It’s spooky season, which means it’s the perfect time to crack on a horror movie and endure all the scares. But which is the scariest of them all? Well, luckily a study has been done to determine which bring the most frights.
Conducted by Money Supermarket, the Science of Scare Project saw a number of English-language horror movies put to a panel of 250 people, with both their heart rates and heart rate variances measured while watching the films.
The heart rates (measured in BPM – or beats per minute) monitored levels of excitement or fear with highs. With heart rate variance (HRV), the lower the number the more stressed audience members became, indicating slow-burning fear.
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Scores from both forms of measurements were then combined to produce a rating out of 100 – and you can take a look at the top 10 list below.
Altitude Films
10. Talk To Me
This 2022 movie follows a group of teenagers who are able to conjure spirits via an embalmed hand – though the thrill goes to their head, with one of them unleashing supernatural forces.
Score: 75/100
Available to stream on Netflix.
9. The Exorcism of Emily Rose
Loosely based on a real story, The Exorcism of Emily Rose follows a priest who is prosecuted for the death of a girl after an exorcism goes wrong, with an agnostic defence lawyer arguing the girl’s condition couldn’t have just been explained by science.
Score: 76/100
Available to buy and rent via Prime Video and Apple TV.
8. Smile
The first chapter in Parker Finn’s Smile series, this movie sees a therapist begin to experience terrifying visions following the death of a patient, and must reckon with her own past to survive.
Score: 78/100
Available to stream on Paramount+.
Paramount Pictures
7. Smile 2
Smile’s sequel is even more scary according to the study, and focuses on a pop star who is about to embark on a world tour, only to start experiencing a series of disturbing events.
Score: 79/100
Available to stream on Paramount+.
6. Hereditary
This 2018 horror centres on a family in the wake of their grandmother’s death, as they start to uncover horrifying secrets about their ancestry while also trying to escape a sinister fate.
Score: 81/100
Available to buy and rent via Prime Video and Apple TV.
5. The Conjuring
The movie that kicked off the long-running Conjuring series, this 2013 film follows paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren as they look into a supernatural presence at the farmhouse of a family.
Score: 88/100
Available to stream on Netflix.
4. Insidious
A family faces a huge threat from demonic entities in this horror, as a comatose boy becomes a vessel for spirits in an astral plane.
Score: 90/100
Available to stream on Prime Video.
3. Skinamarink
Taking an experimental approach, this 2022 movie sees a pair of siblings wake up in the night to discover that their father has disappeared, and that the windows and doors in their home have gone.
Score: 91/100
Available to stream on Tubi.
Shudder
2. Host
Made during the pandemic, Host takes a unique approach in that the entire movie takes place on a Zoom call, as a group of friends summon a demonic presence during an online séance.
Score: 95/100
Available to stream on Shudder.
1. Sinister
The scariest movie ever, according to the study, Sinister follows a fading writer who discovers snuff films depicting the deaths of a family, moving his own family into the victims’ home. Yet the footage indicates the presence of a supernatural force, leading to horrors aplenty.
Score: 96/100
Available to stream on NOW.
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Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International. Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every ‘t’ and dotting every ‘i’ as a sub-editor.