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[The Infectious Paradox]

I've been a horror movie fan for years, but the truth is they're almost always big budget movies. I know one of the big tactics is to use jump cares to make a movie "scary." I would love some opinions for movies that use a difficult approach to scare.

For example, I love the original Halloween. It's more dreadful to me, as you feel Michael watching you at all times. The same thing can be said for the recent Invisible Man movie. I loved it as well. Did both these movies have jump scares moments? Sure. But they weren't relied upon.

Lastly, I thought hereditary had an interesting approach. The creepy factor drew me in.

Anyway, I'm rambling. I just want some good recommendations. Preferably, not ones that are too old. I want the acting to hold up. I find a lot of old horror movies homey, but I'm open to those suggestions

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

I use a site called

Low Jump Scare Movies

Movie Name Director Year Jump Count Jump Scare Rating Netflix (US) 12 Hour Shift Brea Grant 2020 1 1.0 No 1922 Zak Hilditch 2017 2 1.0 Yes 1BR David Marmor 2019 3 0.5 No 8213: Gacy House Anthony Fankhauser 2010 2 0.5 No A Ghost Story David Lowery 2017 3 ... Continue reading

wheresthejump.com

And you can sort by high jump scare and low jump scare movies

I like a good tense thriller but I am pretty sensitive to cheap jumpscares

 

[haxan7]

I like a good tense thriller but I am pretty sensitive to cheap jumpscares

How do you do at haunted houses?

 

[Kev Kev]

im okay with like, 2 jump scares in a horror movie.... maybe 3, but anything beyond that is annoying.

in fact, i kind of welcome at least one jump scare bc it keeps things tense since i know they are willing to throw that at me. but yeah, i totally agree that if they can create a great horror atmosphere and creepy factor without the jump scares, that's preferable.

i know this isnt for everyone, it may even be outdated at this point, and some people even found it to be campy/funny (althoguh i never understood that?)... the human centipede created that perfect creepy/horrific atmosphere with pretty much zero jump scares(at least i dont rememebr there being any)

i think a big part of that, for me at least, is all the talk about that movie when it came out. i know there had been a bunch of gory, blood fest type movies, especially in the years leading up to it after the first Hostel movie. but something about that premise just seemed so over the top and fucking crazy, i'd never heard of anything being that graphic.

so when me and my buddy went to watch it, we were super aprehensive and the whole experience was tense af. we actaully didnt even make it the whole through bc neither of us wanted to see people being sewn together like that lol

when i finally got around to watching it by myself, it wasnt that bad. but man that first watch really had us both feeling sick to our stomach, and we didnt even make it to the bad parts! we just knew it was coming and it was creepy as hell

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

How do you do at haunted houses?

last time I went to one it was with a girl I was casually dating when I was 20 and I closed my eyes the whole time and let her just pull me through it.

She dumped me.

Spoiler

100 percent serious too

 

[The Infectious Paradox]

last time I went to one it was with a girl I was casually dating when I was 20 and I closed my eyes the whole time and let her just pull me through it.

She dumped me.

Spoiler

100 percent serious too

She dumped you over that? Petty

 

[The Infectious Paradox]

im okay with like, 2 jump scares in a horror movie.... maybe 3, but anything beyond that is annoying.

in fact, i kind of welcome at least one jump scare bc it keeps things tense since i know they are willing to throw that at me. but yeah, i totally agree that if they can create a great horror atmosphere and creepy factor without the jump scares, that's preferable.

i know this isnt for everyone, it may even be outdated at this point, and some people even found it to be campy/funny (althoguh i never understood that?)... the human centipede created that perfect creepy/horrific atmosphere with pretty much zero jump scares(at least i dont rememebr there being any)

i think a big part of that, for me at least, is all the talk about that movie when it came out. i know there had been a bunch of gory, blood fest type movies, especially in the years leading up to it after the first Hostel movie. but something about that premise just seemed so over the top and fucking crazy, i'd never heard of anything being that graphic.

so when me and my buddy went to watch it, we were super aprehensive and the whole experience was tense af. we actaully didnt even make it the whole through bc neither of us wanted to see people being sewn together like that lol

when i finally got around to watching it by myself, it wasnt that bad. but man that first watch really had us both feeling sick to our stomach, and we didnt even make it to the bad parts! we just knew it was coming and it was creepy as hell

The yellow eyeball gooze

 

[Nymphae]

Another chance to recommend Lost Highway today.

