(WHDH) — A new study has ranked the scariest horror movies of all time, just in time for Halloween.
Broad and Choices says it tracked heart rates throughout some of the most iconic horror films to “study the science of scary” and pinpoint the scariest horror movie ever produced.
Researchers studied the reviews of film critics and Reddit recommendations before selecting 50 horror flicks for test subject to watch.
Each test subject was fitted with a heart rate monitor and the movies were played in 5.1 surround sound to get them on the edge of their seats, according to researchers.
“Sinister,” staring Ethan Hawke, was crowned the ultimate horror movie. Test subjects’ hearts pounded throughout the whole movie, reaching a high spike of 131 beats per minute, the study found. The average heart rate stayed steady at 86 beat per minute.
“Insidious,” “The Conjuring,” “Hereditary,” and “Paranormal Activity” rounded out the top five scariest horror movies.
The full ranking was as follows:
(Copyright (c) 2026 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)