We began by scanning YouTube channels that specialize in short‑film production and indie horror, extracting titles that self‑identify as psychological thrillers and have a minimum of 10 000 views. Each candidate was then subjected to a blind viewing session to avoid bias from subscriber counts.
After the initial screen, we logged quantitative notes on three core criteria—story complexity, technical execution, and emotional resonance—then ranked the films on a 10‑point scale. The final shortlist reflects the highest aggregate scores across these dimensions.