Photo: Stanislav Hubkin / iStock / Getty Images
With Halloween just weeks away, spooky season is here and thrill seekers are making the most of it by watching all the scary movies. But some are definitely more frightening than others and a new study, “The Science of Scare” uses scientific research to figure out the scariest movies of all time, as well as the scariest scene in a horror movie.
- Researchers had a panel of 250 viewers wear heart monitors to track their heart rates and heart rate variance, which is the time between heart beats, while they watched various terrifying movies.
- With their heart rate beats per minute, the higher the number, the faster the movie got their blood pumping, an indicator of excitement and fear, according to the Science of Scare. With the heart rate variance, the lower it is, the more stressed the audience was, which they say is “a good indicator of slow-burn fear and dread.”
- The average resting heart rate is 64 beats per minute, but one movie had audiences’ heart rates spike to 133 beats per minute.
- That movie is “Insidious,” which earns it the title of the scariest scene in a horror movie.
- The study doesn’t say which specific scene caused that terror, but those who’ve seen it say it's most likely the “demon in the corner” scene.
Researchers also used that data to determine the scariest movies of all time, according to science. Check out teh list below, along with trailers for a few of the scariest movies.
- “Sinister”
- “Host”
- “Skinamarink”
- “Insidious”
- “The Conjuring”
- “Hereditary”
- “Smile”
- “The Exorcism of Emily Rose”
- “Hell House LLC”
- “Talk to Me”