Science Officially Proves This Streaming Horror Movie Is The Scariest Film of 2024; Here’s How
What’s your favorite scary movie? No, seriously, what movies do you love that scare you to your very core? Everyone has a different answer, but the Science of Scare Project put in the work to figure out THE scariest movies of all time through scientific methods. This isn’t about personal preference, but how a viewer’s body physically reacts to being scared. And this year’s top 20 list features some new additions, including one 2024 release that’s been terrifying audiences since its release just a few weeks ago.
To get the results, the Science of Scare Project enlists a panel of 250 volunteers who are fitted with heart rate monitors while watching through a carefully curated list of English-language genre films. Last year, the project expanded its experiment by creating a special Science of Scare score that takes into account both heart rate and heart rate variance (the amount of time between each heartbeat). Essentially, a lower heartbeat variance means a viewer is more stressed out. By using both measurements, the team could more equally judge films with jumpscares and slower burns.
This year, Damian Mc Carthy’s Irish supernatural thriller Oddity, which hit theaters just a few months ago, has snuck in as number 20 on the list, the only 2024 release to crack the top 20. The film, which follows an eccentric psychic investigating the death of her twin sister, is stuffed with dread, well-structured jump scares, and a wooden man who’s just waiting to haunt your nightmares.
For the fourth year in a row, Scott Derrickson’s Sinister holds the top spot as the scariest movie of all time (at least according to science). Starring Ethan Hawke as a struggling true crime writer, the hybrid found footage film just feels cursed, especially as Hawke’s character watches a series of mysterious snuff films hidden in their attic.
Check out the full list below:
- Sinister
- Host
- Skinamarink
- Insidious
- The Conjuring
- Hereditary
- Smile
- The Exorcism of Emily Rose
- Talk To Me
- Hell House LLC
- The Conjuring 2
- It Follows
- The Dark and the Wicked
- The Descent
- Paranormal Activity
- The Babadook
- A Quiet Place 2
- The Autopsy of Jane Doe
- Insidious 2
- Oddity
While the list hasn’t changed much since 2023, Talk To Me has moved up a few spots as it continues to petrify unsuspecting viewers looking for a good time at the movies. You can see the full results, as well as the scariest movies of just the last year, here.
Do you agree with this year’s Science of Scare list? Which do you think is the scariest? Let us know on X and Instagram @DreadCentral!
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