Take the effective use of jump scares in the first Insidious (2010), especially the jump scare that takes place when the red-faced demon appears behind Josh (Patrick Wilson).

When it is used the audience needs to be invested in the character who is being scared. If modern horror film directors want to continue using the jump scare technique, they should make sure that it isnвЂ™t used too often. Whereas the sensation of being well and truly scared is having your entire sense of reality and safety being destroyed, and becoming vulnerable in the open. Being startled is like getting a paper cut the pain is sudden, sharp, stinging and unpleasant, but you forget about it immediately. However, being startled is not the same thing as being scared. These jump scares do not scare, but rather they startle. With this type of jump scare, there is almost always a music cue with the director believing the audience isnвЂ™t quite intelligent enough to work out what is meant to be scary. Perhaps the laziest example of this type of jump scare occurs in The Amityville Horror (1979), where the source of the mysterious noise is nothing more than an innocent cat jumping through an open window. In normal life, things like these always occur and they very rarely scare us. We can see the jump coming a mile off the main character will be alone in a creepy situation, where it is dark and quiet, then suddenly thereвЂ™ll be a hand grabbing their shoulder, or a cat will jump out from the shadows, a friend/neighbour will knock on the window, or the phone will ring. Often considered an example of lazy writing, the jump scare seems like a guaranteed way to get the audience to respond to the film. Horror works best when it comes across as something that canвЂ™t quite be explained, and something that our brains canвЂ™t quite process. Compare this scene to the remake, and the gracefulness and surrealism have been lost.

Even the famous pigвЂ™s blood scene at the prom is done in slow motion, like a dream taking place in front of our eyes. For the rest of CarrieвЂs runtime, there havenвЂ™t been any further examples of the jump scare being used. Unlike the jump scares that we have become accustomed to, the jump scare here is unexpected, as the source material that it is based upon does not end this way. The director matches up the cut of CarrieвЂ™s hand to SueвЂ™s motherвЂ™s hand as she wakes Sue up. Just as she places the flowers on the ground, a hand bursts out from the ground and starts to drag her down. Carrie appears to have died, and her classmate Sue is seen at the end of the film coming to lay flowers on CarrieвЂ™s grave. The jump scare was often a technique that was saved for towards the end of the film to give the audience one last scare before the credits rolled take Carrie (1976) for example. The fear you feel is your body trying to warn you too late. If executed properly, the jump scare can, wellвЂ¦ scare! The sudden scare will cause your body to put itself in a defensive position and try to ready itself for battle in case youвЂ™re in danger. Often a writer or director will decide to hold onto the jump scare before inserting it into the film, usually at points where the viewer is not expecting anything alarming to happen, or it can be used as the sudden payoff to a long period of suspense.

The jump scare technique intended to scare the audience by surprising them with an abrupt change in image or event, usually occurring with a loud, frightening sound. If used correctly, the jump scare can help shock and strike fear into the audience. Aside from the odd jump scare, towards the ending of the film, the horror of The Shining is watching a character descend into madness. How many of your favourite horror films rely on the jump scare? I suspect that many of what we consider a good horror film have very few.

Jump scare