Misc
A Beginner’s Guide to Jump Scares

Jump scares get a bad rap. In the horror discourse, they’re often dismissed as cheap and tawdry ways to get audiences on the edge of their seats, like a bargain basement replacement for the psychological thrills of more “important” horror movies. But the fact is, jump scares are a vital ingredient in the horror pantry, and they can be used to propel artful masterpieces just as much as popcorn-munching chillers.
A Step By Step Guide to Overcoming Jump Scares
However, even if you agree with that assessment, some people just aren’t built for jump scares. If you or someone you love is interested in seeing certain jump scare-focused movies but can’t control a viscerally negative reaction to those roller coaster thrills, I have prepared a three-step program to help teach you how to watch them and wean you onto the really gnarly nerve-janglers. (Full disclosure: I’m on step 3 with someone very close to me right now, and so far it’s doing the trick).
For the purposes of the following examples, I’m going to assume you are the horror fan who wants to eventually show a particularly scary movie to someone else, so we’ll refer to that person as the Scaredy Cat.
Step 1: Hop
Depending on where your friend/partner/family member/dark passenger is in their horror fandom, you may have to start them at the very beginning to build up some jump scare stamina.
First, we should start with true gateway movies, titles that are aimed specifically at children. There are quite a few scary moments in iconic children’s classics, so maybe they’ve already been exposed to some of them. Think Large Marge in Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, Fizzgig popping out of the tree stump in The Dark Crystal, or the screaming book in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (I don’t recommend giving J.K. Rowling any more money by paying to watch this, but if you’re a millennial or younger, you probably have a copy lying around or know somebody who does).
If they haven’t experienced any of these delectable kindertrauma offerings as a child, then sit them down for some essential viewing. The filmmakers behind these kinds of movies intend to scare the audience, but only a little, couching these moments in off-kilter but more family-friendly aesthetics that will allow viewers to process their fear in a safe environment.
Step 2: Skip
Once that step is done, I recommend viewing some iconic horror shorts like David F. Sandberg’s Lights Out, Andy Muschietti’s Mamá, or Parker Finn’s Laura Hasn’t Slept. While these can be mighty scary, and in my opinion, frequently scarier than the feature films they inspired, they all tend to follow a certain rhythm. Make sure your Scaredy Cat is very prepared going in. Don’t try to have fun at their expense.
Have your Scaredy Cat try to focus on the way the short film is trying to scare them, how it builds tension continuously into one quick release. With shorts like this, there is usually just one jump scare at the very end, so they can rest assured that they will have as much recovery time as they need afterward. Also, knowing the run time of the short ahead of watching it can help them keep an eye on exactly when the scare is coming.
Watching a few shorts in a row can be an excellent guide to how filmmakers craft the scares that are dotted throughout their features, but in a bite-size package that’s slightly easier to swallow.
Step 3: Jump
If your Scaredy Cat has proven themselves willing and able to pass steps 1 and 2, it’s time for the final showdown. This is where you dip their toe into feature-length horror for adults. While this step will look slightly different for everyone, there are two routes you can take depending on what type of movie fan they are.
Route 1: The Franchise
This is the route I’m using with my personal Scaredy Cat. If they are a completist who likes exploring the full breadth of a franchise, they might not be able to resist a horror series with slightly stronger continuity or more built-out lore, like Paranormal Activity, Insidious, and Scream. They might be scared by the movies, but it may also be difficult for them to resist the urge to find out what happens next. These franchises also usually have an escalation of scares as they go along, naturally weaning your Scaredy Cat onto scarier and scarier movies.
Now these franchises will inevitably have entries that are worse than others, but having the conversation about which are your favorites and why is also a useful tool for having them engage with the franchise in a way that isn’t solely about jump scares. Also, if Insidious is the franchise you choose, it’ll clue them into the James Wan style of jump scare, which is very common in modern horror and could come in handy for future movies.
