J.J. Abrams was explaining recently how he is no great fan of what he called “jump scares”: Those moments in horror films that rely purely on surprise, and what is just out of view, to make you leap out of your seat.

Still, that philosophy did not stop Mr. Abrams from giving audiences a good jump scare back in January, when, without warning or fanfare, his production company, Bad Robot, and Paramount released a trailer for a previously unknown movie called “10 Cloverfield Lane.”

In brief glimpses, this trailer seemed to tell the story of a young woman (played by Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who is either given refuge or taken captive by a fearsome survivalist (John Goodman) in the midst of what might be an apocalyptic event.

Most tantalizing about the film, which Paramount will release on Friday, March 11, was its title, which marked it as a pseudo-sequel to “Cloverfield,” the hit 2008 horror movie, also produced by Mr. Abrams, which was similarly dropped on unsuspecting viewers.