JUMMP SCARES MOVIE
JUMMP SCARES PROFESSIONAL

Danger threads its way through the peepholes and lattices of the Bates Motel long before Marion steps into the shower. The audience knows the owner is a voyeur who spies on undressed women, and they know the owner’s mother is an overbearing nut.

One of the first jump scares in history is also probably one of the most famous: the shower murder in Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 film “Psycho.” The erstwhile main character, Marion Crane, has just checked into a seedy motel. To understand this, we have to look at the purpose they served when they were first developed. It doesn’t feel fair to issue a blanket condemnation of jump scares without looking at why they’re used in the first place.

Some articles on filmmaking simply recommend they not be included at all.

JUMMP SCARES PROFESSIONAL

Modern re-evaluations, however can very easily tip into the opposite extreme – among some professional critics, jump scares are used as shorthand for uncreative horror-pablum. The list of the “jumpiest” films ever include such less-than-classics as “Scream 3” and “Silent Hill: Revelation.” It’s not difficult to see where they’re coming from – jump scares are often seen as a crutch for poorly made horror, delivering thrills when characters are weak. Pioneered in movies like “Cat People” and “Psycho,” jump scares have since evolved into an integral part of the horror genre YouTube is replete with compilations of cinema’s finest “boos,” while sites like “Where’s The Jump?” help prepare easily-shaken audience members for the scares as they come.Īs integral as they’ve been to many films, jump scares have been the subject of pushback in recent years, with video essayists and newspaper reviewers alike deriding them as cheap and overused shock tactics. Let’s face it: The jump scare – referring to a filmmaking technique where something jumps into frame to frighten the audience, usually accompanied by a loud noise – is the black sheep of horror filmmaking. On balance, reviewers conceded the film had some great, memorable jumps but those jumps weren’t enough to save the film from a mixed reception. Never, since my babysitting days, has a screaming child caused me so much distress. The crowd was thin but energetic they demanded more after every ridiculous twist and especially after every jump scare. Recently, I saw Orion Pictures’ latest horror flick, a yarn about evil kids titled “The Prodigy,” at a late-night showing at Third Street Promenade, Santa Monica. Lying in bed checking your phone? Chucky’s lurking right underneath. Grabbing a late night snack? Michael Myers is hiding in your pantry.

JUMMP SCARES MOVIE

Life after a horror movie is an exercise in paranoia.

Jummp scares