Zach Cregger's Weapons is a masterclass in jump scares, as it proves that the best horror movies use this trope to expand the story and characters.

It’s one of the most well-worn tricks in the horror handbook: An innocent victim is minding their own business, nothing happening, and then…something happens to make the watcher’s heart skip a beat.

Horror has many tropes, but one of the biggest is the jump scare. They've become commonplace in the genre over the decades as an easy way to get an audience to react, but while some, such as in ...