20 INSANE Horror Movie Moments You'll Never Stop Thinking About

16. The Hospital Jump Scare - The Exorcist III

The Exorcist III has undergone a well-deserved re-evaluation in recent years, yet for all the film's merits, there's one scene above all others that's stamped on the brains of anyone who's seen it.

Jump scares get a bad rap for being cheap and lazy, and in fairness they so often are, but The Exorcist III lays claim to perhaps the very best the genre has ever served up.

Halfway through the film, a nurse goes to check on a patient in their room at the hospital, captured through a completely ordinary, locked-off tripod shot in the hospital's hallway.

The nurse goes into the room, comes back out and then locks it up, but just as she turns around, the door suddenly opens and a nun carrying garden shears emerges behind her, as we violently snap-zoom in.

Director (and The Exorcist author) William Peter Blatty then cuts to a decapitated statue, the brilliant editing making the outcome clear even though we never actually see the gory result for real.

This is such a brilliantly jolting moment, especially if you don't know it's coming, and proves that great jump scares require a masterful combination of smart choreography, thoughtful blocking, and perfectly timed editing.