While it’s not always the case, a mark of a good horror movie is an expertly timed, non-gratuitous jump scare. In October 2025, Paste magazine shared a list of the 50 films with the “best jump scares of all time.”
The ranking featured 2017’s It Chapter One, Hereditary from 2018, 1960’s Psycho, Poltergeist from 1982, 1992’s Candyman, Carrie, released in 1976, It Follows from 2014, 1982’s The Thing, and 1999’s The Sixth Sense. The top five films included 2010’s Insidious, The Ring from 2002, Mulholland Drive, released in 2001, and 1995’s Seven.
The Exorcist III, released in 1990, was named the movie with the greatest jump scare. The infamously scary scene in question features a concealed individual holding large shears, quickly following a nurse.
William Peter Blatty, who wrote The Exorcist book and the 1973 film, returned to direct and write The Exorcist III, based on his horror mystery novel, Legion, released in 1983. In a 1990 interview, Blatty let fans know that The Exorcist III is more subtle in its scares than The Exorcist, known for its shocking scenes.
“There are no spinning heads. There’s not a lot of blood and gore and projectile vomiting in this film. This is a supernatural murder mystery,” said the author, who died in 2017 at the age of 89.
Blatty made similar comments about the scares in The Exorcist III during a behind-the-scenes interview, released on the film’s Special Edition Blu-ray.
“This is what I find terrifying, with creeks and shadows, and letting your own imagination bring for the subject,” said Blatty in the interview.
In a different behind-the-scenes interview on the set of The Exorcist III, also on the film’s Special Edition Blu-ray, Viveca Lindfors, who played Nurse X, said there are quite a few terrifying and unexpected moments in the movie.
“It’s the most imaginative script I read. There’s a surprise on absolutely every page. I can see the audience going, ‘Ah! Oh!'” said the actress who was 74 when she died in 1995.