Resident Evil is a horror film adaptation of Capcom’s legendary video game franchise. Written and directed by Zach Cregger, our hearts were already racing just thinking about the results from some of his previous films we’ve monitored, including Weapons.

For this test, we found a FearScale subject who was unfamiliar with the video games, allowing for more natural reactions rather than premeditated expectations of what might be lurking around the next corner.

Our subject also has a strong fear of demons and witchcraft, known as demonophobia. Would that fear play a role in sending her physiological reactions into survival mode? We were ready to find out.

If you’d like to be a part of the FearScale experiment, sign up to Become a Test Subject!

SYNOPSIS:

A hapless courier is tasked with delivering a package to a remote hospital. He soon finds himself caught in the middle of an outbreak and must fight through hordes of mutated creatures to survive.

FearScale™ Methodology

FearScale measures how frightening a horror film truly is by monitoring real-time heart rate data from human test subjects during controlled viewing sessions. Each subject’s baseline resting heart rate is recorded prior to the film, allowing us to identify meaningful spikes caused by tension, dread, shock, or sustained unease.

Heart rate increases are tracked throughout the runtime and correlated with specific scenes to determine when fear responses occur, and how intense they are. This data-driven approach helps separate genuine physiological reactions from subjective opinions or post-viewing impressions.

Because fear is personal, FearScale does not claim universal results. Instead, each session offers an objective snapshot of how a film impacts the human body under consistent conditions, providing a unique, measurable lens on horror.

Where We Monitored: In Theater

Test Subject: Jennifer

Age: 33

Gender: Female

Fears: Demonophobia or the fear of demons and witchcraft

Resting Baseline HR: 61-65bpm

Walking HR: 80-85bpm

RESIDENT EVIL FEARSCALE ANALYSIS:

The film immediately sucked in our subject, and right off the bat, she began empathizing with the main character. That’s always a good sign when you’re looking for elevated heart rates, if the subject cares about what happens, their heart usually follows.

And just as suspected, even a wintry walk was enough to get her heart racing while she chuckled at the main character’s reactions to the creepy tasks at hand.

But then an accident quickly changed the mood, and suddenly, her heart was off to the races.

30:00

After a vicious attack, a quick combination of jump scare and gore elevated her heart rate to 91 BPM. Those elevated numbers lingered for nearly ten minutes, and at the 40:00 mark, a tension-filled scene pushed her heart rate to its peak of 94 BPM.

As our subject followed along with the action, we noticed a similarity between this film and some of the found-footage movies we’ve monitored. The personal, visceral close-up camera work tends to affect our subjects much more, putting them directly into the middle of the action.

And Resident Evil certainly isn’t shy about getting up close and personal.

The film’s short runtime, combined with its steady stream of chaos, helped our subject burn 234 calories as her heart rate sustained levels above 80 BPM. But as seen from our FearScale data, the scares drop significantly during the out-of-control finale, as the chaos takes over and the tension gives way to a more action-heavy conclusion.

FearScale Note

Our previous Resident Evil Virtual Reality experience pushed our subject’s heart rate above 100 BPM, both from the physical and emotional distress of the experience.

The film has several similar moments of panic, but it never reaches the same intensity as the VR experience. Then again, comparing a horror movie to being physically dropped into a Resident Evil nightmare isn’t exactly a fair fight.

VR is simply a different level of fear.

Best Viewing Environment

With its combination of horror, gore, sudden shocks, and moments that had our subject laughing at the absurdity of what was happening, Resident Evil could work well in a party atmosphere. A group setting may take some of the edge off the scares while making the film’s more chaotic moments even more entertaining.

Calorie Burn Comparison

Our FearScale test subject burned an average of 234 calories during the monitoring session.

For comparison, a hot dog with a bun contains roughly 300 calories.

So no, we wouldn’t recommend replacing dinner with a horror movie. But if you’re going to watch one anyway, you might as well get a little cardio with your carnage.

FearScale Conclusion

Resident Evil is a wild ride, like a roller coaster straight into hell.

The relatively simple path our character walks succeeds in maintaining consistently elevated heart rates, while the short runtime keeps the chaos coming without much downtime. The result is a horror experience capable of delivering several noticeable spikes while burning a respectable 234 calories along the way.

Will it make our subject want to play the game? Probably not.

With several high peaks coming from a combination of shock, tension, gore, and even laughs, the film and visuals alone will take up a new residency in our hearts.

Want More from Zach Cregger?

• Weapons : (FearScale Heart Rate Breakdown)

• Barbarian : (Watch the Trailer)

How many Fear Calories did you burn watching Resident Evil?  Let us know in the comments below or on Instagram, and Facebook