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TOP TEN SCARIEST MOVIES

Greg, a fan of this site, once asked me, "What are your favorite Horror Movies? That is, the Scariest?"

So here we go, the top 10 SCARIEST movies and each one annotated. Why the explanations? Because everyone ALWAYS questions the reason behind the picks on a top ten list.

*Denotes those movies that had, at one time, been banned or remain so.

One more caveat: There are so many movies that I love that did not make the list. From Lucio Fulci to Peter Jackson. But the question here was not only the best Horror movie, but specifically the SCARIEST movies. Horror has its own Top Ten.

1. PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (1925) * Universal Pictures When Christine (played by Mary Philbin) pulled Erik's (played by Lon Chaney) mask off and his hideous face beneath was revealed, audiences (men and women) screamed and passed out. Some bolted from the theater! You wouldn't be frightened today, as innumerable magazines and various photographs have been on display everywhere depicting "the face". They even have a photo of him without the mask right on the video box cover. Such marketing - so very poor. But the mask coming off proved to be a popular device for scaring folks. The same thing happened with . . . ^ (No scary movies in the 1930s and 40s.)

2. HOUSE OF WAX (1953) Warner Bros. This was a remake of the Fay Wray movie, MYSTERY OF THE WAX MUSEUM. When audiences saw that movie however, they were expecting Fay Wray to scream, waited for it, and were amused when she did (it was her reputation from her role in KING KONG. Fay Wray was the first Scream Queen). The surprise of HOUSE OF WAX (Besides the fact that it was shot in 3D!!!) is that it was played for droll laughs right up until the time that Vincent Price grabs his victim. She beats against his face, causing his wax visage to break and fall away, revealing the grotesque features beneath. Suddenly all the fun is gone and things are getting damn scary and tense FOR REAL! IN 3D! (The movie was black and white for 3D but originally shot in color). Laughter followed by Fright was a staple of Vincent Price movies. This moment, a call back to PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, so terrified audiences that it has become a standard of horror movies. Vincent Price did it again with his THE ABOMINABLE DR. PHIBES. It was repeated in BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES. Remember the face-falling-apart scene in David Cronenberg's remake of THE FLY? As a side note, I also like the way Warner Bros. enticed you with the magic of 3D. On this poster at the top left, the bold yellow words read, "Beauty and Terror meet in your seat..."

3. PSYCHO (1960)* Universal Pictures There's no getting around it, even in today's audience savvy world, when you find someone who has never seen Alfred Hitchcock's classic, there is that moment with "Mother" that makes them leap out of their skin. A movie that, like nearly all horror movies, unnerves the audience with a suggestive "It could happen to YOU" undercurrent. Robert Bloch's first masterpiece in movies. Read James Futch's brilliant personal account of the PSYCHO movies.

4. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)* Some movies build up to the shocks, some movies throw in unexpected shocks, but NIGHT was the first movie I ever saw where the tension begins in the first 5 minutes and Never - Lets - Up. No explanation for why the dead are coming back to life, no exposition at all. It is happening and we have to deal with it. Romero's classic dances on your nerves right to the very last second of film. Incredible.

5. ASYLUM (1972)* Amicus Animated killer dolls with human organs inside them; body parts stuffed in bags and still moving; this Peter Cushing classic so pushed the edge of Horror that it was banned in many countries (it remains banned in Finland). Some scenes which were considered Over-The-Top for their time, are still able to deliver the shocks. Robert Bloch's second book-to-movie masterpiece. Trivia: Robert Block, Vincent Price, and Peter Cushing all died within a year of each other.

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