Determining the scariest movie of all-time is tough, as horror is very subjective. For instance, what might scare one person may not even phase another. But a scientific study has now attempted to get to the bottom of the matter and it’s produced a result that might surprise you.
Conducted by broadbandchoices – a “comparison tool for broadband deals” – 50 people of various ages watched over 100 hours of horror films, and by tracking their heart rates, the study was able to find the scariest pic ever made. And the winner was none other than 2012’s Sinister. Which is a terrifying movie, no doubt, but the most terrifying of all-time? We’re not sure we can say we agree with that.
According to the study, though, the average resting heart rate was 65 beats per minute, but during Sinister, that number climbed to 86 BPM. In second place, meanwhile, is Insidious, which also earned the award for biggest jump scare. In this case, the scare sent viewers’ BPM to 133. For comparison’s sake, Sinister‘s most terrifying jump scare saw audiences’ BPM hit 131.
Elsewhere on the top 10, though, for the scariest movies of all-time, we have The Conjuring, Hereditary, Paranormal Activity, It Follows, The Conjuring 2, The Babadook, The Descent and The Visit. Again, while these are all, indeed, terrifying films, we’re not sure we’d rank every single one of them among the scariest ever.
Circling back to Sinister, however, and for those unfamiliar, it’s a terrific entry into the genre that’s brutal and unforgiving at times. It’s got a couple of neat twists in its story, too, and, of course, delivers a ton of scares, with some of them being genuinely terrifying. Again, we’d be hard-pressed to say it’s the scariest film out there, but it’s certainly worth a watch if you’re looking to be frightened.