The Shining (1980)
The Scare: The twins make an appearance, before suddenly morphing into a pair of hacked-up corpses. No wonder Danny shits a brick.
Brace Yourself When: The girls make their first appearance at the end of the corridor. Scary enough on their own, they’re about to get a whole lot scarier.
Audition (1999)
The Scare: Shigeharu calls the winner of the audition to become his wife, who is sitting by the ringing phone and a mysterious sack… that suddenly gives a groan and a start!
Brace Yourself When: The phone rings for the ninth time.
Insidious (2010)
The Scare: Any appearance by the demon, when he comes peeking out from one of the main character’s heads. Good Lord.
Brace Yourself When: Whenever there’s a close-up on a seemingly unthreatening character’s face. Just to be sure…
The Woman In Black (2012)
The Scare: Arthur Kipps peers through a keyhole into a locked room, only to be confronted by the pallid face of a creepy little girl.
Brace Yourself When: You might already have jumped at the shadow darting across the room. In reality, that’s when you should be tensing up…
Mulholland Drive (2001)
The Scare: A man tells his dining companion of a horrifying nightmare in which he discovers a terrible figure behind the dumpster of the diner in which they are eating. Sure enough, they head outside to investigate, and the figure is there!
Brace Yourself When: Our hero takes a peek behind the dumpster…
Dont Look Now (1973)
The Scare: Donald Sutherland thinks he’s tracked down the ghost of his dead daughter, only for the red-hooded figure to reveal itself as something far more malign.
Brace Yourself When: As soon as the figure begins to turn. You’re expecting one thing, and then something else entirely makes itself known!
Arlington Road (1999)
The Scare: Having confessed her fears concerning the Langs over a payphone, Brooke hangs up, only to find Cheryl Lang standing right behind her. It comes out of nowhere!
Brace Yourself When: Brooke starts wrapping up her call. Where could Cheryl be hiding, hmmm?
The Blair Witch Project (1999)
The Scare: The sight of Mike, stood facing the corner in the movie’s final scene, isn’t a jump scene in the conventional sense, but the jolt of horror it delivers is enough to ensure it qualifies. The stuff of nightmares.
Brace Yourself When: Heather descends to the basement. It’s all downhill from there…
Jaws #1 (1975)
The Scare: Brody is merrily slinging chum into the water when Bruce the shark suddenly rears his ugly head. Larger vessel required, Cap’n!
Brace Yourself When: As soon as Brody takes his eye off the ball, he nearly loses an arm!
Paranormal Activity (2007)
The Scare: Katie and Micah investigate the sound of breaking glass, only for Katie to stop dead, citing a sudden chill in the room. The tension builds for a second or two before a hair is softly blown across her face and the couple promptly lose their shit!
Brace Yourself When: The duo freeze in concentration. Who’d have imagined a puff of air could produce such a jump?
