The basic premise of BrightBurn (2019) had us intrigued since the first trailer dropped last year. What if Superman was evil? We couldn’t pass up the chance to take our heart monitor into the theater to see if this super hero horror film could send our subject’s heart rate soaring into record breaking numbers.
What is FearScale? We’ve all heard the expression ‘Scared to Death’ or how something ‘Made My Heart Skip a Beat’, but what does that actually look like? Studies have shown that even when subjected to stimuli that can not present a true threat of danger, our bodies will still produce a physiological response. By analyzing real-time results we are able to give you the most accurate reviews for anything that makes your heart race.
Synopsis:
What if a child from another world crash-landed on Earth, but instead of becoming a hero to mankind, he proved to be something far more sinister?
Test Subject: Leah
Age: 35
Gender: Female
Fears: Belonephobia (Fear of Needles)
Resting HR: 62-65 bpm
Walking HR: 80-85 bpm
ANALYSIS:
The dark and mysterious atmosphere had our subject on edge from the moment the film began. Her resting numbers were a thing of the past as they began to climb into a walking pace by 10:00. But it wasn’t until a bone crunching scene at 29:00 that the film established it’s tone and our subject realized what she was in for. She hit her peak heart rate of 92bpm during a drawn out and gruesome close up. Without being able to look away she was forced to sit through one torturous scene after another. And when a break in the action did occur, the anticipation of gore still lingered keeping her overall average fairly high.
CONCLUSION:
Our subject expected a super hero film with horror elements when what she got was an intense horror film with super hero elements. With the excessive amount of PG-13 films being released we’ve grown accustomed to the camera cutting away before the gore and leaving it to our imagination. This was not that film. Long, uncomfortable scenes kept our subject cringing which kept her pulse pounding. And even though there was little in the way of back story, there was enough empathy for a mother protecting her son to make our subject feel invested. BrightBurn (2019) turned out to be a super fun, heart racing slasher film able to burn off nearly half a hero sandwich.
BrightBurn burns an average of 223 Calories
A Hero Sandwich: 456 Calories
How many fear calories did you burn watching Brightburn? Let us know in the comments and make sure your following @FearScale on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook
Previously published at NOFSPODCAST.COM