In Defense of Jump Scares

Few phrases in horror criticism carry more disdain than "it's just jump scares." The implication is clear: jump scares are cheap, lazy, and beneath serious horror. But this dismissal is both unfair and incorrect.

A jump scare is simply a sudden, unexpected moment designed to startle the audience. The technique has been part of horror since at least the 1942 film Cat People, which gave us the "Lewton Bus" — a quiet scene suddenly interrupted by a loud but harmless noise.

The problem isn't jump scares themselves but how they're used. A bad jump scare is a loud noise with no setup or payoff. A great jump scare is the culmination of carefully built tension — the moment the coiled spring finally releases. Think of the birthday party scene in Signs, or the closet scene in The Ring, or the clap scene in The Conjuring.

These moments work because the filmmakers earned them through pacing, atmosphere, and character investment. We're scared because we care, and the jump scare provides the physical jolt that cements the emotional experience.

Dismissing jump scares wholesale means dismissing one of horror's most effective tools. The genre is big enough for both the slow burn of Hereditary and the sudden shock of Insidious. Both approaches have value, and the best horror films often combine them.