Round one is over.

On the left side of the bracket, No. 1 “Get Out” advances easily to face underdog No. 5 “Paranormal Activity.” And both lower seeds No. 6 “Sinister” and No. 7 “Hush” vanquished their more highly favored opponents to square off against each other.

On the right side, No. 1 “Hereditary” crushed No. 8 “Candyman” and will face off against North Korean challenger No. 4 “Train to Busan.” Then, No. 3 “28 Days Later” will take on No. 7 “The Strangers.”

Let the round 2 quarterfinals begin!

Is “Sinister” the scariest movie ever made? Well, science says so. This movie, about a true crime novelist who moves his family into a murder house in order to work on a new book, was tested by a United Kingdom website called “Broadband Choices” in 2020 against 35 other scary movies and was found to raise viewer heart rates the most. Even if the science was a gimmick, this movie is certainly scary as you-know-what. The found footage murder movies that our main character watches as he does research are mini-horror masterpieces in and of themselves. And try not to look at a lawn mower the same way ever again.

“Hush” is the unsettling horror movie that uses sounds to its advantage better than “A Quiet Place.” Imagine if you lived in the middle of the woods alone, were deaf, and a stalker was following you! Through the whole film we see that the main character Maddie is stalked through the use of jumpscares and creative sound design. Director Mike Flanagan makes you feel like you’re deaf as you scream at the screen while Maddie’s predator just stares at her from the background behind windows. The stalker, just The Man, tortures Maddie and kills the people that are in her life. It is worth the watch as a goosebumps giving and screen screaming film.