# Biggest "Made you jump out of your seat" moment in a movie. \*Possible SPOLIERS\* **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 31, 2005, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-made-you-jump-out-of-your-seat-moment-in-a-movie-possible-spoliers/315040 "2005-07-31T21:37:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-made-you-jump-out-of-your-seat-moment-in-a-movie-possible-spoliers/315040/1 "2005-07-31T21:37:14Z")
Okay, so Final Destination had a few. And in two separate M. Night Shyamalan movies I had a good one (The Sixth Sense, when the ghost of the woman goes past the doorway and in Signs when the alien walks past the driveway at the party caught on tape) But I saw a movie yesterday for the first time that, by far, made me jump the highest and takes my vote as the most unexpected “jump” in a movie. The movie was The Forgotten: When Julianne Moore and the other male lead are in the car at night driving and the NSA vehicle comes out of nowhere and just slams into the side of them. My heart didn’t stop pounding for the next 10 minutes. ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-made-you-jump-out-of-your-seat-moment-in-a-movie-possible-spoliers/315040/2 "2005-07-31T21:44:33Z")
In the 1953 (?) THE THING, when they open the door, you’re expecting to see the bodies of the men hanging upside down with their blood drained, but James Arness (as the giant carrot) is standing right there. Makes me jump out of my skin every time, and I’ve seen it about five or six times. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-made-you-jump-out-of-your-seat-moment-in-a-movie-possible-spoliers/315040/3 "2005-07-31T21:53:37Z")
“You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” And if I need to explain that one, well, I’m not going to, alright? ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-made-you-jump-out-of-your-seat-moment-in-a-movie-possible-spoliers/315040/4 "2005-07-31T22:04:33Z")
I can’t remember the exact scenes anymore, but there were two "jump out of your seat"moments in the movie, _The Others_, with Nicole Kidman. Every one in the audience jumped and shrieked. Those are the only kind of horror (if you can call that horror) that I will go to see. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-made-you-jump-out-of-your-seat-moment-in-a-movie-possible-spoliers/315040/5 "2005-07-31T22:09:27Z")
The end of **Carrie**! ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-made-you-jump-out-of-your-seat-moment-in-a-movie-possible-spoliers/315040/6 "2005-07-31T22:55:23Z")
1. Jurassic Park [spoiler]after Sam Jackson’s dead hand falls on Laura Dern’s shoulder and everyone jumps, I laughed because everyone was scared needlessly. After that, when the raptor attacks the cage behind her, I threw popcorn all over the person behind me.[/spoiler] 1. Seven, when “sloth” wakes up. Another popcorn explosion from me. 2. Signs, when the alien shows up at the birthday party. 3. Signs, when the hand grabs Kieran Culkin in the cellar. 4. The Forgotten (two) When the guy gets sucked out of the roof at the cabin where Moore is interrogating him, and when the alien’s face changes and he yells at her near the end. The stuff of nightmares, that one. **Medstar** those are ‘true’ horror movies (The Others, Signs, Hitchcockian stuff). I hate slasher flicks and overdone stuff like little girls walking jerkily, sometimes in black and white with their hair hanging in their faces, a la The Ring. ---
**Author:** ![zoog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7ea924/32.png) [@zoog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoog)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-made-you-jump-out-of-your-seat-moment-in-a-movie-possible-spoliers/315040/7 "2005-07-31T22:58:01Z")
**Alien**. Pick one of any number of scenes. I just about needed a change of shorts a bunch of times the first time I saw that one. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-made-you-jump-out-of-your-seat-moment-in-a-movie-possible-spoliers/315040/8 "2005-07-31T23:11:15Z")
> [@Equipoise](#): > > The end of **Carrie**! Oh yeah. That’s a major one. I can’t see how I forgot it. The Rage: Carrie 2 had one as well. When Carrie turns into glass and then explodes. ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-made-you-jump-out-of-your-seat-moment-in-a-movie-possible-spoliers/315040/9 "2005-07-31T23:13:08Z")
Crap. Rory Culkin is in Signs, not Kieran. Many apologies. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2005, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-made-you-jump-out-of-your-seat-moment-in-a-movie-possible-spoliers/315040/10 "2005-07-31T23:19:03Z")
_Psycho_. The scene in the fruit cellar. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-made-you-jump-out-of-your-seat-moment-in-a-movie-possible-spoliers/315040/11 "2005-08-01T00:49:13Z")
_Star Trek: Generations_ [spoiler]Picard walks into the forcefield. It wasn’t gruesome or horrifying, or anything, just unexpected as Hell.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![divemaster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/divemaster/32/78_2.png) [@divemaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/divemaster)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-made-you-jump-out-of-your-seat-moment-in-a-movie-possible-spoliers/315040/12 "2005-08-01T01:04:11Z")
