this whole time.
Sinister: The Lawnmower Footage
The Sinister is a movie that revolves around a true-crime writer named Ellison Oswalt who has moved his family into yet another house with a terrible history. However, while the move is taking place, his wife and children do not know that a family was previously murdered here years ago. During his research, Ellison discovers a horrible history through discovering a box of home movies filmed on Super 8 mm.
The footage was shot by some individuals who had murdered multiple families at this very house. One notable scene that makes everyone jump from their seat is the scene where both Elliott and the audience are baffled when the killer drives a lawnmower over one of his immobilized victims.
Insidious: The Red Demon
Insidious is a movie based on a supernatural creature that leads to the Lambert family’s son Dalton entering a three-month deep, inexplicable coma after coming across something in the shadows. It has been three months since the event and Dalton is not getting any better. His parents start to believe that his condition is due to a supernatural reason.
When Lorraine, Dalton’s paternal grandmother visits him during this difficult time, she explains what she had seen in her dream. In the dream she said, she could see an ominous, shadowy creature standing behind Dalton’s bed. Just as she says this, she sees a red-faced demon standing behind her son.
Final Word
Irrespective of how boring and overused technique critics might call it but jump scares continue to be used in modern movies as well. However, today they are not only limited to just horror movies but also action movies as well. Directors and producers do make use of this technique wherever possible just to add a bit of thrill to the movie-watching experience.