In a new study dedicated to finding the scariest horror movie of all time, previous title holder Sinister was dethroned by 2020's Host after winning last year's #1 slot. Starring Ethan Hawke as true crime writer Ellison Oswalt, Sinister debuted in fall 2012. Directed by The Exorcism of Emily Rose's Scott Derrickson, it would go on to shock—and haunt—audiences worldwide. Sinister scored an impressive $87.7 million at the box office, making it one of the highest-earning horror movies of modern times.
Just in time for the Halloween season, the “Science of Scare” project from Broadband Choices once again set out to find the scariest horror flick of all time. And believe it or not, there's actually plenty of science behind the study. According to the team, their research included monitoring the heart rates of 250 participants as they watched iconic horror movies like Friday the 13th (1980), Alien (1979), and The Conjuring (2013). The team complied a shortlist of the top 30 scariest films selected from Reddit, critic’s best of lists, and the 2020 Science of Scare Project. Medical supervisors examined the audiences as they watched the horror flicks over several weeks in special screening rooms, seeing which movies caused viewers' heart rates to rise above the average resting BPM of 64.
As reported by Bloody Disgusting, the Science of Scare project announced the winner of scariest horror flick of the year, with 2020's Host taking the title. It narrowly took the crown over Sinister, which found itself in 2nd place. Runner-ups included Insidious (2010), Hereditary (2018), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), and more. According to the Science of Scare team, Host horrified audiences, increasing their heart rates "by an average of 24 BPM." Their full quote can be read below:
"Despite being shot in just 12 weeks and entirely through Zoom video conferencing, Host terrified our audiences in its short 56 minute runtime, increasing heart rates by an average of 24 BPM and pushing Sinister to second place.”
Host brought horror a little too close to home with its pandemic-era premise of a haunting held via Zoom. Directed by Rob Savage, the 56-minute-long found footage film follows a group of friends who are terrorized by an evil spirit after holding a remote seance. Impressively, Host was created entirely in Zoom conference rooms, and only took 12 weeks to finish. Quarantine Zoom meetings took a toll on people's patience as many found themselves thrust into a virtual workplace, but Host took the concept of "bored to death" perhaps too literally. According to Savage, a "spiritual sequel" is in the works, but instead of following the horror of lockdown, will focus on the terror of opening up in a now-dangerous world.
Wether they're nightmare-inducing or just straight-up laughable, it's interesting to see how horror movies evolve over time. Surprisingly, 1973's The Exorcist failed to make the Science of Scare's top 20 list this year, after once being recognized as the scariest film of all time. But with modern horror movies outperforming classics in virtually every sense, it's clear that audiences' tastes have shifted. While everyone's taste in horror flicks is subjective, it's certainly interesting to see what exactly gets people's hearts racing.
Source: Bloody Disgusting