The Shining voted the scariest horror film of all time

IT'S a subject that can get as scary as the people starring in the horror films. But one company has finally settled the debate on the most terrifying movie ever.

This is the classic scene from The Shining which set people's pulses racing the most.

IT'S a subject that can get as scary as the people starring in the horror films, but one company has finally attempted to settle the debate on the most terrifying movie of all time.

It was no easy task, but Japanese-owned website Rakuten's Play.com wanted it solved so asked 10,000 people to vote on their scariest film.

But it didn't stop there, they wanted a more accurate result so they wired subjects up to heart monitors and tracked changes in their pulses to see which movie scene got their hearts racing the fastest.

As it turned out the winner was the famous "Here's Johnny" scene from The Shining, which set pulses rise by a whopping 28 per cent, according to the Daily Mail.

The 1973 film, The Exorcist, came in a number two, while 1984's classic Nightmare on Elm Street came in at number three.

To find out what the scariest scenes and films were overall, testers analysed increases in people's heart rates during each screening.

The scariest scene was worked out by identifying the percentage rise in each person's heart rates during spikes that occurred at the same time.

These were then compared to each person's average heart rate during each film.

As part of the experiment people were also asked what scared them the most, with the majority saying spiders, snakes, ghosts and being buried alive gave them the chills.

Linda Blair played possessed child Regan in The Exorcist, 1973. Picture: Supplied

Which flick gets your vote for the scariest of all time? Share with us in the comments below.