Featured Image Credit: Shudder
Topics: Film and TV
Lucy Devine
Choosing the scariest movie of all scary movies seems like quite a daunting task. But now, science has claimed that the 2020 film, Host, is actually the most terrifying horror out there.
Would you agree?
Watch the trailer for the film below:
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The horror flick, from British director Rob Savage, was made during the Covid-19 pandemic and filmed through Zoom video calls. It tells the story of a group of six friends who take part in a virtual séance.
At first not expecting much from their paranormal gathering, they soon realise they've underestimated an evil spirit.
The synopsis explains: “Six friends hire a medium to hold a séance via Zoom during lockdown, but they get far more than they bargained for as things quickly go wrong. When an evil spirit starts invading their homes, they begin to realise they might not survive the night.”
Although it's only an hour long, it's certainly not one to watch while you're home alone.
And it seems science certainly agrees, following the results of a new study.
The Science of Scare Project from Broadband Choices has been measuring the scariest films for the past couple of years, based on what gets our hearts racing.
To uncover the scariest film, the team created a list of the most terrifying movies, before asking 250 volunteers to watch them in a screening. Each volunteer is fitted with a heart rate monitor, which is tracked for the duration of each film.
The screenings of each movie take place over several weeks - so there's no risk of fatigue among participants.
This year, Host came out on top for the second year in a row, increasing heart rates by an average of 24 beats per minute.
"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 retaining its title, leading us to declare that Host is the scientifically scariest movie ever made," Broadband Choices explain.
The 2022 follow-up to Host, DASHCAM, also made the top 10, coming in at eighth place and knocking The Conjuring 2 out of its top spot.
Other movies to make the list include Sinister, which came in second place, Insidious in third place, The Conjuring in fourth place and Hereditary in fifth.
Meanwhile, Terrified took sixth place, It Follows came in seventh, A Quiet Place made number nine and Paranormal Activity secured the 10th spot.
Which horror film gets your heart racing?