The Science of Scare 2026: The Scariest Movies According to Science

The Science of Scare Project 

Is there anything better than a truly terrifying movie? One that gets your heart pounding, makes you jump out of your seat or sleep with the lights on?

We don’t think so, but with streaming services putting thousands of horror films just a click away, the real nightmare can be deciding which one to watch for the maximum fear factor.

That's why, since 2020, the Science of Scare Project has measured the physiological impact horror films have on us to rank the scariest movies ever made, according to science.

Now in its seventh year, the Science of Scare for 2026 has now found its home at MoneySuperMarket broadband, so read on to find the movies that get our hearts pumping and pulses racing.

Science of Scare 2026 quick facts

• Sinister (2012) is the scientifically scariest movie of all time, holding on to the top spot for the fourth year in a row, with a Scare Score of 96. 

• Zach Cregger's Resident Evil (2026) delivered the biggest jump scare we've ever recorded (134 BPM). 

• Undertone is the scariest new film of 2026 (=33), tying with Skinamarink for the biggest stress response we've ever recorded (a 22% HRV drop). 

• Out of 15 new releases this year, just five managed to crack the top 50, including box office hits Obsession and Backrooms. 

• Host still gets hearts racing fastest, with the highest average heart rate on the list (88 BPM). 

• James Wan has more films in the top 50 than any other director, with four. Scott Derrickson, Parker Finn, Danny and Michael Philippou, John Krasinski, Damien Leone, Michael Chaves and Damian McCarthy each have two. 

• Patrick Wilson remains the most-featured actor, appearing in six top 50 films across The Conjuring and Insidious franchises.

> Jump to the full list

How do we measure the scariest movies?

The Science of Scare is an annual experiment that measures people’s physiological response to horror movies by tracking their heart rate and heart rate variability. 

Each year, our team curates a list of the most terrifying English-language horror movies and screens them to our 250-strong panel. 

Our test subjects are fitted with heart rate monitors, and their heart rate is tracked throughout each movie. We then look at a combination of factors to find out which movies get hearts beating and pulses racing the most. 

To prevent audience fatigue, screenings take place over several weeks, before we publish our results in October, just in time for spooky season. 

In the project's early years, we simply measured how much each movie raised our panel's average heart rate. However, since 2023, we’ve used a more detailed measurement: the Science of Scare ‘Scare Score’.

The Science of Scare score

Horror fans and communities like r/horror told us that relying on heart rate alone favoured jump scare-heavy movies over slow-burn horror. 

The Science of Scare Score combines three metrics: 

• Heart rate (BPM): this is how much the movie raised our audience's average heart rate throughout its duration, compared with the group's average resting heart rate. This is an indicator of excitement and fear as part of your fight-or-flight instinct. 

• Heart rate variability (HRV): this is the natural variation in time between heartbeats. The bigger the drop in HRV, the more stressed our audience became, a good indicator of slow-burn fear and dread. 

• Peak heart rate (BPM): this is the highest point our audience's heart rate reached during the movie – a good indicator of its single most stressful, exciting or scary moment. In horror films, it's particularly useful for finding jump scares. 

After collecting each film's average heart rate increase, biggest heart rate spike and HRV drop, we combine them to create a Science of Scare Score out of 100. For comparison, Shrek holds a Scare Score of 3. 

This year's panel had a slightly higher average resting heart rate than in previous years (67 BPM, rather than 64 BPM). To keep results comparable, we measure heart rate increases from each panel's own resting rate, and have adjusted this year's resting, average and peak heart rates to account for the difference. 

What is the scariest movie of all time? 

According to science, Scott Derrickson's 2012 supernatural horror Sinister is the scariest movie ever made, with a Scare Score of 96 out of 100 – a title it has held for four years running.

Sinister stars Ethan Hawke as true crime writer Elliot Oswalt, who, in his obsession with a series of grisly events documented in chilling 8mm footage, unwittingly puts his own family in danger.

Watching Sinister pushed our panel's average heart rate up 34%, from 64 BPM to 86 BPM, peaking at 131 BPM during its most terrifying scene. 

However, what sets Sinister apart is its rare ability to build dread, delivering sustained tension alongside its jump scares, partly thanks to its eerie sound design. That sinking feeling meant viewers' HRV fell by 21%, a drop beaten only by Skinamarink and newcomer Undertone. 

Sinister first took the crown in our original 2020 study, before losing it to Host in 2021. It won it back in 2023 under our new Scare Score, and has stayed on top ever since. 

The Science of Scare 2026 - full ranking

Rob Savage’s Host holds on to second place. The Zoom séance horror scored 95, less than a point behind Sinister, and once again raised heart rates more than any other film on the list, to an average of 88 BPM. 

Skinamarink stays in third with a score of 91. Arguably the most divisive film on the list, the experimental horror lacks a traditional narrative yet gave audiences an impressive 22% HRV drop – the joint biggest on our list. 

Completing the top 10 are Insidious (90), The Conjuring (88), Hereditary (81), Smile 2 (79), Smile (78) and The Exorcism of Emily Rose (76), with Talk to Me and Hell House LLC sharing 10th place on an identical score of 75. 

