Stephen King’s ‘It’ kills off the opposition to become the UAE’s most popular horror movie

The film, based on King’s famous novel beat out ‘Alien’, ‘The Shining’ and ‘Hereditary’ as the Emirates' most searched movie in October

Bill Skarsgard stars as Pennywise the killer clown in 'It', an adaptation of Stephen king's acclaimed 1986 novel. Warner Bros Pictures via AP

When it comes to horror flicks, UAE cinema-goers have proven that they like a side order of scares with their popcorn.

With horror one of the most popular cinematic genres in the region, the movie It, in which a killer clown terrorises the children of the town of Derry in Maine, has beaten the likes of 1979 classic, Alien, and 2002's Resident Evil to be named the UAE's most popular horror film.

The 2017 movie It, which starred Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise the killer clown and Stranger Things actor, Finn Wolfhard, beat out the opposition by a wide margin with 266,000 searches, compared to second place The Conjuring II with 23,200 searches and Alien in third place with 20,600.

The research was carried out by Premier Inn, the UK’s largest hotel brand, which analysed the number of online searches made every October for over 80 popular modern and classic horror movies across 15 countries around the world.

'Alien' and 'The Shining' take global top spots

"We know at this time of year that people like to frighten themselves with a spooky movie, and we were curious to compare which movies were most popular in the UAE, and then see how it compared to other places across the globe," a spokesperson from Premier Inn commented. "We hope the research gives some frightfully good movie inspiration for anyone looking to give themselves a little scare this Halloween."

And when it comes to how the UAE's tastes in horror compare to the rest of the world, the movie this region relegated to third place, Alien, proved the most popular globally.

Coming in first place in England, New Zealand, Spain, France, Germany, Norway and Wales, the classic Oscar-winning flick, which starred Sigourney Weaver as the legendary Ellen Ripley proved an enduring choice.

Elsewhere, another film based on a Stephen King novel, 1980's The Shining, earned the top spot in the US, Scotland and the Republic of Ireland.

The UAE’s most searched horror movie list in full

1. It (266,000 searches)
2. The Conjuring II (23,200 searches)
3. Alien (20,600 searches)
4. Annihilation (13,170 searches)
5. The Conjuring (13,100 searches)
6. Gerald's Game (11,410 searches)
7. Hereditary (10,600 searches)
8. Insidious (10,600 searches)
9. Resident Evil (10,300 searches)
10. A Quiet Place (10,220 searches)
11. Zombieland: Double Tap (9,900 searches)
12. The Shining (9,500 searches)
13. The Babysitter (9,160 searches)

Find out how your favourite horror films fared around the world here