'Insidious' Is The Scariest Horror Movie, New Study Finds

Insidious is officially the scariest horror film, according to a recent experiment.

Yep, Buzz Bingo measured just how terrified people were of different horror movies, ranking them under three sub-categories: tension, most scares and the biggest scare.

And in order to ensure the results were accurate, they monitored the film fanatic's heart rates throughout.

To measure the tension category, they looked at each person's resting heart rate and average heart rate while watching the movie, meanwhile they categorised 'scares' by looking for peaks in their heart rates.

Analysts then scored each movie out of 10 based on its rank for each of the three measurements - with 10 being the top of the pile while one was at the bottom.

These three scores were then combined to make an overall ranking, out of 30.

"When scared, our adrenal glands release a burst of adrenaline into our bloodstream, increasing our heart rate - this is the 'fight-or-flight' response," those running the experiment explained.

"To discover which horror movies are the best at triggering this response, we asked ten volunteers to watch the ten films with the highest-rated jump scares while wearing a heart rate monitor."

At the very top of the pile was Insidious, but, interestingly, Annabelle: Creation actually had the biggest scares, according to Buzz Bingo's data.

In fact, the film's average BPM increase during a scary moment was 40.2, while Insidious was slightly lower 39.4.

The Conjuring 2 topped the 'most scares' ranking, averaging 8.8 peaks it heart rate across all of the movie watchers, while Insidious came fourth in this particular category.

So, it was the 'tension' category which ensured Insidious reigned victorious. Viewers had an average BMP increase of 23.1 throughout.

Thats pretty darn tense, if you ask us.

Check out the trailer if you want a reminder of just how terrifying it is...

The complete ranking can be seen below:

10. The Messengers
9. Extraterrestrial
8. Resident Evil: The Final Chapter
7. Banshee Chapter
6. Sinister
5. The Haunting in Connecticut 2
4. Annabelle: Creation
3. The Conjuring 2
2. The Haunting in Connecticut
1. Insidious

At least we know we weren't the only ones on the edge of our seats while watching these!

Featured Image Credit: Blumhouse Productions

Topics: Horror, TV Entertainment

Joanna Freedman

Joanna is a journalist at Tyla with a particular interest in highlighting women's issues and telling inspiring first person stories. She's also their resident foodie, and loves covering exciting new beauty launches, too. Contact her at [email protected].

@joannafreedman