The Origin of the Jump Scare

From Lewton Bus to Modern Horror: Tracing the Evolution of the Jump Scare

The jump scare is deeply woven into the DNA of horror cinema. Those jolting moments of popped tension, pounding scores, and flashing images make audiences jerk back and shriek instinctively. But the reign of terror inflicted by jump scares stretches back much further than many viewers realize. What began as the subtle “Lewton bus” in early horror has exploded into a hallmark of modern fright films. Tracking the progression of the jump scare reveals how a pivotal scene in 1942 shaped fears for decades to come.

Master of Suspense – Val Lewton

In horror’s early era, producer Val Lewton crafted subtler scares on a shoestring budget. After RKO Pictures tasked him with making cheap, scare-filled B-movies in the 1940s, Lewton relied more on atmosphere and suggestion than obvious monsters. This approach epitomized his first production, Cat People, about a woman convinced she’ll transform into a deadly panther.

To build tension, Cat People utilized shadowy lighting and eerie sound design to hint at unseen threats. In one famous scene, a passenger named Alice is stalked down a deserted nighttime street. As Alice’s footsteps hurry faster, the ominous clacking of an pursuer’s heels follows her – but nobody is there. The scene’s fear emerges from what is felt but not seen.

After ratcheting up the tension excruciatingly, Cat People subverts expectations with a new sound tearing through the silence. A bus suddenly swoops in, brakes screeching. This “Lewton bus” (see below) of transforming a harmless object into a jump works because of the meticulous suspense build-up.

This influential fright would echo through horror history, birthing the modern jump scare. As Lewton demonstrated, not showing the danger is often more frightening than confronting it.

William Castle’s Interactive Frights

Another innovator of scare tactics was “King of the Gimmicks” William Castle, who turned theaters into centers of sensory terror. For his 1959 film The Tingler about a murderous parasite, Castle rigged theater seats with electric buzzers to simulate the creature crawling up viewers’ spines. He also had horror elements interact with audiences, like House on Haunted Hill’s skeleton gliding over the crowd in 1959.

Castle’s interactive scares, while gimmicky, revealed the power of making viewers feel part of the fear. His stunts played on a primal part of our brain that convinces us to believe the imagined is real. Castle proved jump scares need not just exist on screen – the theater itself could become a zone of thrills.

THE BLOODY RISE OF SLASHER HORROR

As horror trended bloodier in the 1970s and 80s, jump scares fittingly grew more visceral. The slasher sub-genre mastered jolting viewers with graphic demises of victims, often punctuated by shrieking musical stings.

In 1974’s Black Christmas, a murder suspect hides in a sorority house’s attic, lunging out to kill. 1976’s Carrie turned this formula into box office gold, its twisted take on high school ending with a hand thrusting from a grave. Halloween and Friday the 13th perfected the formula, pairing teens in peril with a lurking killer ready to strike any moment.

These films made the jump scare a centerpiece of horror, with killers materializing from the shadows. Loud sound cues and bursts of violence announced their arrival. Visceral turns replaced subtle tricks, but the DNA traced back to Cat People’s formative street scene.

DIMINISHING RETURNS IN THE MODERN ERA

In contemporary horror films overloaded with jump scares, their effectiveness risks diminishing. Too many false shocks trains viewers to be perpetually tense rather than genuinely surprised. Some critics argue jump scares demonstrate a lack of confidence in atmosphere and storytelling alone engaging audiences.

But well-crafted jump scares remain potent. The Conjuring films maximize fright by extensively building tension before landing seamless scares. In Sidnay’s 2022 Scream revival, a killer asks “You ready for Act 3?” before leaping from behind a wall, acknowledging the calculated formula.

These self-aware takes showcase that jump scares, when thoughtfully woven into narratives, still thrill. But horror masters understand less is more – with anticipation the scariest scene is in viewers’ minds.

Why We Can’t Resist the Jump

The undiminished power of jump scares owes partly to biology. The intense startle reaction comes from our brain’s amygdala, which controls fear responses. When anticipating a fright, our anxiety peaks, priming an amplified shocked reaction.

According to American Psychologist Dolf Zillman’s excitation transfer theory, residual arousal from an initial emotion can intensify responses to later stimuli. This may explain enjoyment of horror films – the intensity of fear during suspense heightens the thrill when shocks or relief follow. The residual arousal amplifies pleasure after jump scares.

Combined with filmmakers skillfully manipulating tension, this involuntary response means even the most hardened horror hounds can’t fully resist an artfully staged jump scare. The primitive lizard part of our brain simply won’t allow it.

Looking Ahead in Horror

The jump scare’s future remains vibrant so long as audiences crave the endorphin rush of a spike in heart rates and adrenaline. Streaming horror fare like The Haunting of Hill House balances story and jumps for maximum effect.

At their best, well-constructed jump scares release tension like steam from a valve. The key insight from pioneers like Lewton is less about startling than the artful build-up. Patience and atmosphere set the stage for the briefest moment of pure fright.

Nearly 80 years since that fateful bus screeched onscreen, Cat People’s DNA endures. No matter how many times we steel our nerves, a masterfully crafted jump scare transports us back to the dark, primal place where we still fear the unseen terrors lurking in the shadows.

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