Watch This Supercut of Film Jump Scares (If You Dare)

Spoiler alert: This post contains minor spoilers for 40 films, which are listed in the caption for the video.

The jump scare—a technique commonly used in horror movies to illicit a surprised reaction from audiences during a particularly tense or scary scene—is often written off as a cheap trick used to prop up bad films. But when done well and with purpose, jump scares can add genuine fright and terror.

Burger Fiction created the supercut above, highlighting some of the best jump scares of the past several decades. The YouTube video pieces together short clips from a mix of both horror and non-horror films. Scenes from The Exorcist III (1989), Jaws (1975), Carrie (1976), Friday the 13th (1980), and Scream (1996) made the cut, as did newer but just as effective moments from Insidious (2010) and Paranormal Activity 2 (2010).

If you frighten easily, you may not want to watch this one with the lights on.

A version of this story ran in 2016; it has been updated for 2022.

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