A new entertainment platform wants to prove just how terrifying your favorite horror movies and experiences really are.
ScareScore, a biometric entertainment platform launching this month, measures how audiences physically respond to films and haunted attractions in real time using their own smartwatches and wearable devices.
Instead of relying on post-experience surveys or star ratings, the technology tracks physiological signals—including heart rate, heart-rate variability, and movement—to establish a baseline and generate a personalized fear rating. Fans can then compare scores, challenge friends, and see how their physical reactions stack up against other audiences.
ScareScore will make its public debut Oct. 6 at Screamfest at the TCL Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, then expand to additional film festivals and location-based entertainment experiences across North America this Halloween season.
“Entertainment has spent more than a century asking audiences what they thought after an experience was over,” said Chris Anastas, Founder and CEO of ScareScore. “We believe there is another incredibly valuable signal sitting right in front of us: what their bodies were doing while they experienced it.”
Anastas, a technologist, co-founded the company alongside horror producer JP Ouellette (“Do Not Watch”). While horror serves as the launchpad due to its visceral nature, the pair plan to scale the technology across other genres, streaming platforms, and theme parks.
For filmmakers, studios, festivals, and theme park operators, the platform offers something equally valuable: a new way to understand real-time audience engagement, showing not just how audiences responded, but when they responded, moment by moment, beyond traditional surveys, ratings, and self-reported opinion.
Additional film festivals, location-based entertainment and technology partners will be announced in the coming weeks.
