It goes without saying that taste and personal preference are entirely subjective, and when it comes to horror, there as just as many people likely to actively sh*t their pants at any given movie as there are those to sit there with a straight face. If you ask science, though, then Sinister is the single scariest ever made.
The annual Science of Scare study has been running for four years now, and it offers a fascinating method of determining which feature can be statistically proven as the granddaddy of the ghoulish. The experiment has even deepened, with the new scoring system combining heart rate per minute, heart rate variance per millisecond, and then combining the average score. Hilariously, the study even makes a point of noting that Shrek only scores 3 out of 100 as a sample.
Having been the reigning champion – only to be dislodged by Rob Savage’s phenomenal Host – Scott Derrickson’s supernatural terror has reclaimed the throne after edging ahead of its usurper, landing a 96 to the Zoom-tastic nightmare’s 95. Evidently pleased, its director was happy to report his fourth film is back on top.
Skinamarink is the highest-ranked new entry to the list after coming in third with a 91/100 rating for scariness, which is destined to ruffle some feathers considering the altogether polarizing nature of the found footage sensation.
Host‘s run at the top was brief, but for a 56-minute exercise in efficiency that boasts a near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes approval rating of 99 percent, dropping into second behind Sinister is hardly a wooden spoon prize.