The Science of Scare 2022 update has been published on October 5 with a new list of top 30 most terrifying films ever made.
The project was first created in 2020 by Broadband Choices to determine the scariest movie of all time, based on science. The data was collected by measuring the heart rates of 250 people subjected to watching over 100 hours of horror films, chosen from the most popular and the most critically-acclaimed movies.
The test subjects’ resting average heart rate was 64 beats per minute (BPM), but when watching Host (dir. Rob Savage, 2020), the average heart rate throughout the film went up to 88 BPM, which was the highest recorded rise in all the films included in the experiment.
Host is a pandemic-style feature taking place during a Zoom meeting between friends. It is rated 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 72% audience score.
“Until someone makes a film about a haunted sourdough starter, this ingenious horror movie will remain the zeitgeistiest thing to emerge from lockdown,” wrote Philip De Semlyen, Top Critic on Rotten Tomatoes.
The second place has been taken by Scott Derrickson’s Sinister (2012) with 86 BPM, followed by Insidious (dir. James Wan, 2010) with 85 BPM.
Insidious was also determined to be the film with the biggest jump scare, having spiked to 133 BPM during the scene – if you’ve seen it, you probably know which one I’m speaking of.
The Science of Scare Project has also picked the “Devilish Directors” – directors with more than one entry on their list. In first place stands James Wan, who has gained a lot of fame during the past decade among horror lovers. Three of his movies made in onto the list: Insidious, The Conjuring (2013) and The Conjuring 2 (2016).
Other directors featured on the list more than once are Rob Savage (Host, DASHCAM – 2021), Scott Derrickson (Sinister, Black Phone – 2021) and Tobe Hooper (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre – 1974, Poltergeist – 1982).
For the full 2022 list visit Broadband Choices.
Featured Image Credit: Shudder
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Film, media & journalism student
[…] blant annet den gufne og vellykkede Host (2020) som i fjor faktisk ble kåret til intet mindre enn tidenes mest skumle film! Ja, du leste riktig. “Aldri hørt om den”, sier du? Kanskje ikke så rart dog. Host var en […]