10 Most Unexpected Time Jumps In Horror Movies
Nobody saw these leaps forwards or backwards in time coming.
Though not a staple of the genre, horror has never shied away from time travel or time manipulation, with a number of big projects using the mechanic to great effect.
Most of the time, a film will make it pretty clear that a character is about to take a trip either forwards or backwards through time, but on a few rare occasions, these trips through the fourth dimension have come as quite the shock to audiences and even to those characters involved.
This list will include "traditional" time jumps - i.e. when a specific character is displaced from their own time, either to the past or the future - as well as less conventional ones. Some of these films play with the concept of time as experienced by humans, which is definitely interesting, but also hella confusing if you haven't finished your quantum physics degree yet.
Naturally, there will be spoilers ahead, but if you don't mind that, then read on and enjoy some great time jumps from horror movies of the past... or are they from the future?
This is going to get difficult.
10. Missing - In The Tall Grass
Whilst most people think Pokémon when they think of wandering through long grass, this Canadian horror movie from 2019 takes it in an entirely new and terrifying direction.
Based on a novella written by Stephen King and his son Joe Hill, In the Tall Grass follows Becky, a pregnant woman, and her brother Cal as they get lured into a field by a mysterious presence and must fight for survival.
The grass plays several wicked tricks on its victims, including playing around with their perception of distance and, as it transpires, time. Becky and Cal are hiding out in the grass when they hear the voice of Travis, the father of Becky's unborn child. When they find him, they're relieved to see a familiar face, but that relief turns to terror when he informs them that they have been missing for two months.
Not only are Becky and Cal in shock, but the audience is too, as there had been no previous indication that so much time had passed since the protagonists first got lost.
The moral of the story? Never underestimate what appears to be just a humble plant.