I don't even really consider it a horror movie, when I was a kid I found it pretty creepy at times but to call it horror is a stretch. Still rocks.

 

[Doom85]

last time I went to one it was with a girl I was casually dating when I was 20 and I closed my eyes the whole time and let her just pull me through it.

She dumped me.

Spoiler

100 percent serious too

I only ever went to one haunted house as my friends just never usually got together to go to one, but it was AWESOME.

The main two highlights:

-entering one room, we found ourselves looking at a stairway going up. At the bottom of it in front of us were two little girls dressed up as the twin girls from The Shining. They began walking backwards while holding hands and saying, "come play with us. Forever and ever and ever." And REDRUM was written on the walls. Awesome shit. Admittedly seemed kinda unsafe for the girls, walking upstairs backwards like that seems kinda dangerous at that age, but still fucking awesome.
-in the final room, the door that led to the outside was a pretty big door. It pushed open to the left and the path outside immediately led to the right. As the last person exited, they closed the door and hiding behind to the left (since the large door hid him) was a guy dressed as Leatherface and he had a fake chainsaw but it could make loud chainsaw noises. He announced his presence by "starting" the chainsaw and also making those weird noises Leatherface makes. Scared the shit out of all of us.

There were a few other cool things, but those two parts easily stole the show.

 

[Bigrx1]

The Blackcoat's Daughter

Midsommar

The Witch

Rosemary's Baby (may be too old based on your OP)

 

[haxan7]

last time I went to one it was with a girl I was casually dating when I was 20 and I closed my eyes the whole time and let her just pull me through it.

She dumped me.

Spoiler

100 percent serious too

Damn. I am the complete opposite. The last time I went only one of the actors managed to get me, and I actually congratulated her after and told her she was doing a good job. I wish I could get scared.

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

I wish I could get scared.

Pose as a hot girl on IG and check your DM's. I bet that shit would be terrifying.

 

[triplestation]

goddam this is an amazing thread idea

blair witch project

jaws

 

[Kev Kev]

The yellow eyeball gooze

dude, i was watching that with a few other people and we were literaly going "aaaaaahhhhhh oh my gooooooood" lol it was a really fun experience, as weird as that sounds

hostel was really the beginning of so many gore fest movies. there were gory movies before that, but it really raised the stakes i think

 

[triplestation]

im okay with like, 2 jump scares in a horror movie.... maybe 3, but anything beyond that is annoying.

in fact, i kind of welcome at least one jump scare bc it keeps things tense since i know they are willing to throw that at me. but yeah, i totally agree that if they can create a great horror atmosphere and creepy factor without the jump scares, that's preferable.

i know this isnt for everyone, it may even be outdated at this point, and some people even found it to be campy/funny (althoguh i never understood that?)... the human centipede created that perfect creepy/horrific atmosphere with pretty much zero jump scares(at least i dont rememebr there being any)

i think a big part of that, for me at least, is all the talk about that movie when it came out. i know there had been a bunch of gory, blood fest type movies, especially in the years leading up to it after the first Hostel movie. but something about that premise just seemed so over the top and fucking crazy, i'd never heard of anything being that graphic.

so when me and my buddy went to watch it, we were super aprehensive and the whole experience was tense af. we actaully didnt even make it the whole through bc neither of us wanted to see people being sewn together like that lol

when i finally got around to watching it by myself, it wasnt that bad. but man that first watch really had us both feeling sick to our stomach, and we didnt even make it to the bad parts! we just knew it was coming and it was creepy as hell

i agree

jaws had one particular jump scare that worked amazingly, nobody thought that was coming

 

[The Infectious Paradox]

dude, i was watching that with a few other people and we were literaly going "aaaaaahhhhhh oh my gooooooood" lol it was a really fun experience, as weird as that sounds

hostel was really the beginning of so many gore fest movies. there were gory movies before that, but it really raised the stakes i think

I will never forget that moment. I truly cringed

 

[mekes]

Most of my favourites are from the 80s and you’ve probably seen them. It’s a worthy thread I think because there is SO much trash in the horror genre. I think it’s been a better few years for horror lately tho with movies like The Witch and Hereditary.

