Happier Halloween… Why horror movies are good for your mental health

The horror genre has always been a reliable source of fear and panic, but a recent report suggests horror movies may actually improve your mental health.

Apparently, watching a horror movie will release adrenaline throughout the body, and this adrenaline helps stabilise your mood, decrease anxiety, and can even lead to less depression.

According to Wellbeing Specialist Dr. Barbara Johnson, the human brain is wired to focus all its attention on the most imminent threat. This bias towards imminent threats makes horror movies especially attractive, as our attention is pushed towards the actions of a monster or murderer and away from everyday stressors.

Says Dr. Johnson, “We tend to worry about many things that are out of our control – the weather, job security, inflation, pandemics. Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do to change or remove these stressors. But a horror movie? That stressor can be removed with the click of a remote. Allowing fear to be a choice instead of an unavoidable misery gives a sense of control.”

Over the last few years, we’ve seen some impeccable horror films – both new and revived franchises as well as fresher stand-alone features.

With this in mind, BonusFinder.com were curious to investigate which horror films work best for that added adrenaline rush, looking at horror releases of the last five years to reveal the movies with the most jump-scares.

The jumpiest film of the last half decade is Don’t Listen. Released in 2020, the film follows the strange death of a man’s son in his new home as the owner begins to hear a ghostly plea for help, spurring him to seek out a paranormal expert. Don’t Listen has 27 jump scares in total, the first happening within the first three minutes.

The study was done over a year ago, but, since we’ve seen Terrifier 3 only recently, we figure this film might just take the number one or two spot. Terrifier 3 is possibly the most terrifying horror film to hit the big screen – the gore is over-the-top, the killing has no rhyme or reason, and the main antagonist – Art the Clown – once again does everything through gesture rather than talk, making things that much eerier.

Taking joint second place is 2021’s Ghost Lab and 2019’s It: Chapter Two, with 24 jump scares each. Ghost Lab follows the story of two doctors who become dangerously obsessed with obtaining scientific proof that ghosts exist; the first jump scare happens within the first two minutes. Chapter Two is the second instalment in the rebooted It franchise and follows the Losers Club 27 years later as they return to Derry to reunite with and end Pennywise the Clown. Funnily enough, the first jump scare doesn’t happen until 19 minutes in.

The fourth film with the most jump scares is the Shudder original, Host. Released at the end of 2020, the film follows six friends who accidentally invite the attention of a demonic presence during an online séance. It has 23 jump scares, with the first happening 17 minutes into the film.

Interesting to note, BonusFinder.com’s research uncovered that the rate of jump scares appears to have decreased over the years, with no films from 2023 making the top 10.

None of the early Scream films made it into the Top 10, but Scream 5 sits at number 6, while Scream 6 holds 18th place. Ditto for the Halloween franchise which didn’t have enough jump scares in the earlier films for these to score Top 20 status, but more recent release Halloween Kills did make it in at number seven.

Check out the rest of the top 20, below, and happy horror film watching this Halloween!

Antonino Tati

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