Top 20 Movie Jump Scares: C.C.C Issue #66

Top 20 Movie Jump Scares

A contradictory element from some of the best (and worst) horror movies of all-time is the jump scare. I call it contradictory because people frequently complain about horror movies having too many jump scares, and not enough legitimate scares (which I tend to agree with, especially when it comes to modern horror) but if a jump scare is well done, people like them. 

There’s a big difference between a jump scare and a false scare. A false scare is when something makes you jump but it turns out to be something not dangerous. Made-up example: camera slowly moves toward a character from behind. We expect it to be a serial killer. A hand comes down on character’s shoulder. Character jumps (as do we) and turns to look. Reverse shot reveals it’s just the character’s friend. That’s a false scare, because you jumped, but it’s like a trick, you jumped at nothing.

A jump scare version of that scenario would be if instead of the friend, the serial killer had put their hand on the character’s shoulder and stabbed them in the throat. You would’ve jumped, because it was unexpected, but it was also actually scary. Typically, either a jump scare or a false scare is accompanied by a rapid edit and/or shrieking music, with the moments leading up to it being quiet and the camera moving slowly or not at all. 

With that little explanation out of the way, I’m going to look at some of the best jump scares in movies. These are some of the most heart stopping, nerve-racking moments I can recall in my long history of movie-watching, and not just in horror movies. I’m looking at all genres, which is why I had to expand it to twenty, because there are just so many classic jumps, and I didn’t want to leave any out. 

I’ll be talking about these movies as if you’ve seen them, so consider this a spoiler warning. Just watch the movies and come back to read this later. 

20. Aliens (1986)

Though James Cameron’s follow-up to Ridley Scott’s terrifying original Alien isn’t as terrifying overall, it still has some quality scares. A great jump moment is when the motion tracker is telling them the aliens are in the room, then Hicks looks up in the ceiling and shines the light, revealing dozens crawling toward them, but for me, the best jump scare happens when the team first arrives at Hadley’s Hope and find it seemingly abandoned. The tension ratchets up as they move from one room to another, because you’re just waiting for them to stumble across a xenomorph or a chestburster victim or an unhatched egg. Instead they come to a science lab and find some facehuggers in observation tanks, which seem to be dead. Company man Burke gets up close to one of the tanks, and BAM! The facehugger leaps at the glass. It’s a nice throwback moment to the original movie, but made new and scary all over again. 

19. House on Haunted Hill (1959)

This archetypal haunted house movie has one of the spookiest and simultaneously funniest jump scares I’ve ever seen. A woman searches for a hidden passageway, knocking on the wall, holding a candle. Wait for it… She stands up, turns around, and reveals a super creepy old lady with her hands up in a cliché “BOO!” kind of gesture. She isn’t even directly facing the woman, which is a little funny, but you’re still shook by the scare at this point. The woman screams, and then the old lady floats away as if she’s on a skateboard. My friends and I burst out laughing at this moment the first time we saw it. Fright turns to hilarity in 1.5 seconds. Still, it’s a jump that really works, weirdly enough.  

18. The Exorcist III (1990)

There’s a jump scare in this film that’s frequently cited as one of the best ever. I’ve never seen the full film, but I have watched the full scene in which the jump occurs. A nurse, far away at the end of a hall, looking very small in frame (the camera is pulled back), checks the locks on the doors in a hospital. It’s slow, drawn out, almost boring. Then when you least expect it (of course), she turns away from a doorway, the camera does a super dramatic zoom-in, and some cloaked person with giant shears rushes up behind her, accompanied by a huge swell of music. What makes it even more effective is the immediate camera cut to a statue with a missing head. It’s interesting that a sequel to one of the scariest movies ever, which had no significant jump scares that I recall, has one of the most-remembered jump scares ever.

17. The Shining (1980)

The Shining, cited by many as one of the scariest films of all-time, showcases horror in multiple ways, but it has surprisingly few jump scares. You could count Jack embracing that woman who suddenly turns into a rotting corpse, but it doesn’t make you jump in your seat so much as squirm. One actual jump-in-your-seat moment is when Jack leaps out from behind a pillar and axes Dick Halloran, but for me, the best jump scare comes when little Danny is riding his big wheel down the hallway and turns the corner…only to see the Grady twins, who seem very alive (even though they’re supposed to be dead) and invite him to play. “Come and play with us, Danny,”—SMASH CUT TO THE TWINS HACKED UP INTO PIECES—“Forever, and ever…” Danny’s horrified reaction is the very same for those watching. It’s a quick insert shot, but it jars you and definitely sticks with you, despite only lasting a couple seconds. 

