20 Horror Movies Everyone Remembers For Just One Scene

20. The Exorcist III - THAT Jump Scare

The Exorcist III received mixed reviews at the time of release and didn't pump the box office with money, but it has been remembered nevertheless for this exceptional jump scare. This scare technique often gets a bad rep, yet this one is practically perfect. 

In an agonizingly drawn-out sequence, a nurse is wandering the corridors of an asylum and running various errands. Most of this is filmed in a static long shot of the corridor, and the stillness is absolutely eerie, with the poor nurse being a distant, powerless figure overwhelmed by the corridor's creepy ambience. 

Occasionally, the camera cuts to show the insides of various rooms, and in one of those, a patient jumps out at the nurse. Viewers will falsely believe that that's the big pay-off, but it isn't. 

After leaving a particular room, that static long shot of the hallway finally moves. It violently crash-zooms on the nurse as she walks along, pursued by a hooded figure wielding sharp garden shears, all accompanied by a screeching sound effect. Absolutely brown-trousering stuff! 

This being so iconic is a double-edged sword. Thanks to this scene's notoriety, it's likely that more people have discovered The Exorcist III, but on the other hand, it's annoying that the film just gets remembered for this one scare. The Exorcist III is a fantastic sequel and arguably one of the most underrated horror pictures of all time; this moment is just one of the many brilliant things about it.