I would recommend anything made by Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead. Their movies are Resolution, Spring, The Endless and Synchronic

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

I think I remember Jay from RLM recommending Lake Mungo awhile back, saying it had no jumpscares and is creepy as hell

Anyone see it?

 

[quickwhips]

I like jump scares. I like when its nothing. Then bam so creepy shit happens right after fake jump scare.

 

[MetalAlien]

 

[The Infectious Paradox]

I like jump scares. I like when its nothing. Then bam so creepy shit happens right after fake jump scare.

Don't get me wrong. I actually like jump scares too. I just want to see some other movies that rely on creep factor or maybe psychological shit. Gore and jumpscares are just a bit easy these days.

 

[Airola]

It Follows was most of the time the exact opposite of jump scares. I think it had maybe one or two of them but the rest of it was about the complete opposite.

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

It Follows was most of the time the exact opposite of jump scares. I think it had maybe one or two of them but the rest of it was about the complete opposite.

It has two, and they are pretty minor jumpscares, both centered around a character suddenly entering a door.

Good movie.

 

[Weiji]

It Follows was most of the time the exact opposite of jump scares. I think it had maybe one or two of them but the rest of it was about the complete opposite.

Strong second to this, anyone who hasn’t seen it should seek it out. It’s really pretty interesting and not like any other horror movie out there.

 

[MetalAlien]

I always liked the American Grudge movie..

 

[Schrödinger's cat]

The Orphanage / Il Orfanto

Spanish-made film with one notable jump in it.

This is one I always recommend due to its sense of dread and it's lack of jumps. It results in so much viewer tension that it hurt my stomach.

I saw this in theatres on release and it was superb. Everyone was into it. You could have heard a pin drop in that place.

 

[Prison Mike]

The witch...... I know it gets alot of love but fuck me no scares in this one

 

[The Infectious Paradox]

The witch...... I know it gets alot of love but fuck me no scares in this one

I went into that expecting amazing things, but it was a dud for me

 

[Cutty Flam]

I always loved Jeepers Creepers for its overall well rounded approach

It utilizes eeriness in a few scenes, to perfection. Disturbing, story telling that leaves you suspended in a state of attentiveness, there are jump scares like one or two, but overall you’re left seeing a truly horrifying freak of nature, demonic like alien-of-earth inhabitant / abomination simply prey on victims. It’s eerie, it’s unsettling, disturbing and evokes a primal fear because vulnerability is depicted to perfection in the film. It takes place in an out of the way country side sort of town where you must drive several miles in between each destination so there’s little to rely upon. The victims are essentially your average Americans nothing special about them really, so you can expect gruesome deaths

It’s a very well made horror flick imo. I’ll have to watch it again, but it definitely had some excellent scenes and moments that brought bonafide suspense and disturbing deaths. To be purposely short in its description so as not to spoil, there was one incredibly well conceived scene in particular, involving a house, the homeowner, and the two main characters as well as some (others) caught up in a predicament that was truly horrifying. It was brilliant, that scene. Eerie, completely relatable, and the circumstance of the homeowner’s dilemma couldn’t have been more unsettling. The noises and sounds, the fight that took place, the silence afterwards—great scene

 

[Cutty Flam]

I went into that expecting amazing things, but it was a dud for me

It was a great film imo. I really thought highly of it. Had my attention the entire way through, the twist was incredible, and the ending was haunting. Very disturbing ending. And it’s something that maybe you could half expect to see in a dream, as well as imagine them doing in real life here on earth if there was such a time when

Spoiler

they would gather in the woods. So chilling, to imagine they can perform satanic black magic like that and just levitate to the tree tops of the woods in the forrest. Chilling to the bone and the soul to know such outlandish and backwards minds could be living here on t he planet, practicing such ways....

The Witch is a great, great horror movie imo

 

[Flying Toaster]

Horror is my favorite movie genre. Earlier in my life I figured out rather quickly that only movies that are gory usually ignore jump scares. So if it is a good slasher movie it might rely on one jump scare but if it is a psychological thriller or basic horror movie there are a few before the credits roll. Have you tried oddball french horror films. There are quite a few that are brilliant and don't rely on jump scares.

