The spooky season has arrived

Study Reveals Scary Classics With The Most Errors Per Minute

The spooky season has arrived, and there's been a notable surge in searches for "horror films" in the past month, totaling 28,000 searches in the UK alone. Horror movies have long been a beloved genre, captivating audiences with hair-raising thrills and tension. Yet, even within the frightening world of horror, production errors can find their way in. Whether it's continuity lapses or factual inaccuracies, these slip-ups can disrupt the intended atmosphere of fear and suspense.

Driven by curiosity, BonusFinder delved into IMDb's horror 'With Goof' list and MovieMistake to reveal the horror films with the most mistakes per minute.

The Horror Films with the Most Mistakes: Unveiling the Blunders

Rank

Movie

Release

Year

Movie length

(mins)

Number of mishaps

Number of mishaps

(per min)

1

The Birds

1963

119

552

4.6

2

Scary Movie 3

2003

84

261

3.1

3

Jaws

1975

84

292

2.4

4

The Exorcist

1973

122

139

1.2

5

Halloween

1978

91

90

1

6

Poltergeist

1982

114

85

0.9

7

Saw

2004

103

72

0.8

8

Evil Dead

1981

85

57

0.7

8

The Thing

1982

109

62

0.6

10

The Wicker Man

1973

88

46

0.5

Please see the full data set, here.

The Birds | 552 mishaps
Alfred Hitchcock's classic suspense thriller, 'The Birds' is renowned for its tension-packed plot and Hitchcock's distinctive directorial flair. This film claims the top spot among horror movies with the most blunders of all time, tallying 552 documented mistakes, averaging nearly five errors per minute (4.64).

One conspicuous oversight occurs in the scene where Mitch boards up the house, oddly placing the final board on top of the lower one and gently tapping it with a hammer, omitting the use of nails.

Scary Movie 3 | 261 mishaps
‘Scary Movie 3’, a parody of multiple horror and science fiction movies, tickles the funny bone with its satirical take on the horror genre. However, even in the realm of humour, 261 mistakes were discovered, just over 3 mistakes per minute (3.11). The errors in ‘Scary Movie 3’ vary from continuity issues in scenes, props changing positions, to visible crew and equipment in reflections or scenes.

One of the main mistakes spotted by viewers is when Brenda and the girl crawling out of the TV (à la The Ring) get in a fight. Brenda throws the punch, the other girl falls over, and for a quick second her dress flies up too far and you can see where the makeup (that makes her look dead) on her legs ends.

Jaws | 292 mishaps
Steven Spielberg's iconic thriller ‘Jaws’ has kept audiences on the edge of their seats for generations, showcasing the terror of a colossal man-eating shark terrorising a small coastal town. Yet, amidst the terror of the deep, keen-eyed viewers have spotted a total of 292 mistakes - that’s nearly 3 mistakes per minute! (2.35). These errors range from discrepancies in the positioning and condition of the shark, inconsistencies in the weather and time of day, to changing hairstyles of characters between scenes.

One obvious mistake is when the shark bursts through the window of the cabin. In each of the shots facing Brody, including when he shoves the air tank into the shark's mouth, the glistening water is visible in the window's reflection behind Brody, however, the shark's reflection is never seen behind Brody, despite the shark's massive size in the small cabin.

Further study insights reveal:

  • 'The Birds' allocated the highest budget percentage to mishaps - 2.21%, amounting to £45,551 of the overall budget, surpassing all other films.
  • It's worth noting that, as a general trend, older movies tend to have made more errors than the more recent ones.
  • Evil Dead Rise, Insidious: The Red Door, The Babadook and Lights Out have 0 mistakes.
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