The best “jump scene” I can recall was that scene in **Audition**. If you’ve seen it, you will know to what scene I am referring. ---
**Author:** ![TJdude825](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@TJdude825](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TJdude825)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-made-you-jump-out-of-your-seat-moment-in-a-movie-possible-spoliers/315040/13 "2005-08-01T01:07:33Z")
I don’t even remember the Sixth Sense moment the OP mentions (it’s been a few years) but I do remember a different moment from the same movie. A kid (who is of course dead) walks by and says dramatically, “Come on. I’ll show you where my dad keeps his guns.” Then he turns around, expecting Haley Joel Osment to follow him, and the instant we see the back of his head, there’s a loud, jarring chord in the score, emphasizing the fact that a significant percentage of his head has been removed, and hasn’t really healed, presumably when he was playing with his dad’s guns. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-made-you-jump-out-of-your-seat-moment-in-a-movie-possible-spoliers/315040/14 "2005-08-01T02:02:43Z")
_Minority Report_ When Agatha suddenly lunges out of the pool to grab Anderston. I’m not sure why this startled me so much - possibly I had started to doze off. ---
**Author:** ![Forlorn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bb73d2/32.png) [@Forlorn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Forlorn)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-made-you-jump-out-of-your-seat-moment-in-a-movie-possible-spoliers/315040/15 "2005-08-01T02:17:27Z")
> [@divemaster](#): > > The best “jump scene” I can recall was that scene in **Audition**. If you’ve seen it, you will know to what scene I am referring. That movie was freakin’ **intense**. ---
**Author:** ![DaddyTimesTwo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@DaddyTimesTwo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaddyTimesTwo)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-made-you-jump-out-of-your-seat-moment-in-a-movie-possible-spoliers/315040/16 "2005-08-01T02:50:31Z")
That scene from the _Sixth Sense_ mentined in the OP got me too. Big time. There was a scene in Jurassic III when the girl and the girlfriend are running away from the raptors and they are digging their way out of a shed. A raptor sticks his head though the opening and for some reason I bounced off the ceiling. Watching _LA Confidential_, there’s a scene where the cops go after a bunch of black guys and there’s a shot gun battle and I remember yelling at the screen, “Go get him!”, when a guy was running out the back. I was really into it and was immediately embrassed. But it was quite thrilling. ---
**Author:** ![nameless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/779978/32.png) [@nameless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nameless)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-made-you-jump-out-of-your-seat-moment-in-a-movie-possible-spoliers/315040/17 "2005-08-01T03:32:51Z")
Yeah, I thought _Forgotten_ was crap, but I loved the abduction effect. (paraphrase of the cop lady that’s been tailing Julianne Moore) “I believe you now! Validation is yours! Let’s just all sit down over a cup of hot cocoa and–” **FOOM!** (body is sucked into the air like a ragdoll) ---
**Author:** ![nameless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/779978/32.png) [@nameless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nameless)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-made-you-jump-out-of-your-seat-moment-in-a-movie-possible-spoliers/315040/18 "2005-08-01T03:34:22Z")
Fuck, you know, I should have spoilered that. I apologize if I’ve ruined anyone’s life. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-made-you-jump-out-of-your-seat-moment-in-a-movie-possible-spoliers/315040/19 "2005-08-01T04:25:04Z")
Samuel L. Jackson’s “exit” in _Deep Blue Sea_. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2005, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-made-you-jump-out-of-your-seat-moment-in-a-movie-possible-spoliers/315040/20 "2005-08-01T05:51:50Z")
\*\*The Exorcist III \*\* (1990), starring George C. Scott and Brad Dourif: Night shift at the hospital. A nurse hears strange sounds. You know what’s going to happen next; everyone in the audience knows what’s going to happen next. But we don’t know exactly \*how or when \* it’s going to happen, and this is the first movie I remember seeing that actually played with this horror convention self-consciously, because the scene drags on longer than you can possibly imagine, and yet the tension keeps getting worse, because you _know_ something is going to happen, just because the scene hasn’t ended yet, and every second that something \*doesn’t \* happen means that whatever eventually \*does \* happen is going to be that much worse when it finally happens… \*\*An American Werewolf in London \*\* (1981), starring David Naughton, Griffin Dunne and Jenny Agutter: The Curse of the Werewolf evidently grants the skill of Offscreen Teleportation, because both werewolves in this movie use it to attack with. The dream sequences also have some pretty effective ‘gotcha!’ moments. I think my fear of Muppets probably started with this movie. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/biggest-made-you-jump-out-of-your-seat-moment-in-a-movie-possible-spoliers/315040.md?page=2)