None of this year's 15 new films broke into the top 25, so the top of the table remains untouched. However, two new releases did claim top spots in individual categories. 

The scariest new horror movies of 2026

New films to the study 

Of the 15 new films in this year's study, five made it into the top 50 scariest movies of all time. 

The scariest newcomer is A24 horror Undertone, which shares 33rd place with Hush on a Scare Score of 63. It got there almost entirely through the sense of dread it creates, rather than jump scares or supernatural chases. 

Undertone, the directorial debut of filmmaker Ian Tuason, follows a paranormal podcast host who investigates a set of mysterious audio recordings, with the slow-burn horror marketed as ‘the scariest movie you’ll ever hear’. 

The film barely moved our panel's heart rate, raising it by just 8 BPM on average, with the lowest peak heart rate of any film in the top 50. However, the dread created by its impeccable sound design triggered a 22% drop in HRV, matching Skinamarink for the biggest we've ever recorded. 

Other new entries 

• Obsession (35=): Curry Barker's smash hit was one of the most talked-about movies of 2026 and cruised into the top 50 as the highest-ranked newcomer after Undertone. It scored 63, helped by a 16% HRV drop, with Inde Navarrette's now-iconic restaurant and house party scenes driving its most tense moments. 

• Insidious: Out of the Further (41): the latest in the Insidious franchise is a return to form, raising heart rates by 13 BPM – the most of any new entry – for a Scare Score of 60. 

• Hokum (43): Damian McCarthy's follow-up to Oddity scored 57, with a 15% HRV drop – the third biggest among this year's new films. 

• Backrooms (47=): the creepypasta-based mega hit made it into the top 50 with a score of 54, level with Lights Out. 

Further down, Resident Evil (56), Evil Dead Burn (60=), Lee Cronin's The Mummy (71), 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple (74) and Scream 7 (75) all missed the cut, while Return to Silent Hill was the least scary new entry at number 85, with a Scare Score of 29. 

^{New films screened in 2026, with their overall ranking. HR rise is the difference between average movie heart rate and average resting heart rate. Resting, average and peak heart rates are adjusted for this year's higher resting heart rate (67 BPM, rather than 64 BPM), so they compare like-for-like with previous years.}

What is the scariest jump scare of all time? 

For six years, one jump scare had topped our charts, until now. To find the scariest jump scares according to science, we ranked every film by its highest heart rate spike, to see which movies sent popcorn flying, with a brand-new entry taking the crown in 2026. 

According to our study, the biggest horror jump scare comes from Zach Cregger's Resident Evil (2026), which sent our panel's heart rate up to 134 BPM – a 70 BPM jump, and the highest spike of any film in the project's history. 

It edges out Insidious (133 BPM), which had held the record since our first study in 2020. But Resident Evil narrowly missed the overall top 50, likely because its second half shifts into darkly comic action, giving our panel's heart rates a chance to settle. 

Perhaps even more impressively, the film's first act delivered two jump scares in quick succession, both of which would have ranked in our top five on their own. 

The top 10 jump scares

James Wan is the undisputed master of the jump scare, with Insidious and The Conjuring taking second and third place. Four of our five scariest films overall also feature in the top five jump scares. The exception is Skinamarink, which relies on dread rather than shocks. 

^{Ranked by highest heart rate spike (BPM). Peak heart rates for 2026's new films are adjusted for this year's higher resting heart rate.}

Science of Scare: All Years

^{Scare Scores are provisional. An equals sign (=) denotes a tied ranking. HR rise is the difference between average movie heart rate and average resting heart rate. Resting, average and peak heart rates for 2026's new entries are adjusted for this year's higher resting heart rate.}

How we choose and rate movies

There are hundreds of horror films out there, with new indie releases arriving all the time, so we can't screen every single one. That's where our Scare List comes in. 

The Scare List brings together the scariest films from critics' best-of lists, forums and subreddits (special thanks to r/horror), expert recommendations, major theatrical releases and, of course, your suggestions. 

Here's how it works: 

• Our top 50 films are locked in and aren't rescreened. A film only drops out if a new entry scores higher and knocks it off the list. 

• Any film that drops out of the top 50 is blocked for 12 months, after which it can be voted back in. 

• We only include English-language films. 

• To keep results fair across years, we adjust for each panel's resting heart rate and check new results against benchmark films rewatched by every new panel. 

How to stream the scariest movies this Halloween

Many of the films on our list are available on streaming services, but there's nothing scarier than your film buffering just as the tension builds.

If you're planning a horror marathon this Halloween, use our broadband speed checker to make sure your connection can keep up – especially if you're streaming in HD or 4K, or other people at home are online at the same time. 

And with horror spread across Netflix, Prime Video, Disney+, Shudder and more, a combined TV, streaming and broadband package could save you paying for several separate subscriptions. 

Whether you're looking for a scary movie this Halloween or a family-friendly flick, find ways to save with MoneySuperMarket by comparing TV and streaming services, TV and movie packages, or broadband deals today.