The Failure of Jump Scares

Ouija (2014)

For many years jump scares have been used as a tactic in horror, and when well executed a perfectly used jump scare can be the most memorable and effective scene in a wonderfully frightening film. However, this is not usually the case. Rather than carefully executing jump scares with precision and intense scares, they're wasted on useless instances meant to make the audience flinch or feel momentarily startled rather than deeply frightened. For example, how many horror movies have you seen where a character looks at something ominous, only to be violently startled by a friend jumping up from behind them yelling "hello" as a sound added in post production rings in loudly to make the audience flinch? It's a tactic which wastes the audience's tension on release rather than providing further tension, and it's a tactic which makes for cheap horror movies which end up being more irritating than they are truly frightening.

Take, for example, horror movies such as the Insidious series. These films contain many jump scares, but when these scares are included they're effective and absolutely horrifying due to the fact that they accompany something truly frightening rather than a false alarm to relieve the tension followed closely by the "real" scare. The fact that every scare in these films is real and actually earned makes for a much more intense and horrifying viewing experience that keeps the viewer on the edge of her seat from beginning to end, because she knows that each scare will be real and will not be an attempt to fake her out in some sick practical joke that neglects the sincerity of creating art in the horror film genre.

On the opposite end of the spectrum, I have noticed films taking advantage of a scare which is the exact opposite of the sudden startling jump scare. For example, the more recent (and fantastic) horror films It Follows and Babadook have jump scares, but they also have something else entirely, they have slow creeping scares. Rather than seeing a villain jump out with a startling noise, these films' creators have realized just how absolutely mortifying it can be to watch the monster crawl out slowly toward the camera, forcing the audience to stare unflinchingly into the very face of evil as it approaches slowly, taking its sweet time with thudding music and horrifying sounds accompanying the imagery.

There is not one true way to make a horror film, and jump scares can still be a very effective way to frighten audiences, but the abuse and constant repetition of jump scares can be absolutely exhausting as it wears audiences down and serves to irritate rather than frighten. Bearing that in mind, this is my humble plea that filmmakers opt for originality in their scares. If a jump scare is the only way to handle a scene and truly make it frightening, then absolutely go for it, but there are plenty of scenes which would be much more horrifying as the slow creeping scares previously described, in which the audience is forced to watch helplessly with no hope for the scene unfolding before them ever coming to a close. Horror is a beautiful and magnificent genre, so let's work together to ask more of our horror movies and expect truer and deeper scares rather than what recent releases have been providing us.