16. Signs (2002)

Is Signs about aliens, or is it really about faith and religion? Or both? Whatever the case, and whatever you think about this movie, it doesn’t change the fact that the reveal of the alien is truly terrifying. Joaquin Phoenix is watching home video footage on the news of a Spanish family at a child’s birthday party, and he’s totally invested, which makes us as viewers invested, and we feel like we’re right there with Joaquin crowded around the TV, trying to get a glimpse of this alien for the first time. We can’t see it, can’t see it, where is it…? THERE. It walks out for a split second and is gone. The kids scream. Joaquin gasps. It’s such a unique and frightening reveal for a movie creature, and when you watch it again, knowing the jump scare is coming, you can see the alien camouflaged against the plants a second before it steps out. That element makes this jump scare even more unique.

15. Psycho (1960)

Jump scares didn’t become as prevalent until the slasher genre picked up steam in the 1980’s, but Psycho is often considered to be a prototype for slashers to come, and it has some iconic jumps, too. Of course there’s the shower scene, and the scene where Norman Bates (dressed as his mom) rushes out of the bedroom and stabs the detective, sending him tumbling down the stairs, but for me Psycho’s best jump scare of all has to be the reveal that Mrs. Bates is not alive at all, when that chair gets turned around, and it’s just a gross, wrinkled skeleton. Up to that point, it seemed Mrs. Bates was murdering everyone, but to further confirm the truth, Norman runs in immediately after, wearing a wig and wielding that butcher’s knife. A disturbing revelation for a film that was way ahead of its time. 

14. Carrie (1976)

While Carrie has one of the most shocking extended scenes of horror when she gets her revenge on everyone at the prom, it also has one of the best jump scares, which director Brian de Palma saved right for the end. After Carrie is dead and her house has burned down and it seems everything’s over, we get a creepy scene with Sue Snell (the one who felt bad for Carrie this whole time) going to Carrie’s grave and laying flowers down. The music is angelic, the lighting is too bright, things seem off…then Carrie’s bloody arm reaches out of the ground and grabs her—which wakes Sue from her nightmare. A jump scare and “it was just a dream” combined, and it doesn’t even feel cheap. You leave this movie still feeling scared. 

13. The Thing (1982)

The Thing is largely about building tension (not knowing who the thing is), but it’s also punctuated by scenes of incredible practical effects (when the thing reveals itself), and in the scene where the doctor tries to resuscitate one of the men, the effects explode in a jaw-dropping jump scare. Defibrillation results in severed arms for the doctor, when he shouts “clear!”, puts the paddles down, and the man’s chest opens like a pair of jaws, revealing him to be the thing, and the jaws then slam shut, biting off the doctor’s arms. Pretty much every time the thing reveals itself (the dog’s face peeling like a banana, the blood leaping from the petri dish), it makes you jump, but the defibrillation scene is the most extreme and unexpected.   

12. The Conjuring (2013)

This is the most recent film on the list, but it has already become a huge franchise, with sequels and prequels and spinoffs, none of which have been able to top the scares of the original. Everyone remembers the hide and clap scene, where Lili Taylor is in the basement and lights up a match, and a pair of hands clap beside her face. While that definitely is a great jump scare, it didn’t freak me out nearly as much as the wardrobe scene. The young girl painstakingly goes up to the wardrobe, thinking someone or something is inside, and it turns out…to be vacant. *exhales breath being held*. Then, oh wait, what’s that on top—? CREEPY OLD LADY, and then she LEAPS DOWN at her. It’s the combo of the unexpected reveal and the direct attack that really got me. 

11. Friday the 13^th (1980)

If you want a prime example of slasher movie jump scares (and false scares, for that matter), look no further than the Friday the 13^th franchise. The original film, though, has the best jump scare of them all, and much like Carrie, it comes at the end for one last shit-your-pants moment. The final girl has defeated Mrs. Voorhees—the one behind the murders this entire time—and things seem like they’ll be okay. The police arrive, the music is calming, she’s safely floating out on the lake in a canoe—AHHHH ZOMBIE JASON LEAPS OUT OF THE LAKE AND PULLS HER IN! The first time I saw this, I couldn’t believe my eyes. It’s even in slow motion, which is pretty impressive because it still makes you jump, even though the slow-mo adds that buffer to process what you’re seeing.

10. Deep Blue Sea (1999)

This movie may have outdated cgi sharks, but it also has Samuel L. Jackson, so that’s pretty awesome. By 1999, Sam Jackson was already a big name actor. Deep Blue Sea is a mostly by-the-numbers sci-fi/survival/action flick, and once people start getting killed by the sharks, it seems obvious Sam Jackson will be one of the last left alive, especially when he starts giving the other characters an intense pep talk about halfway through the movie. “…we’re going to find a way to get out of here!” he declares. “First, we’re going to seal off this—” And then a shark jumps out of the water and grabs him, pulling him beneath the surface, where another shark comes up and they rip him in half. Damn. To quote Quicksilver, “you didn’t see that coming.” In retrospect, it looks really silly, but it gets major points for being so genuinely unanticipated.    

