ew's "20 scariest movies of all time"

back in october of 2004, entertainment weekly posted an article on their website where they grouped, what was in there opinion, the 20 scariest movies of all time. my friend leah sent me the link a few weeks ago, and i realized i had only seen 18 of them (gasp!). so i immediately set out to complete the list (leah was missing 2 as well, so we kind of had a contest to see who could finish first - i totally won! thanks, serial killer henry!). here is what i think about the list, broken down by each title...

1. the shining (1980): easily my favorite movie of all time. jack nicholson is perfect as jack torrance, and shelly duvall and danny lloyd are incredible. the movie scares the bejeezus out of me. i have literally seen it over 90 times (i used to watch it constantly when i lived alone), and as a matter of fact, it needs another viewing since i picked up the 2-disc version a few months back. this is required viewing.

2. the exorcist (1973): this one is in my top 5 favorite movies. some of the scenes in this movie are downright disturbing, but i can't seem to get enough of it. i really enjoyed the "spider walk" scene that they included in the dvd extras. that completely freaked me out, and i wish they left it in the movie. part 2 is pretty decent, but part 3 is nearly as good as the first one.

3. the texas chainsaw massacre (1974): this movie freakin' rules, and scares the living crap out of me. i will never stop on an old country road/highway to try to get help after watching this. i will just stick to the interstates. the villains in this movie are downright sadistic. and leatherface is a big dumb ox, but he is a big dumb ox with a huge chainsaw and a bad attitude. i need my blankie.

4. the silence of the lambs (1991): i wouldn't say this one actually scares me. hannibal lechter is a downright evil dude, and jodie foster is excellent in this as well. there are some great scenes that make you go "oh snap!", but i can sleep in the dark without a nite-lite after watching it.

5. jaws (1975): i haven't seen this in ages, but i remember it was pretty dang scary then, and probably still is. not so much that i would call it a horror movie, but it makes me definitely not want to go on a boat in the ocean. still, they did some amazing things with that big fake mechanical shark.

6. halloween (1978): michael myers is unstoppable. just when i thought he was down for good, he is up and at it again. and jamie lee curtis sure was lookin' fine. an excellent movie to watch in a dark room with friends (surround sound helps). and rob zombie's remake (2007) takes it to a higher, more brutal, level.

7. psycho (1960): this really is an amazing film. anthony perkins plays a perfect crazed mama's boy. and janet leigh (jamie lee curtis's mother, coincidentally) plays the role of a paranoid thief brilliantly. it is hard to believe she is only in the movie for a short time. alfred hitchcock was a superb filmmaker, and this is one of many of his excellent films.

8. seven (1995): brad pitt and morgan freeman star in this freakin' crazy film. i was on the edge of my seat the entire movie the first time i watched it. i still get chills at the end when kevin spacey is talking to brad pitt while the delivery driver is driving down the long desert road with the package. (dangit! i think i just crapped my pants.)

9. rosemary's baby (1968): another of my top 5 favorites. i love the suspense in this. mia farrow plays the helpless victim so exquisitely. i truly love how this movie was filmed. it has a very 70's feel to it, and the shots of new york city are beautiful. oh yeah, and the scene where satan impregnates rosemary is downright horrifying. i can watch this movie over and over and never tire of it.

10. poltergeist (1982): directed by the guy that brought us #3, this movie is nowhere near as sadistic, but it still scared the pants off of a 12 year old layne, i gotta say. the part where the boy is counting endlessly and the tree attacks him through the window; the part where the guy starts peeling away the skin from his face while looking in the bathroom mirror; that freaky midget lady. holy crap! i have the soundtrack to this loaded on my ipod, and i get goosebumps everytime a track from it comes on.

11. a nightmare on elm street (1984): i don't even need to say anything here. (mutter) dang freddy, making me scared to fall asleep for 3 solid years (mutter).

12. john carpenter's the thing (1982): this was one of the two that i had not yet seen when i read the list initially. my aforementioned friend leah borrowed it from her dad so that i could borrow it. and it ruled. i was all thinking it was just some kind of psychological type thriller, you know, folks in the arctic going stir crazy and stuff, until about 30 minutes in when the spider-alien-thingy burst out of the dog!!! i was glued to the screen for the next hour.

13. the evil dead (1982): this is number 5 on my top 5 favorite movies. it is so scary, bloody, and funny all at the same time. i was screaming, saying "ew!", and laughing insanely simultaneously. this is the only movie that could accomplish that, ever. i have bought three different versions of the dvd release (i think) over the years without hesitation. this movie is just so cool.

14. carrie (1976): man, this movie is so close to my top 5 it is not even funny. it scares me so bad that i have to watch it in the daytime. the soundtrack is eerie and haunting, and i listen to it often (i love the soundtracks to most of these movies as much as i love the movies, and i collect them often). sissy spacek kills in this move. in every sense of the word.

15. night of the living dead (1968): a masterpiece. this movie has been released so many times it was hard to find an appropriate one to link to. if you haven't seen this, you must do it now. forget the colourized one, forget the 3-d one, get the original b&w $5 one. you can pretty much find it anywhere. it is the best zombie movie of all time.

16. the omen (1976): this wraps up my top 5 favorite movie list. i love this movie more than words can describe. the characters are extremely believable, the death scenes are superb, the story itself is amazing. i want to watch it again right now after just thinking about it. the remake was okay, but the little dude just wasn't as believable.

17. an american werewolf in london (1981): this is the second of the two that i had not seen (until a few nights ago, that is). i rented this from netflix, and man, was i surprised. this was an excellent movie from start to finish. the effects during the transformation scene were so realistic and painful looking. i can't believe i had never seen this one before!

18. henry: portrait of a serial killer (1990): this is the one that allowed me to sneak by both leah and her dad to complete this list (they had both never seen it). i happened to rent this a few years ago because my friend richard was talking about how sweet it was. i gotta say, richard, i didn't think it was sweet, but it was definitely messed up. i might watch it again as soon as i completely forget everything that i saw, just to remind myself why i shouldn't have watched it again.

19. the hitcher (1986): good ol' c. thomas howell. alright, this movie was okay, but definitely not one of the 20 scariest of all time. i would have replaced this one with george romero's martin (1978), the tale of a young fella with vampiric tendencies. the hitcher does make me never want to pick up a hitchhiker, so it did have some value to me.

20. lost highway (1997): wha??? one of the scariest movies of all time. i mean, it is an excellent movie, and that scene where the dude's face gets split by the glass-top coffee table is brilliantly painful-looking, but i can't remember being scared. just mildly confused. i would maybe replace this one with the amityville horror (1979) or misery (1990) or something. still, though, a great movie.

in conclusion, thanks, entertainment weekly for taking the time to compile this list. thanks, leah, for sending me this link in the first place. thanks, anna, for not divorcing me for watching so many scary movies all the time. and finally, thanks, mom and dad, for not letting me watch any of these when i was younger, so i can watch them so much more often now that i am old. time for me to go. i gotta watch me some movies.