While no one may agree on what the scariest horror movies of all time are, a scientific experiment might have narrowed it down to one frightening film. What scares people when watching horror movies differs among viewers. Some people are frightened by simple jump scares. Others can’t handle gruesome or bloody scenes. Many viewers can’t handle the more psychologically terrifying scenes in horror films. Whatever the case, there is a horror movie out there that is guaranteed to scare everyone. However, one scientific experiment has crowned the one scary movie that affects the most people equally, and it is available for everyone to watch this Halloween.
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The Science of Scare Project was set up with the intention of naming the scariest movie that “gets hearts pumping and pulses racing.” This project brings together 250 people to watch horror movies throughout the year, with heart rate monitors tracking their heart rate throughout the films. They then created the Science of Scare Score. This combines heart rate and heart rate variance, considering that the higher the number, the more terrified the viewers become. This led to a champion for the scariest movie of all time, and it turned out to be Scott Derrickson’s 2012 film, Sinister.
According to the findings, Sinister had a Scare Score of 96, which was one point higher than Host and one of only four movies to break 90 in the ratings. Directed by Scott Derrickson, Sinister tells the story of a true-crime writer who moves his family into a house where a mass murder occurred. When he realizes the deaths are supernatural in nature, it puts his family in danger. The best news is that fans can watch Sinister during this Halloween season, since it is currently streaming for free on Tubi.
Sinister Deserves Its Spot as a Scary Horror Movie
There are some great horror movies in the rankings, as well as some surprising entries. The second-place movie was unexpected, with the independent horror film Host, which takes place on a Zoom call, when a demon is summoned during a seance. However, the film has an extremely high 99% Rotten Tomatoes score, and it offers a terrifying experience in what has usually been a gimmick premise that rarely works. At only a one-point difference, it is neck-to-neck with Sinister.
The other two films to break a 90 Scare Score were Skinamirink, which is very much an acquired taste, and Insidious, which is Blumhouse’s highest-ranked movie on the list. Other notable inclusions in the top portion of the list are The Conjuring, Hereditary, both Smile movies, and even Scott Derrickson’s older horror release, The Exorcism of Emily Rose. That movie made Derrickson a star in horror circles, mixing a courtroom drama with a terrifying exorcism storyline.
Disappointingly, the brilliant 2025 horror movie Weapons ranks as the last movie on the list of 50. However, that movie is meant to be more fun than scary, so that might be why its Scare Score is not as high as something like The Nun 2 or Saw X. However, when looking at the very top of the list, it is easy to see why Sinister sits in that spot. According to the experiment, the highest spike in heart rate was 131 (with the average movie heart rate at 86). It was clear this movie was made to terrify audiences.
Sinister has been praised for years as one of the scariest movies of the 21st century, and it remains a solid tale of terror 13 years after it hit theaters. Derrickson’s intense direction and C. Robert Cargill’s terrifying script helped take this spooky, demonic horror story and turn it into nightmare fuel for the viewers. It mixes the effective jump scares with a sense of dread throughout the running time. When the ending arrives, it is a gut punch that remains one of horror movies’ most disturbing moments.
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image courtesy of 20th Century Studios