9. Spider-Man (2002)

This isn’t a horror flick, but it is from a filmmaker who has a horror background, so it’s not surprising that Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy has more than a few scenes that feel like something out of one of his Evil Dead films rather than out of a comic book. This is one of the few jump scares that made me jump even upon a repeat viewing, because it’s so quick, I actually forgot it happened (I was also pretty young when I first saw Spider-Man). Norman Osborne wakes up in his mansion on the floor, and when his son Harry asks him what he’s doing there, he takes a second to think. “Last night I was—” A clip of his Green Goblin transformation flashes on-screen with an ultra-loud burst of music, and it snaps right back to the scene, with Norman looking perplexed. This scared the hell out of me, it’s just so loud and fast and out of nowhere, but you know what other superhero movie has an even better jump scare?

 

8. The Dark Knight (2008)

Heath Ledger’s performance as The Joker and his diabolical schemes to plunge Gotham into chaos is what makes the second installment of Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy so creepy. The jump scare is fairly early in the movie, when Harvey Dent meets with Gotham’s mayor to talk. The mayor is talking, he gets up from his seat, looks out the window, and barely finishes what he’s saying when a Batman copycat with a noose around his neck SMACKS into the window, with the potent mix of a loud sound effect and Hans Zimmer’s score. For me, there are certain levels of scariness when it comes to jump scares, and this is on the level where I covered my face at the same time as leaping in my seat. It’s so rapid, I actually thought it might’ve been Batman for a split second the first time I saw it. If you weren’t already paying close attention to the movie by this point (how could you not be?) you definitely were after that.  

7. An American Werewolf in London (1981) 

There are a few great jump scares in this lycanthropic blend of hilarity and horror, but I can’t just pick one. These two tie for best, and they both occur in dreams. The first is when werewolf victim David dreams of running through the woods, and he happens upon a hospital bed, where he sees himself lying, and nurse Alex comes up to him. It’s quiet, well-lit, and seemingly innocent. Too innocent. Cut to a close-up of David, with a pale face, yellow eyes (that he opens rapidly) and fangs (which he bares), but it all occurs in a quick moment (with a sinister snarl, too) before cutting away. Effects master Rick Baker said it was a lot of work to create that makeup for what ended up being a one-second shot, but it was worth it for the powerful effect. The second jump scare is the dream within a dream, where it seems David is awake, but when Alex goes to open the curtains, a Nazi demon leaps out and stabs her. No music, just a shriek from the creature and the stabbing sound. Really freaky stuff. 

6. Poltergeist (1982) 

After the Freeling family survive the evil spirits that steal their daughter and turn their house upside down, you’d think they’d catch a break, right? Wrong. The young boy notices his clown toy isn’t where it’s supposed to be. With slow, drawn-out movements, he leans over the side of his bed, and YANKS up the sheet—but it’s not under his bed. Oh man, I remember thinking when watching for the first time, I thought for sure it would be under there, where—? He sits up and THERE’S THE CLOWN. It wraps its long arm around the kid’s neck, and his look of absolute terror makes the moment that much scarier. And so does the clown’s sinister cackle. And the music. Everything about this jump scare is traumatizing.  

5. Seven (1995)

This one seriously messed me up, and I know I’m not the only one. No scene in Seven is scarier than the one where Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman find the victim who fits the deadly sin of sloth—a man who was tied up in bed for a year. He’s skeletal, his eyes are covered, he has to be dead. Has to be. One of the cops leans over his gaping mouth and says “You got what you deserved.” A beat later, the presumed corpse COUGHS and WAKES UP. Everyone in the scene (and presumably everyone watching) freaks right out. It’s such a diabolically clever trick on director David Fincher’s part, and the jump scare isn’t just a quick scare that ends, it tunes us in to the reality that this guy we thought was dead is actually alive, and what that means for him, which is horrific in and of itself.  

4. The Ring (2002) 

2002 was a jumpy year. We had Spider-Man, Signs, and The Ring, the latter featuring the scariest jump of all three. It’s another unique example, because it isn’t scary due to accompanying loud, shrieking music—in fact, it’s accompanied by nothing more than a high-pitched shrieking tone, really. The mother of the girl who was killed by the evil video tape says to her sister, “I saw her face”, and it cuts to a closet door being pulled open, revealing the girl inside. Yet again, it’s Rick Baker’s makeup that makes it so horrific. Her face is gray, her eyes yellow, mouth in a warped gape. And then, her head falls forward. Remember, this all happens in a fleeting moment, but it’s the scene’s slow build-up beforehand that makes it have such an impact. I can just imagine an audience’s harmony of screams at this moment when it played in theaters. 

