After the recent announcement that Blumhouse would be reviving the Universal monsters, we decided to take the opportunity to revisit the classics. How do the scares compare to modern horror and can our results defend Hollywood’s decision to remake our vintage movies?

The first film we monitored was The Wolf Man (1941).

SYNOPSIS:

A practical man returns to his homeland, is attacked by a creature of folklore, and infected with a horrific disease his disciplined mind tells him can not possibly exist.

Told as a story with heart and a lot of hair, could this black and white original turn our subject a whiter shade of pale?

Test Subject: Leah

Age : 35

Gender: Female

Fears: Insects

Resting HR: 60-65 bpm

Walking HR: 80-85 bpm

ANALYSIS:

The film progressed as a murder mystery rather than horror. This kept our subject’s numbers low for the majority of the first act. Minor heart rate fluctuations were recorded, even when an attack presented itself. We zoomed the scale in to pinpoint three moments which escalated our subject’s resting 60-65bpm to barely above 70bpm. But it wasn’t until the film’s chaotic finale that we saw our subject’s peak heart rate reach 72bpm.

CONCLUSION:

The Wolf Man was released in 1941 during an early age of cinema when ‘screen time’ for an audience was minimal. The scares were tame, however the film was intelligently crafted for its time. Unfortunately, the beautiful lighting and creepy fog effects weren’t enough to warrant any hair raising numbers and could only burn off 76 calories. So before that late night craving for raw meat hits, try feasting your eyes on The Wolf Man a few more times instead.

The Wolf Man: Burns 76 Calories

8oz Filet Mignon: 320 Calories

How many Fear Calories did you burn watching The Wolf Man? Let us know in the comments below or on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook