Jump scare
A jump scare is a technique often used in horror films and video games, intended to scare the audience by surprising them with an abrupt change in image or event, usually co-occurring with a loud, frightening sound. The jump scare has been described as "one of the most basic building blocks of horror movies". Jump scares can surprise the viewer by appearing at a point in the film where the soundtrack is quiet and the viewer is not expecting anything alarming to happen, or can be the sudden payoff to a long period of suspense.
Some critics have described jump scares as a lazy way to frighten viewers, and believe that the horror genre has undergone a decline in recent years following an over-reliance on the trope.
In film
In the 1979 film When a Stranger Calls, an unconventional jump scare was used. The revelation that the antagonist is within the house itself suddenly scares the viewer via the realisation that the protagonist is not as safe as was previously believed.
The 2009 film Drag Me to Hell, which coined the term in its production, contained jump scares throughout, with director Sam Raimi saying he wanted to create "A horror film with... big shocks that’ll hopefully make audiences jump."