3. Jurassic Park (1993) 

The reason this one ranks so high is not just because it’s from a movie that’s decidedly not pure horror, but it’s perhaps the first jump scare I ever saw. Lots of people remember seeing Jurassic Park at a young age, and it’s a really intense thrill-ride with a classic Spielbergian mix of wonder and terror. The dinosaurs are really scary, especially the T. rex, but one of the dinos that’s teased as being even worse is the Velociraptor, though we don’t get a good look at them until long after the dinos are loose. We know they are out there. One of our heroes, Ellie, gets the power back on in the maintenance shed after a laborious effort. This is a huge moment. She declares with great joy, “Mr. Hammond I think we’re back in business!” SCREECH! VELOCIRAPTOR JUMPS OUT BEHIND HER! When I saw Jurassic Park in theaters during its 3D re-release, people screamed at that part. I’ve just seen it so many times I’ve become desensitized to it, but it’s not only an intense full reveal of the Velociraptor, it’s a perfectly timed jump scare with a satisfactory payoff.

2. Jaws (1975)

Steven Spielberg could never outdo his greatest jump scare, from what many call his greatest film of all. No, it’s not when the shark attacks Chrissy in the opening scene (a great one), or when it jumps out of the water as Chief Brody is chumming (another great one), or even when Hooper is in the shark cage (the second-best), it’s when Hooper investigates Ben Gardener’s boat. 

Hooper is underwater, at night, at the scene of a shark attack—the most-dangerous place you could possibly be, no doubt—but he knows what he’s doing, right? He peers into a hole on the boat, something floats out. A SHRIEK of music, sounding more like a scream than an instrument, at the perfect instant that your eyes adjust to what you’re seeing and you realize IT’S THE SEVERED HEAD OF BEN GARDENER! The iconic John Williams score has already been working to build the dread before this, making it a rare example of a jump not previewed by silence. This is the quintessential jump scare, but there’s only one other movie I can think of that has it beat…

1. Alien (1979) 

We began with the sequel, we end with the original. Best jump scare in Alien? Take your pick. This movie is the king of effective jump scares. I can’t narrow it down to just one, so I’ll highlight the top three in reverse order of effectiveness. When Dallas is in the airshaft, you know he’s going to die. Even though he has a flamethrower and a flashlight and the others are watching the radar, there’s no way he can get out of this alive. The Alien is coming, “Dallas it’s right behind you!” Lambert says. “Move, Dallas!” And the audience is right there with her, yelling at the screen. Dallas turns around, shines the light on something—THE ALIEN THROWS ITS HANDS OUT AT HIM, THERE’S A SCREAM, CUT TO A SCREECHING MICROPHONE. Bam. R.I.P Dallas. When you re-watch this scare, it looks laughable, honestly. The Alien looks like it’s going for a hug. But in the moment it happens, it’s so sudden and horrific (plus it’s the first time we’ve glimpsed the creature in what feels like forever) that it works. 

An even better jump scare is the very first one in the film, when Kane goes up to the hatching egg and peers inside. We don’t know what he’s going to see. It’s quiet. It’s still. Then THE FACEHUGGER LEAPS OUT OF THE EGG IN A FLASH OF LEGS AND SLIME AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT ELSE AND SMASHES INTO KANE’S HELMET and then cut to an exterior shot of the derelict ship, quiet again. It’s the ultimate deception. Up to this point, the movie has been very slow-moving, and even the moments leading up to the facehugger hatching have been deliberate. The egg’s petals open but it’s not too fast, the creature inside twitches but doesn’t move much, Kane is careful in his observations. Then it’s a heart attack moment. 

But the jump scare to end all jump scares is the scene that has become so iconic and so well-known, to see it with someone who has no idea what Alien is about would be a treat, just for their reaction. After the facehugger is removed and the crew sit down to dinner, things seem fine. Then Kane starts coughing. And you know there’s something wrong with him, something the Alien did, but what? He’s freaking out. And that’s when it happens. That first eruption of blood from his chest. I was told about the chestburster before I even saw the movie, but the knowledge beforehand only partly prepares you for it. It’s perhaps the most-shocking movie death since Janet Leigh in Psycho. It’s absolutely horrific. Oh, how people must have jumped when they saw that creature burst out in a geyser of blood. Filmmakers dream of creating a jump scare as legendary as that, but I’m not sure it can ever be equalled or topped.