The Jurassic World and Jurassic Park franchises have offered everything from mesmerizing music, amazing visuals and dinosaurs galore. However, part of what has since made the franchise so iconic has been how these elements have been used to generate truly surprising and often unnerving scares. But with all of the films released so far, how do the Jurassic Park and Jurassic World films rank in terms of scariness, and which one could be considered a true horror spectacle?
5. Jurassic Park III Was More of an Action Film Than a Horror Film
Unlike the other films in the franchise, Jurassic Park III was the least similar to what had come before or even after. While future entries would embrace this film's more action-packed approach, it still embraced elements of terror. But for Jurassic Park III, the film stayed firmly in an action-adventure genre. Compared to other films, there were next to no moments of terror save for a hasty escape from an abandoned genetics lab infested with Velociraptors. Ultimately, while the film delivered on peril, its fear factor was in short supply.
4. The Lost World: Jurassic Park Was a Much Better Adventure Film
The Lost World: Jurassic Park was a necessary follow-up to the original in that it leaned more heavily into the adventure aspect of the franchise. As Ian Malcolm and a new cast of characters venture into a new island, they learn that dinosaurs are even more deadly when they haven't been caged all their lives. But even though scenes like the raptors in the long grass and the dual T-Rex parent attack stand out as truly scary moments, the film was more similar to an Indiana Jones-style adventure, which worked well but wasn't very scary.
3. Jurassic World Offered Truly Scary Scenes, but They Didn’t Last
Jurassic World was a film that tried to bring John Hammond's dream to life and did so successfully for many years. But as the old idea of playing God began to take over, its scientists created a new creature, the Indomius Rex. Once it escaped, however, it meant the end of Jurassic World and offered a new generation a host of perilous events that would keep them up at night. While it may not be the scariest entry, the I-Rex offered moments of intelligence that made it both a menace and a genuine threat, like when it hunted members of the A.C.U. using its camouflage.
2. Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom Offered True Terror With a Terrifying Dinosaur
Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom was the first entry to embrace the horror genre full-stop. While the beginning of the film was a classic Jurassic-style story, the Indoraptor loose in Lockwood manor ramped the terror up even more. Now, audiences were forced to watch a genetic creation with no empathy, incredible skills in hunting and a heightened intelligence used to stalk everyone from the film's heroes to a little girl. It was a twisted predator that was every bit as scary as it looked and offered great scares and imagery for the franchise.
1. Jurassic Park Perfectly Balanced Its Genres and Had Genuine Frights
Even after nearly 30 years, the original Jurassic Park has maintained its place at number one; this time for how scary the film has remained. The film's pacing allowed audiences to get acquainted with many of its characters so that when the power went out and the carnivores were loose, the terror was palpable. This was best experienced in the kitchen scene when Lex and Tim had to outsmart a pack of Velociraptors on their own. While the horrific moments were brief, they were scary enough to impact a whole generation and proved that these films knew how to be terrifying when need be.