Route 2: The Familiar Face
Another route would be to find a movie that stars or features an actor they love from something else. If they love Daniel Radcliffe, for instance, The Woman in Black is a very good place to start. Are they a Buffy fan? Maybe The Grudge, starring Sarah Michelle Gellar. Well… maybe. Don’t @ me if that one doesn’t go well, this all depends on who they like. But seeing a star they enjoy might be the carrot that helps them get over the stick of jump scares.
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If you’ve completed all these steps and your Scaredy Cat’s heart hasn’t exploded, then they might just be ready to approach the big guns like The Conjuring, It: Chapter One, The Descent, and [REC]. Jump scares still may never be their cup of tea. But at least they will have the tools to recognize when one is coming and the experience under their belt to know they can handle it when it does.
Misc
8 Iconic Slasher Movie Final Girls Who Have Sex And Survive
There is a plethora of final girls, even in iconic slasher movies, who do have sex and get to live. Some come from movies that are intentionally bucking this trope, and some star in movies that came out during the time when the trope was being firmly cemented. Here are nine of them. They are ranked, because it’s a list, but very loosely. I organized them mainly by how much them having sex figures into the story or feels like it “matters” in a historical context. Here are a list of eight final girls who have sex.

For “Fatal Attraction” month at Horror Press, I really felt that we needed to further investigate the “sex = death” trope in modern horror cinema, particularly slasher movies. The connection between sex and death in slashers, and virginity and survival, has been discussed by some of our leading academics, from Carol J. Clover to Randy Meeks. And it’s true that many slasher movie final girls are virgins. Or at least, that their survival is linked to them not being distracted by indulging in the same base desires for hooking up, smoking dope, etc. as everyone else around them. Frankly, I think that an ability to pay attention is really their strongest attribute on average, but that’s not fun enough to write essays about, I guess.
Anyhoo, there is a plethora of final girls, even in iconic slasher movies, who do have sex and get to live. Some come from movies that are intentionally bucking this trope, and some star in movies that came out during the time when the trope was being firmly cemented. Here are nine of them. They are ranked, because it’s a list, but very loosely. I organized them mainly by how much them having sex figures into the story or feels like it “matters” in a historical context.
8 Horror Movies Where the Final Girl Has Sex
#8 Jade Kincaid in Bride of Chucky (1998)
I’ve tried to limit this list to characters who have explicitly had sex that is either part of the narrative or directly addressed in the dialogue. To my recollection, neither of these things are true of Jade, but she gets married to her horny boyfriend then they wake up in bed together in the Niagara Falls hotel, and they seem mighty comfortable with the amount of closeness that they’ve been able to share on their deadly road trip, even with Chucky and Tiffany breathing down their necks. So I’m gonna count her.
#7 Jess in Black Christmas (1974)
Jess came into the picture a good half-decade before the slasher rules were really codified, which is why she’s ranked a little lower. And frankly, the implications of the final scene make it hard to claim that she “survived” the movie. But she’s still a final girl in an iconic proto-slasher, and her storyline (and one of the main reasons that her boyfriend is a suspect) involves her arguing about wanting to get an abortion. Zygotes don’t just come out of nowhere, y’all.
#6 Jessica Kimble in Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)
Jessica Kimble’s situation is a double whammy. Not only does she have a baby with her ex, the total drip Steven, her horrible new boyfriend Robert later brags on the phone about having had sex with her after stealing her mother’s body from the morgue. She may not know how to pick ‘em, but she is sexually active and is one of the finalest final girls there is, considering she sends Jason Voorhees (and the entire Friday the 13th franchise) straight to hell.
#5 Laurie Strode in Halloween H20: Twenty Years Later (1998)
Now, this is notable because Laurie Strode is one of the characters who first cemented the “virginal final girl” trope, whether rightly or wrongly. There’s something of a question as to whether she’s actually a virgin or if she’s just better at babysitting than her terrible friends. But her triumphant return in Halloween H20 proves once and for all that she has had sex with, well, somebody, because she spit out a teenage kid with terrible bangs in the meantime. I secretly hope the father is Jimmy from Halloween II, but if wishes were fishes, every Halloween fan could open a sushi restaurant.
