A film negative with the shadow of a man behind

When it comes to movies, will you listen to what science says? 

A study on the Science of Scare found that among the fifty best horror movies of all time, the film Sinister, starring Ethan Hawke, terrifies people the most. 

The movie beat other famous horror films such as InsidiousThe Conjuring, and The Ring.

The plot of the film revolves around Hawke’s character, Ellison Oswalt, a true-crime writer.

After discovering films showing gruesome murders, Oswalt moves his family to the victim’s house, and in the process, endangers them. 

The American movie scoring website, Rotten Tomatoes gave Sinister a 63% rating, based on its Tomatometer.

It also earned a 61% audience score. 

Meaning, the movie is moderately loved by critics and moviegoers. 

Another movie scoring site, Screenrant, also gave it a moderate rating. 

Ethan Hawke in an eerie setting in his movie, Sinister

What the Study Says

The Broadbandchoices, a broadband company, conducted the study last September. 

To test which is the best horror movie of all time, fifty people watched over 120 hours among the studies curated 50 horror films. 

The participants also have heart monitors to observe which movies pump their hearts the most. 

The list, according to the study, came from critics and Reddit recommendations.

The study found out that Sinister produced the highest heart rate among its viewers, averaging at about 86 beats per minute (BPM). 

The average resting heart only beats at 65 beats per minute. 

However, the website did show the whole list of all 50 choices. Instead, it shows the top thirty-five horror movies that scared the participants the most. 

According to the Science of Scare, the movie Sinister is full of “scares, twists, jumps, creepy kids, and bad decisions.” 

The top 2 in the scariest list is Insidious, averaging 85 beats per minute.

It also has the highest heartbeat spike during a jumpscare, with 133 BPM. 

Sinister’s highest spike for its biggest jumpscare is only 131 BPM.

Scary But Not the Best One

People moderately loved the movie.

However, it is not the best horror film of all time. 

The number one horror film of all time is still contestable though. 

However, some horror favorites of all time, like Psycho, and The Shining did not make the Science of Scare’s top list, although both are critically acclaimed movies. 

Moreover, the study only monitored people’s heartbeat per minute.

It did not include other factors showing the effectiveness of a horror film.

For example, after watching a movie, what are the effects of it on a person.


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