What is jumpscare? Know the technique of horror movies

Jumpscare is one of the oldest techniques in cinema, especially in horror and suspense films. It consists of showing elements on the screen, in a very exaggerated way, to frighten your viewers, making them “jump out of their seats”.

It began to be implemented back in the days of black and white cinema, and until today it is a tradition in films whose plot aims to terrify its spectators. However, not all works manage to reproduce the effect with mastery, especially nowadays

Today Minha Série explains better what jumpscare is, which films draw from this source, and the platforms to which the technique was exported. Check out!

What is jumpscare?

As stated earlier, jumpscare is a technique to frighten viewers. It can be implemented in several ways. The most traditional one is to increase the volume of the soundtrack, or to present a sound louder than the one playing in the scene, to provoke an astonishing reaction from those watching the work.

Final scene of Friday the 13th is one of the most famous to apply the jumpscare effectSource: Buzzfeed

With the advancement of technology, other elements helped to increase the realism of the scare scenes. Starting with the 3D glasses, which give the feeling that different elements of the screen are closer to the viewer in his chair.

The most recent one is presented in cinemas with special rooms. In some of them, there are accents that vibrate and move according to some scenes from the movies. In others, there is even the use of elements such as wind and water to enhance this realism.

There are wind and water movie theaters to increase the reality of the films being shownThere are wind and water movie theaters to increase the reality of the films being shownSource: Hollywood Reporter

Franchises famous for the jumpscare technique

Although the jumpscare technique is almost a rule among suspense films and, mainly, horror, there are those who go further and simply use it in an exaggerated way. In other words, they are films that abuse scares and end up tripping over their plots, or even the performance of their casts.

The most recent and most famous franchise for abusing jumpscare is Paranormal activity🇧🇷 For those who don’t know, the films try to give a more real tone, with views from footage of the actors themselves, and supposed security cameras from homes and other establishments.

The Paranormal Activity franchise brings movies full of jumpscare scenesSource: ABC

Allied to this “tone of reality”, the jumpscare is almost a supporting element of the plots. Still taking the franchise as an example, elements appear on the screen at all times that make the viewer jump, even more so because they are feature films without a soundtrack.

However, most of these scenes are not that scary. After all, anyone who is distracted, if you show up by surprise screaming or making noise, will easily startle them. The movie just puts that on the big screen.

The result is a critical failure. Especially in relation to their stories, which are full of holes in the plot, and little explored in the most interesting parts.

To complete, none of the films in the franchise brought no convincing performance, some even being jokes🇧🇷 In short, people who go to the movies have only one interest: to resist the constant scare attempts.

Due to the excess of scares and unexciting plot, the films in the franchise are always the target of criticism.Source: Reproduction / My Series

Jumpscare going beyond theaters

Jumpscare is a technique that is no longer exclusive to movies and is already present on other platforms. The main one is the games, where the horror genre causes its players to be constantly scared until the conclusion of the story.

Outlast 2 is an example of a game full of jumpscareSource: Steam

However, with video games there are still some aggravating factors. Like, for example, the vibration present in the joysticks of the main consoles, which makes the scare realism even greater.

And if that wasn’t enough, there are also virtual reality platforms, whose horror games literally put the player inside the scenes, and almost always very close to the terrifying events.

  • See more: Check out the 10 Worst Horror Movies in the World

Finally, jumpscare is also used in several internet pranks. There are several videos, especially the older ones, showing people interacting with a game where, near the end, a horrifying creature appears, emitting an extremely loud sound.

This is when there are no games where actors scare people on the streets dressed as mannequins, plants, etc.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1JRPcPQO0c

Now that you know what jumpscare is, you can search the internet for several films that are reference in the technique that makes the viewer jump out of the chair, watch it if you dare!

And in your opinion, Which movie uses jumpscare the best? Tell us on our social media!

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