A-Z of Horror: J is for Jump Scares

The horror trope that continues to deliver

In my personal opinion, the best horror movies are the ones that play with your emotions during the entire run time. If you spend the entire time thinking that all the characters are dumb and deserve to die, things tend to become a little tedious. The moment you start rooting for someone or feel a level of empathy for a character; you find yourself sucked into their world.

There are a lot of ways in which good horror movies play with your emotions outside of the characters. Music is one way to do that. You can tell that a critical moment is coming when the soundtrack takes on a scary tone. The again, when things get quiet, that can also be a sign that things are about to kick off. It is in those quiet moments that jump scares become part of the equation.

Perhaps it is because the quiet speaks to a sense of calm that we end up getting caught out by a well-placed jump scare. Even if you are sure that a scare is coming, you often find yourself still somehow surprised by it. This is especially true if there have been several such moments within the movie where the scare did not arrive as expected.

The Problem With Jump Scares

Now, I will say that there are horror movie tropes that I love, while there are others that I am legitimately tired of. Jump scares fall somewhere in the middle for me. If they are used too often or as filler in a story that is poor, they are annoying. If, on the other hand, they are done in a way that legitimately works, then you are looking at an infusion of fight or flight that can keep you off balance for the remainder of the viewing experience.

My Favorite Jump Scares

I am going to go with two different scares here, one of which actually made me yell out loud in the theater. I’ll get to that one in a moment, but let’s start with The Conjuring. For me, the first movie is still the best in the bunch. The scene where the mother is at the top of the cellar stairs and the hands clap right behind her is the stuff of nightmares. Definitely creepy, but it is Se7en that goes to the top of the jump scare list for me. The scene where they are examining what they believe to be a dead body, only to have that damn person go off is about as horrible as it gets. Yes, I yelled out loud and almost punched my buddy in the face when that scene played out.

It goes without saying that these two movies are my picks for this week. I usually toss in a book, too, but I’m not so sure the written word applied to the world of jump scares. If I’m wrong, please do share a book that worked for you in that way.

That is all I have for this week, but I shall return next week with the next in the A-Z of Horror series. Hope to see you all then.