For die-hards, no horror movie can be too scary. But for you, a wimp, the wrong one can leave you miserable. Never fear, scaredies, because Slate’s Scaredy Scale is here to help. We’ve put together a highly scientific and mostly spoiler-free system for rating new horror movies, comparing them with classics along a 10-point scale. And because not everyone is scared by the same things—some viewers can’t stand jump scares, while others are haunted by more psychological terrors or can’t stomach arterial spurts—it breaks down each movie’s scares across three criteria: suspense, spookiness, and gore.

Reprobates and angels alike are expected to gather in hordes this weekend to see Sinners, the fifth film from writer-director Ryan Coogler and his fifth collaboration with star Michael B.
Jordan. With Creed and Black Panther, Coogler built a reputation as a trusted director of smart franchise blockbusters, but Sinners is an original story, and one whose marketing has left much to the imagination, so viewers may not know what to expect. The answer, it turns out, is a movie that’s part racial allegory, part ghoulish vampire flick: Set in the Jim Crow South, it takes us through a frightful 24 hours during which a cadre of vampires descends upon an unsuspecting group of Black inhabitants of a town in the Mississippi Delta. The movie has racked up rave reviews, many of which have noted its penchant for Grand Guignol and sudden frights, all of which might leave some horror novices intrigued yet anxious. Is Sinners more of a sexy vampire thriller, or will Coogler have you leaping out of your seat? Luckily, I made a Scaredy Scale you can really sink your teeth into.

Sinners is an easier horror watch than most because the terror doesn’t come to visit our main characters until the back half of the story. However, that doesn’t stop Coogler from giving the audience a taste of what’s to come at the very start, as the movie zaps the audience’s nerves through a few brief, effective, loud glimpses of the carnage to come. Aside from one more old-school freak-out of the “it’s just a cat” variety, there aren’t many more sudden jolts to follow. Don’t get me wrong, Sinners is full of taut action filmmaking and well-built moments of suspense, but after the opening, the shocks are rarely sudden, and even as the movie builds toward its grand finale, the tension is often released with humor. (While the movie may be scarier than the trailers have let on, it’s also funnier.) Those prone to high blood pressure may struggle right at the beginning and then have their pulse rising again toward the end, but their hearts should survive.

While gorier movies have come and gone, Sinners doesn’t squander any opportunities to splatter the screen with red. Unlike the jump scares that set the tone for the movie, the bloodier part of Sinners doesn’t hit until the second half, when the fanged villains finally show up. But once they do? Oh boy. I’d love to hear the number of gallons of fake blood the production team had to order for this one! Sinners isn’t a nonstop feeding fest, but you certainly get to see your fair share of blood spewing from both the victims of the nightwalkers and from the undead themselves: When they’re properly staked, they burst forth like fire hydrants. Not to mention that these vampires are more voracious flesh-eaters than they are dainty blood-drinkers, so the wounds they leave are pretty gnarly. And more than one character also burns alive, as tends to happen when any creature of the night gets a little too much sun. The worst of it, though, are the undead who have been shot by our protagonists but not yet killed, as they walk around with their bullet wounds showing blown-open jaws and necks. While most of this is pretty standard vampire or zombie fare, hemophobes should beware.

This is where Sinners gets the most interesting and complex. On one hand, period pieces and supernatural flicks don’t tend to score highly on the spookiness chart because, well, we don’t live in 1932 and (depending on who you ask) vampires don’t exist. On the other, the movie ultimately gestures at horrors more real than vampires, and Coogler does manage to fit in a few bone-chilling moments that will stay with you. For example, there’s an Irish folk song performed in the creepiest way possible that makes me wary of ever hearing the tune again. On the whole, Sinners isn’t as spooky as most classics of the genre, including similar-minded allegories from the likes of Jordan Peele, but it’s got moments you won’t forget for quite some time.

With Sinners, Coogler has once again concocted a well-crafted, compelling crowd-pleaser that tackles racial politics without shortchanging audiences on exhilaration (or, this time around, sexy sanguivores). Sure, for a movie coming from the guy who directed Black Panther, there are more nerve-racking thrills than anticipated. There’s no doubt that Sinners is a horror film. Still, it’s far from the scariest movie you’ll come across. With some well-timed glances away from the screen for the squeamish and some forewarning of the movie’s handful of jump scares, even the most high-strung among us will make it through unscathed. When 2025 comes to a close, the movie is likely to be remembered among the best pictures of the year, but it’s highly unlikely that it will be considered one of the scariest.

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