Bizarre Stylistic Choices and Tonally Jarring Bits is the True Jump Scare (SOHOME)

Title: Jump Scare

First Non-Festival Release: TBD

Director: Donnie Hobbie

Writer: Donnie Hobbie

Runtime: 100 Minutes

Starring: Shannon Dang, Erin Ruth Walker, Madison Abbott

Where to Watch: Check out where to find it here

This film’s review was written after its screening at the Sohome Film Festival in 2025.

Female-led metal band Jump Scare takes a trip into the desert to make their next album. Their favorite band came here years ago to record their next album and were never seen again. The official cause is that metal is dead, but Jump Scare wants to prove otherwise. Once they make it to their destination, the women find themselves at odds with their strange neighbors. Their neighbors are a family of deranged cannibals, and all they want to do is make mincemeat out of another metal band.

Jump Scare is a well-made yet exhausting hyper-stylized horror comedy that stretches the joke to its limits. 

Approaching its backwoods horror from the angle of deadpan humor and quippy dialogue, Jump Scare reveals itself to be more inspired than inspiring. With the genetic material of famous backwoods horror films of the past firmly in its DNA, Jump Scare struggles to differentiate itself. Instead of finding a story gimmick, it relies on hyper stylistic choices that add little to the narrative and actively make the film more annoying to watch. The obsession on its musical inspiration guides the film but Jump Scare gets too caught in the weeds of the actual music conversation than the interactions that fuel them or the players making the arguments. What remains is a glossy indie film that follows the same story of young adults getting slaughtered in an isolated location.

Writer/director Donnie Hobbie doubles down on these issues, indulging in whatever bright, and flashy fancy that passes through the narrative. Approaching its backwoods horror with a hallucinatory edge, Jump Scare gets lost in dead ends. Between its exploding desserts, mobs of henchmen, and chainsaw grudge fights, Jump Scare goes to some strange corners of its little world. Unfortunately, it doesn’t share more about its world in favor of the bombastic set pieces. It would be interesting if these smaller roads were explored but Jump Scare relies on the faux randomness to dress up its story as ‘unpredictable’ to earn a reputation for being ‘wild’ rather than doing the work to end there naturally.

Nothing is more annoying than the cocaine-fueled editing and the irritating tangents it takes. Cutting through every scene with abandon, Jump Scare slices the tension through its bizarre stylistic choices. These jumps add little to the story and quickly become one of the more odious stylistic elements of Jump Scare. Needlessly blunting the effects of nearly every conversation, the editing doesn’t take care of its other obvious problem: its meandering story. While individual moments in scenes may not require editing, some scenes in Jump Scare linger far too long to remain effective. This results in Jump Scare arbitrarily leaving too much to parse through. Too many moments leave the cutting room floor unscathed while the parts that would help it most are excised in the name of quirkiness.

The most frustrating aspect of Jump Scare comes with the fact that underneath all the flashiness there is a good foundation. Solid production values keep the film’s story steady even when it indulges in its more whimsical elements. Every stab, slash, and explosion is executed with the polish of a maniacal B-movie, which safe to say is pretty fucking good. The set feels full despite its isolated and empty setting, driving the point home harder that these musicians can only rely on themselves. These smaller elements make it hard to completely discount the riskier swings that Jump Scare takes.

Bound to be divisive, Jump Scare takes bold shots while telling its otherwise familiar story. The excessive stylization and specific brand of humor will either be revelatory or excruciating. A true commitment to kitchen sink filmmaking, Jump Scare does get points for being wholly its own thing. This singular vision and serviceable production values make up for the plodding story. For metalheads and lovers of quirky indie cinema, Jump Scare is a meal worth devouring. For everyone else, it might be best to skip dinner and dessert here.

Overall Score? 4/10