Search Here

Horror movies are known to be "bloodcurdling" for a reason. Leidin University researchers find that this is what happens when we watch scary movies, as it leads to an increase in the blood coagulant factor VIII, a blood-clotting protein.

The process gives an important evolutionary benefit, making the body gear up for blood loss during dangerous or "life threatening" situations, according to a press release.

While "bloodcurdling" has a literary sanction, with people in the medieval times calling their fear or horror making the blood "curdle," science has never verified it.

About 24 healthy volunteers aged below 30 years were assigned to various groups. As 14 were told to watch a scary movie followed by a non-scary one, 10 were asked to watch them "in the reverse order".

Every movie was just 90 minutes long and was repeatedly seen "more than one week apart at the same time of day in a relaxed environment" according to HNGN.

Blood samples within 15-minutes before and after every movie made researchers find higher levels of coagulant factor VIII in participants before as well as after the flick.

"The underlying biological mechanism of acute fear associated with an increase in coagulation activity is still to be unravelled," Banne Nemeth, first author of the study, told The Telegraph. "Although it's not immediately obvious by which means our results could confer clinical benefits a broader implication of these study results is that after centuries the term 'bloodcurdling' in literature is justified."

The study was published in Dec. 16 issue of the British Medical Journal.