#4 Maxine Minx in X (2022)
Maxine Minx stars in a porno movie and survives Pearl’s murderous onslaught so hard that the sequel is named after her. Now that’s power!
#3 Alice Johnson in A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child (1989)
In addition to the Dream Master’s unborn child being central to the storyline of the sequel, the conception of said child is depicted in the opening credits, which is mainly just shots of writhing flesh that are so close up you have no idea what body part you’re actually looking at. But if that’s not sex, I couldn’t possibly begin to tell you what it is.
#2 Ginny Field in Friday the 13th Part 2 (1980)
Ginny Field hooking up with her boyfriend Paul (while the peeping Crazy Ralph gets garroted with barbed wire, natch) in the early going of the movie is important in a variety of ways. First of all, Friday the 13th was the franchise that most dominated the pantheon of 1980s slasher filmmaking, cementing the rules of the slasher formula more than any other group of movies. The fact that one of their earliest final girls more or less explicitly had sex just goes to show that the trope already had cracks in its foundation from the beginning. And OK, technically, she just makes out super hard with Paul, and then it cuts to the next morning, but she’s surprised when she wakes up, and he’s not still in bed with her. The fact that they had sex is simple cinematic language, babyyyyyyy!
The second is that, not only is she a final girl who has sex, she is one of the best final girls out there, using every tool at her disposal to protect herself from Jason: her intellect, her strength, her skill with tools, and so much more.
#1 Sidney Prescott in Scream (1996)
Scream is the movie that helped fully cement the “virginal final girl” trope with Randy’s big speech in front of a paused Halloween, but it simultaneously turns that trope on its head by having iconic final girl Sidney not only have sex, but (spoiler) have sex with one of the killers! And not only did she survive Scream, she survived Scream 2, Scream 3, Scream 4, the other Scream, and… I guess we’ll have to see about Scream 7, but the gal has a hell of a track record.
Misc
10 Romantic, Dread-Inducing Movies You Can Watch On Shudder This Valentine’s Day
Love is in the air, and all the romantic horror movies you could want are online. More specifically, they’re on Shudder! As a fanatic for the streaming platform who has had quite a few movie nights saved by its catalog serving up something wild and weird to delight the senses (shoutout the boatloads of weird old Italian horror on there), Shudder can also be your hero when spending time with the person you fancy. No matter how deep into a relationship or how new it is, there are quite a few films to suit you and your significant other this Valentine’s Day. So I’ve compiled a short list of the best horror movies on Shudder for that special date night. These are the 10 best horror movies for you date night!

Love is in the air, and all the romantic horror movies you could want are online. More specifically, they’re on Shudder! As a fanatic for the streaming platform who has had quite a few movie nights saved by its catalog serving up something wild and weird to delight the senses (shoutout the boatloads of weird old Italian horror on there), Shudder can also be your hero when spending time with the person you fancy.
No matter how deep into a relationship or how new it is, there are quite a few films to suit you and your significant other this Valentine’s Day. So I’ve compiled a short list of the best horror movies on Shudder for that special date night.
10 Best Horror Movies for Your Next Date Night
Audition (1999)
Ah, here we have a lighthearted comedy about a man who auditions for a woman to be his wife but realizes he’s looking for love in all the wrong places!
If you know what Audition is actually like, that was funny. But if you aren’t aware, please don’t take that opening line seriously. Directed by Takashi Miike, a man whose name is branded on Japanese cinema’s back with a hot iron because of his transgressive filmmaking, Audition was one of those films I would see regularly included on “Disturbing Horror” lists back in the late 2010s, and it certainly lives up to that reputation with some of the absolutely nauseating visuals it has on offer. But its cinematography is very well-rounded and garners some pretty interesting shots with its camera work when it isn’t showing you its more spine-tingling content.
This one is on the list as a staunch reminder for all our Horror Press readers who are as single as a pringle this Valentine’s Day: there are much worse things you can endure than being alone.
Frankenhooker (1990)
Between Nosferatu in 2024, and the forthcoming Guillermo Del Toro Frankenstein in 2025, gothic horror that is red with romantic blood is proudly making a comeback. There’s a warmth in their cold nature, a world-ending and monstrous expression of love that captures the grand emotions of the human experience.
Frankenhooker is not that. It is purely fun, goofy, slapstick horror about a guy giving a bunch of sex workers super-crack that makes them explode, and then rebuilding his girlfriend who died in a lawnmower accident with their body parts. Frank Henenlotter permanently put himself in my short list of best directors of all time with this film just because of how fluidly and perfectly he made this horror comedy work with such a small budget and the many constraints he, the cast, and the crew were working under. So, if there’s anything this film represents on this list, it’s the intimate bond between a creator and their creation, between artist and their art.
Which, again, is kind of hilarious given the premise of the film. But it still counts!
Tragedy Girls (2017)
If you’ve ever seen the meme about that gay ancient Egyptian couple who are dubbed “history’s first roommates”, that’s kind of how I feel a lot of people watched Tragedy Girls. There’s a clear implied romance here people! This horror comedy is about a pair of friends who frame a serial killer for their own series of murders, planning to capitalize on the deaths of their targets to grow a social media following.
It has some pretty heavy queer subtext in it, led by Brianna Hildebrand and Alexandra Shipp as the charismatic duo of Sadie and McKayla; they deliver a lot of the movie’s funniest lines, and deserve way more credit than they’ve gotten for this film. Supporting performances from Kevin Durand and Jack Quaid round out a phenomenal cast. All in all, it’s a fun little film that needs more acknowledgment.
She Is Conann (2023)
Queer subtext, meet queer fantasy horror that is so blatant it’s basically screaming that subtext is for cowards like Garth Marenghi. It’s hitting subtext with its muscle car and then plunging a bastard sword into its chest.
One of my personal favorites from Brooklyn Horror Film Festival, Bertrand Mandico’s take on the sword and sorcery protagonist who shall not be named for copyright reasons, is a trip of a ride through time and space. It’s about unrequited love between a swordswoman and the dog demon haunting her, traveling through Conann’s life (where several different actresses depict her, each bringing a unique flash to their roles). It backs up that weird premise with some very weird visuals, including a grotesque & gourmet finale you’ll need to sit down for and feast your eyes on.
Villains (2019)
This film had me smiling from the jump, and it’s not just because it’s a black comedy thriller about a pair of bumbling amateur thieves running into a nightmare situation they never could have seen coming. It’s mainly because Maika Monroe and Bill Skarsgård have perfect onscreen chemistry, which synthesizes with their already excellent comedic timing.
Jeffrey Donovan and Kyra Sedgwick, who play opposite them as the two child kidnapping antagonists of the film, also aren’t anything to scoff at since they bring their creepy couple a-game to the table. The movie has some twists on offer, and a bittersweet ending to counter all the boxed chocolates you’ll be snacking on while you watch.
Mayhem (2017)
Speaking of on-screen couples I love, Mayhem is here! Again! I feel like I’ve recommended this film 3 or 4 times across articles on this site. But I wouldn’t be doing that if I didn’t think this was absolutely positively Joe Lynch’s best work.
People get infected with a virus that removes all their inhibitions, usually resulting in bloody brawls as people succumb to their darkest whims and wants. But with this particular quarantine, a recently fired lawyer at a consulting firm and a woman out to get her loan extended become unlikely allies as they realize they can literally murder their way to the top of the building to get what they want without any legal consequences.
Samara Weaving and Steven Yeun are mind-meltingly great together in this, and they both pull it off as unwitting action horror protagonists who will fight and claw to get what they want. They’re also plain cute together and have a whole romcom subplot going throughout this, so that’s why I am also putting it here.
Perfect movie, no notes!
Possession (1981)
On the other end of the relationship spectrum is Possession, the most stressful breakup film you will ever watch, and it really doesn’t ever let up since I was still very anxious after the credits had rolled.
It is not cute, it is not fun. It’s a film about a man whose wife suddenly leaves him and his son, the raw wounds of their separation are salted when he finds out his child’s teacher looks exactly like his wife. Things get more confusing from here as the characters enter a downward spiral of pure madness, involving bizarre creatures that turn out to be devious doppelgangers.
It’s through and through an angry film expressing the malcontent of its director, Andrzej Żuławski, who was grappling with feelings of his divorce from his own wife at the time. It’s the kind of raw and emotional filmmaking that you can only pull from a heavy time in your life and sculpt into something breathtakingly frightening. Get ready for a movie that will make you grateful your relationship isn’t that bad, and an ending shot that will punch you straight in the mouth.
Uh, lets maybe get a less depressing film up on the list to mellow things out huh?
Mother, May I? (2023)
This is quite literally the opposite of what I requested! This film almost made me cry! Which is why it’s on here. One of the less talked about Shudder offerings in general, this film is one of three Kyle Gallner releases from 2023, which sort of pre-emptively got my seal of approval before I even watched it. Because Kyle Gallner can do no wrong, he has the back-to-back-to-back streak of great performances to prove it. If you don’t agree, peep the opening to Smile 2, and if you still don’t agree, argue with the wall.
The premise made me think it was going to be a totally gonzo and off-the-wall horror movie, given it’s about a guy whose fiancé begins to act like his recently deceased mother, and may or may not be possessed by her. What I found was a slow-burn psychological horror with some deeply disquieting moments and an ending that had me hypnotized and leaning into the screen as it unfolded.
The character work Holland Roden does in this film is genuinely incredible, so if you want to see two actors at the top of their game engaging in a mind-bending and uncomfortable relationship, this is the film to look out for. It will keep you and your other half talking about it for hours.
Mandy (2018)
This might be one of the most romantic movies of all time, and I’m not just saying that because I really like how it looks and how vibrant and red its color palette becomes. After all, what better expression of love is there than forging a battleaxe, getting in your car, and going on a hunt to kill every last member of the demonic drug-dealing biker gang that took your lover from you? It’s a heavy, heavy metal kind of love.
Panos Cosmatos’ mastery of cinematic language here is profoundly affecting, and Nicholas Cage’s performance is the kind built to slap the taste out of the mouths who claim he is simply a “so bad he’s good” actor. He’s just outright incredible in this, and every rewatch of Mandy reaffirms how absolutely, jaw-droppingly good he is at portraying people going through severe emotional distress.
Also, if Cheddar Goblin doesn’t bring you and your partner together through hard times, I don’t know what will.
Jakob’s Wife (2021)
And finally, one more Horror Press staple to round out the list. If there are three character actors I just can’t wait to see in a movie, it’s Barbara Crampton, Larry Fessenden, and Bonnie Aarons. OH WAIT, WHAT’S THIS? A FILM WITH ALL OF THEM? (Also, AEW’s very own CM Punk is here, which scratches an itch in my brain that loves both horror and wrestling.)
Anne is listless and tired of being the small church mouse at her husband’s side. Jakob is violently complacent and domineering over Anne. But Anne’s attack by a vampire gives her a new lease on life, and their marriage a chance at being repaired after decades of degradation. Jakob’s determination to cure her of her vampirism, however, seems set to undo this new chance. And yes, they do earn that hype description with their performances together; they work off each other wonderfully.
The movie is surprisingly well-balanced, with many moments for introspection matching against the film’s sometimes absolutely absurdist humor. I’m a big fan of Jakob’s Wife, and if you watch it, you should also check out one of the earlier pieces on the website that the lovely Alex Warrick wrote back in 2022!
BONUS: Habit (1997)
The above entry also reminded me, if you’re looking for more Larry Fessenden and more vampire romance with a deeply rooted allegory for addiction in it, you should watch Habit. The awesome Brendan Jesus put me onto it after I missed its repertory screening last October, and has also written a cool companion piece talking about the experience of seeing it at BHFF, so check that out too!
And if you didn’t find any of these selections enticing, keep an eye peeled on our It Came From Shudder series! Every month there’s a new list of recommendations hot off the presses from the ever-vigilant Sharai Bohannon, sure to zap your brain meats with cool new cosmic and creepy signals pouring out of Shudder! Happy watching horror fans!