Top 5 Jump Scares in Film History

Here at Krakit Escape Room, one of our favourite things in films and in our escape games is the jump scare. Why? Because it’s the best part of being a horror fan—it’s what we’re all waiting for and simultaneously what we’re all dreading.

The music starts to get all intense and screechy or, alternatively, everything drops dead silent. And then—WHAM. It’s got you. Because there are two essential parts to any good jump scare: the build up and the actual scare. One just can’t exist without the other.

Below we list our top five perfectly built up and perfectly executed jump scares. (Spoilers ahead!)

5. Alien (1979)—Dallas’s death in the air vents

In Alien, it’s the ping, ping, pinging of the motion tracker that builds much of the suspense the franchise is known for. And this scene is no exception. Nostromo captain Dallas crawls into the pitch-black vents in an attempt to force the xenomorph into the airlock, and then out into outer space. We watch, breathlessly, as the pings of his tracker getting ever more frequent.

Unfortunately, the alien has the upper hand in the dark, cramped space of the air vents, popping up out of the blackness to end it all for Dallas, in one of cinema’s classics jump scares.

4. It Follows (2014)—The bedroom scene

A primary reason It Follows has been named one of the best horror films in recent years is it’s perfect use of music to build up tension. It uses a classic screeching horror score in combination with dead silence to pull off some masterful scare jumps. This scene, where a tall man suddenly enters Jay’s bedroom, is one of the film’s best.

3. Mulholland Drive (2001)—Diner dream scene

Though more of a thriller than a horror, David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive has one of the most perfectly controlled jump scares out there. The very simple yet incredibly eerie build up—during which a man tells another man of a strange dream he had about the very diner they’re sitting in—is what makes this one of the best.

The slow switch from reality to dream and the two men’s incredibly tense walk from the diner to the alleyway behind it—to see if the dream holds true—means that absolutely anything that awaited them at the end of that walk would have the audience jumping from their seats.

2. The Descent (2005)—The night vision scene

The Descent doesn’t just have a few choice jump scares, but actually employs the jump scare formula throughout the entire film. The “atmosphere” comes courtesy of the labyrinthine and claustrophobic cave chain the protagonists are stuck in, and the “scare” comes courtesy of the creatures that are down there with them, just waiting to pop out.

The creatures’ first appearance, in the night vision scene, is just the cherry on top of a perfectly nerve-wracking film with several acutely scary moments.

1. The Shining (1980)—Danny’s tricycle ride

This granddaddy of all jump scares has an incredibly long build up and a flawless payoff.

We watch little Danny Torrance take the most terrifying bicycle ride in history, with every corner he turns becoming more and more stressful. With one major false start at the middle that makes the audience drop its guard too early, the scene’s grand finale—the sudden appearance of the Grady twins—is almost more than a viewer can take.

At Krakit, we employ live actors to spice up our eerie atmospheres with a right good scare. But remember, the jumps you get at Krakit Vancouver Escape Room are all in good fun! There’s never any real danger.