Oddity (2024) is an Irish horror film written and directed by Damian McCarthy. Audiences and critics have been labeling this movie one of the year’s scariest. We’ve seen this trend before so we were hesitant to believe the hype until we could get a truly accurate analysis. Our latest test subject was unfamiliar with the film and was not allowed to watch the trailer prior to viewing. Read her heart racing results below!

SYNOPSIS:

A psychic medium attempts to uncover the truth behind her sister’s murder at the site of the crime.

Where to Watch: Shudder

Test Subject: Leah

Age: 42

Gender: Female

Fears: Wiccaphobia or fear of witchcraft

Resting HR: 60-65bpm

Walking HR: 80-85bpm

ANALYSIS:

Note: As we began our monitoring session, a thunderstorm rolled in adding to the ambience of what would hopefully be a spooky experience.

The filmmakers established an eerie environment which had our subject on edge within the first ten minutes. Learning more about the characters and creepy patients in a psych ward made her even more uncomfortable.

Note: Anytime a psychiatric hospital is introduced as a location in a horror film, we tend to see an increase in anxiety.

After the 10:00 mark questions emerged about an eye and the haunting atmosphere began to envelop our subject. But a long period of exposition pulled her heart rate back to resting. At the 30:00 mark, a bizarre gift along with ominous photos slowly unraveled the mystery. It wasn’t until the one hour mark, however, that the creepiness of the story began to linger within our subject. This sustained an elevated heart rate above 80bpm for a long portion of the film. A few jump scares padded her numbers but unfortunately another bout of lengthy dialogue  diminished the momentum. Our subject lacked empathy for the main characters as we approached the finale. Rooting for evil in this circumstance did not help carry her numbers above the 90bpm mark. Luckily a brilliant piece of tension during the last scene produced one last impressive jolt.

CONCLUSION:

Oddity (2024) is an unsettling murder mystery with creepy imagery but suffers from a slow burn which prevents terrifyingly high heart rate numbers. Share on X There is no question that the life size wooden Pinnochio is creepy AF and nightmare fuel for weeks to come, but the film’s pacing was too slow to produce levels above 90bpm. For another witchy horror that uses only a creepy hand to produce scares, check out Talk to Me from 2022. Then come back here and read the complete analysis at FearScale!

Oddity (2024): Burns an average of 186 Calories

Wood-fired Pizza: 720 Calories

How many Fear Calories did you burn watching Oddity (2024) ?  Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook