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  1. Entertainment
  2. Movies

50 Terrifying Movie Jump Scares

Features
By George Wales published 17 October 2012

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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…

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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?

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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?

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George Wales
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George was once GamesRadar's resident movie news person, based out of London. He understands that all men must die, but he'd rather not think about it. But now he's working at Stylist Magazine.

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