Blumhouse has become synonymous with horror movies over the years, as the independent film and television company is behind the production of numerous high-profile horror films such as the Paranormal Activity franchise, Insidious, Happy Death Day, Get Out, M3GAN, the newer Halloween trilogy, and many others.
Because of its legendary reputation, I started thinking about the scariest movie out of all Blumhouse creations, and I have an answer (backed up by a scientific study!).
The answer to the question is Sinister, the 2012 movie starring Ethan Hawke, directed by Scott Derrickson. Hawke and Derrickson would work together again on The Black Phone and its sequel, which will be released later this year.
Why is Sinister the scariest Blumhouse movie?
Before we delve into what makes Sinister so scary, let's briefly refresh you on what the movie is about. Hawke plays a true crime writer named Ellison Oswalt. After his first book's success, Ellison struggles to develop an idea for his second. But then he stumbles upon the gruesome murder of the Stevenson murder and learns that the home where they died is for sale.
Oswalt moves himself and his family into the old Stevenson house so he can research their murders and learn more about what happened there in the past. During his research, he finds a box of Super 8 home movies.
Each one shows the graphic death of a different family, indicating that more than just the Stevensons died in that house. Oswalt's continued journey down the rabbit hole leads him to the world of the occult, and he draws the attention of a pagan God.
In 2020, Forbes previously reported that broadbandchoices had conducted a study to find the scariest movie ever, and Sinister won. During a test that tracked the heart rates of 50 people of differing ages watching over 100 hours of scary movies, they found that Sinister caused the most significant increase in BPM (heartbeats per minute).
The average person's BPM is 65, but while watching Sinister, participants had a 32% increase to 86 BPM, the highest of all movies watched. Funnily enough, several other films ranked highly on the test were Blumhouse movies like Insidious, Paranormal Activity, and The Visit.
To be fair, the test only pulled from the 50 highest-rated horror films on Reddit, Rotten Tomatoes, and a few other outlets, but it's still an impressive feat that Sinister managed to beat out all of the other movies included in the study.
Sinister's home movies remain terrifying
Most people who found Sinister scary can agree that the film works so well because of the Super 8 films. Production did a fantastic job of making them look extremely realistic. They're brutal, and the movie doesn't spare the children.
Derrickson is very good at building a sense of unrelenting tension in Sinister, to the point that it creates extreme anxiety and thus raises your heart rate. Sinister is short on jump scares, and the few that are present aren't even what makes the movie so terrifying. It's the way it creates dread, the excellent foreboding score, and even the main villain, Bughuul, who creeps on you as a viewer.
Sinister is not streaming right now, but it is available to rent or buy on demand.