You should watch High Tension. You mentioned Hereditary so you should watch that directors following horror movie Midsommar

 

[Cutty Flam]

The witch...... I know it gets alot of love but fuck me no scares in this one

It frightened me because I don’t rule out the possibility of such entities. There is a world of evil on this planet, and the depths of it I don’t even want to know

I once had a coworker who lent me a satanic book of spells a d rituals. Very, very intriguing. Maybe it was false? Maybe some of them were true? But I did not dare try any. I felt uneasy just reading the book and felt strongly that I needed to return it to him lol. I didn’t feel completely at ease until I gave it back

In this world, you just never know. That’s the beauty of horror; it’s widely untapped and mysterious so you can only sit there and wonder if true/false and there’s never much proof. There’s something innate that tells us not to focus on such things. Like when I was reading that book of dark magic and conjuring demons and fallen angels I was naturally kind of intrigued but at the same time I had absolutely zero courage or doubt about trying anything in that book. I didn’t even want to know, in case it was real. What can be more frightening than messing with evil that may or may not exist? People don’t even dare research it

 

[plushyp]

Lake Mungo (2001) and Pulse (2001) don't feature "in your face" horror but they're more mentally taxing with their constant sense of dread and oppressive atmosphere.

 

[TacosNSalsa]

Hellraiser. I'm not even sure if it had any it's been so long , but if it did it sure didn't rely on them . You KNEW they were coming and there really was f*ck all you could do about it . It's an older movie but I think it holds up quite well.

 

[teezzy]

Huge horror fan here. You cant go wrong with classic Universal and Hammer movies. All gothic atmosphere and no jumps.

Same goes for Italian giallo.

 

[The Infectious Paradox]

It was a great film imo. I really thought highly of it. Had my attention the entire way through, the twist was incredible, and the ending was haunting. Very disturbing ending. And it’s something that maybe you could half expect to see in a dream, as well as imagine them doing in real life here on earth if there was such a time when

Spoiler

they would gather in the woods. So chilling, to imagine they can perform satanic black magic like that and just levitate to the tree tops of the woods in the forrest. Chilling to the bone and the soul to know such outlandish and backwards minds could be living here on t he planet, practicing such ways....

The Witch is a great, great horror movie imo

I will give you that I really did like the twist, and that ending made the movie worth it to me. Maybe I need to give it another try..

Thanks for all these recommendations. I have a three-day weekend so I'm going to check some of these out

Feel free to throw out more ideas

 

[The Infectious Paradox]

I always loved Jeepers Creepers for its overall well rounded approach

It utilizes eeriness in a few scenes, to perfection. Disturbing, story telling that leaves you suspended in a state of attentiveness, there are jump scares like one or two, but overall you’re left seeing a truly horrifying freak of nature, demonic like alien-of-earth inhabitant / abomination simply prey on victims. It’s eerie, it’s unsettling, disturbing and evokes a primal fear because vulnerability is depicted to perfection in the film. It takes place in an out of the way country side sort of town where you must drive several miles in between each destination so there’s little to rely upon. The victims are essentially your average Americans nothing special about them really, so you can expect gruesome deaths

It’s a very well made horror flick imo. I’ll have to watch it again, but it definitely had some excellent scenes and moments that brought bonafide suspense and disturbing deaths. To be purposely short in its description so as not to spoil, there was one incredibly well conceived scene in particular, involving a house, the homeowner, and the two main characters as well as some (others) caught up in a predicament that was truly horrifying. It was brilliant, that scene. Eerie, completely relatable, and the circumstance of the homeowner’s dilemma couldn’t have been more unsettling. The noises and sounds, the fight that took place, the silence afterwards—great scene

Love jeepers creepers. The ending in his hideaway made my skin scrawl

 

[GymWolf]

Jeepers creepers 1 was legit as fuck.

New star wars trilogy doesn't rely on scare jump but killed in a horrific way any interest i had for star wars.

 

[Melon]

The Ritual has a couple of jumpscares (I wouldn't consider them genuine, annoying jump scares, it just adds to the tension). It's more of a thriller than anything, but it's got a shitton of fucked up gore, so I'd say it still fits in the horror category. And the monster reveal at the end of the movie gave me literal chills. It goes for that Jaws theme of not really revealing the monster too much until the very end.

