10 Most Terrifying Jump Scares In Horror Movie History

5. The Shining (1980)

Warner Bros. Pictures

The Movie: Stephen King and Stanley Kubrick. Together, their disturbed yet brilliant minds created The Shining, one of the most acclaimed horror movies of all time. The story follows Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson), a recovering alcoholic who works as a caretaker for the Overlook Hotel. As a snowstorm descends, the family are trapped in the retreat with a supernatural presence that is hellbent on turning Torrance against his wife and son...

The Scare: As Torrance's son Danny (Danny Lloyd) peddles his big wheel through the eerily quiet hotel, we follow behind in a long steadicam shot. All the viewer can hear is the steady grind of the wheels as we turn each corner until suddenly, Danny's psychic abilities kick in and we come face to face with the ghosts of the Grady twins. As if that wasn't terrifying enough, Kubrick then cuts quickly to show the corpses of the two girls, murdered with an axe.

Empty hallways are always scary and the angle of the shot makes it look like the Grady girls are staring right at us. The music, the framing, the acting... everything comes together perfectly here to create one of the most memorable moments in horror movie history. "Come and play with us Danny. Forever and ever and ever..."

Contributor
Contributor

David is a primary school teacher who tries his best to turn every math lesson into a discussion on the latest Pixar film. Passions include superheroes, zombies and Studio Ghibli. In between going to the cinema, moving to South Korea and eating his body weight in KFC, David writes for a number of movie sites, http://becarefulyourhand.blogspot.co.uk/