Scientists Have Seemingly Determined the Scariest Horror Movie of All Time

Horror movies have been with us for a very, very long time. This genre, despite inducing shock and fear among the viewers, is extremely popular, and starting with Alfred Hitchcock, some directors have made careers by making horrors. George Romero, John Carpenter, and Wes Craven are considered classics, while today, we have a series of new, young directors who are great in the genre.

And since we’re writing this in a period of year when horrors are even more popular than usual, we have found a very interesting report that has seemingly determined the scariest horror movie of all time based on objective scientific criteria.

If you want to know how the guys at Science of Scare determined this and which horror movie actually won the prestigious title (and no, you’ll probably not guess it right away), we advise you to stick with us until the end as we are going to reveal absolutely everything you need to know.

Before we reveal the movie in question, allow us first to explain the methodology used by the Science of Scare. Namely, the people behind this project aim to use objective scientific criteria to determine the scariest movie off a list that includes several of the scariest English-language films from critic and viewer “best-of” lists.

Then, 250 volunteers are invited to watch these movies, and their reactions are monitored, with the project watching out for the following things:

“With heart rate (BPM), the higher the number, the faster the movie got our audiences’ blood pumping, an indicator of excitement and fear as part of your fight or flight instinct. On the other hand, heart rate variance (HRV) measures the time in between each beat of your heart. The lower the heart rate variance the more stressed our audience members became, a good indicator of slow burn fear and dread.”

Of course, the screenings are spread throughout the whole year, as to avoid overloading the volunteers, which is – of course – another way of increasing the objectivity of these findings. Based on the results, a final list is made.

Of course, as you can guess, there are limitations to this experiment, both in terms of how it is executed and what movies it encompasses; also, fear is a social component as well – while we can understand that the original Nosferatu was scary back then, modern viewers will probably not be as scared due to the societal changes. But, nevertheless, this is the most objective thing we have today and that is why we are presenting the results here.

So, as far as 2024 is concerned, the winner is a movie that has been on top of the project’s lists for years, but before we make the grand reveal, here are the movies ranked 20th to 2nd place:

• 20. Oddity
• 19. Insidious 2
• 18. The Autopsy of Jane Doe
• 17. A Quiet Place Part 2
• 16. The Babadook
• 15. Paranormal Activity
• 14. The Descent
• 13. The Dark and the Wicked
• 12. It Follows
• 11. The Conjuring 2
• 10. Hell House LLC
• 9. Talk to Me
• 8. The Exorcism of Emily Rose
• 7. Smile
• 6. Hereditary
• 5. The Conjuring
• 4. Insidious
• 3. Skinamarink
• 2. Host

And this brings us to the final title on this list – the scariest movie of all time, which is Sinister! You might not remember this 2012 movie starring Ethan Hawke, so here is a quick reminded in the form of a trailer:

The official synopsis reveals the following:

True-crime writer Ellison Oswald (Ethan Hawke) is in a slump; he hasn’t had a best seller in more than 10 years and is becoming increasingly desperate for a hit. So, when he discovers the existence of a snuff film showing the deaths of a family, he vows to solve the mystery. He moves his own family into the victims’ home and gets to work. However, when old film footage and other clues hint at the presence of a supernatural force, Ellison learns that living in the house may be fatal.

Have you seen Sinister? Do you agree that it is the scariest movie of all time? Let us know in the comments below!