 

[Explosive Zombie]

I use a site called

Low Jump Scare Movies

Movie Name Director Year Jump Count Jump Scare Rating Netflix (US) 12 Hour Shift Brea Grant 2020 1 1.0 No 1922 Zak Hilditch 2017 2 1.0 Yes 1BR David Marmor 2019 3 0.5 No 8213: Gacy House Anthony Fankhauser 2010 2 0.5 No A Ghost Story David Lowery 2017 3 ... Continue reading

wheresthejump.com

And you can sort by high jump scare and low jump scare movies

I like a good tense thriller but I am pretty sensitive to cheap jumpscares

The site is missing an absurd number of horror films.

 

[Rockondevil]

Get Out

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

The site is missing an absurd number of horror films.

Were you just looking at the low jump scare page or their whole database? I linked straight to the low jump scare section.

But, either way, it doesn't have all of them. They are good about updating if you send them a request though, I have sent multiple requests that were updated within a few days

 

[Evil Calvin]

The Thing (1981) has one big jump scare but it's very atmospheric and very creepy and gross

 

[spandexmonkey]

I like my horror to be genuinely horrific, where the ideas and themes are what scare/shock you, not loud music and jump cuts. Films that reach a point of no return, but then keep going. I'm a big Lovecraft fan so I highly recommend:

Midnight Meat Train


Photographer notices people are going missing on a subway train. Finds a very interesting man and follows him. The more you learn whats going on the worse things get.

Color out of Space


I've recommended this movie several times, one of the best adaptations of Lovecraft ever done. Meteor lands by a family home in the woods, things get a little odd, then strange, then it jumps the track and this train ain't stopping.

 

[Frogman_676]

I always liked the American Grudge movie..

ah yes...the grudge. I always thought that low pitched gurgling noise was a hella subtle jump scare. Love this movie.

 

[Loke]

The Thing (1981) has one big jump scare but it's very atmospheric and very creepy and gross

The Thing has a few jump scares but it doesn't rely on that dumb trope too much. It's more about its claustrophobic setting and distrust among the characters. Very moody.

 

[Explosive Zombie]

Were you just looking at the low jump scare page or their whole database? I linked straight to the low jump scare section.

But, either way, it doesn't have all of them. They are good about updating if you send them a request though, I have sent multiple requests that were updated within a few days

I looked all over, not sure they even know who Lucio Fulci is, that said it's an interesting idea for a site. It should go beyond number of jump scares but type as well. To me there's a big difference between a jump scare where it turns out to be a cat and a jump scare that is actually something deadly occurring. Also is there a loud noise or does it just make you jump?

 

[JareBear: Remastered]

I looked all over, not sure they even know who Lucio Fulci is, that said it's an interesting idea for a site. It should go beyond number of jump scares but type as well. To me there's a big difference between a jump scare where it turns out to be a cat and a jump scare that is actually something deadly occurring. Also is there a loud noise or does it just make you jump?

It timestamps and describes the jumpscares when you click on the movies.

example

Jump Scares in Before I Wake (2016)

More of a fantasy/supernatural drama than horror movie, Before I Wake isn’t overly scary although there are some significant jump scares in the second half of the movie.

wheresthejump.com

For some MAJOR ones they will even have a link to a YT clip of it

 

[TrainedRage]

I just watched Signs again.
I forgot what a great job that movie did at conveying fear while showing essentially nothing in broad daylight.

 

[TrainedRage]

I like my horror to be genuinely horrific, where the ideas and themes are what scare/shock you, not loud music and jump cuts. Films that reach a point of no return, but then keep going. I'm a big Lovecraft fan so I highly recommend:

Midnight Meat Train


Photographer notices people are going missing on a subway train. Finds a very interesting man and follows him. The more you learn whats going on the worse things get.

Color out of Space


I've recommended this movie several times, one of the best adaptations of Lovecraft ever done. Meteor lands by a family home in the woods, things get a little odd, then strange, then it jumps the track and this train ain't stopping.

Midnight Meat Train is the one with Bradly Cooper right? Im gonna have to give it a try. I was always turned off by the name, thought it was a bit silly.