The scariest of them all
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A scene from The Exorcist which has been voted the scariest movie of all time by HMV customers.
The Exorcist has been named the greatest horror film of all time.
The 1973 thriller came out on top in retailer HMV's annual survey of more than 6,000 customers, published as Hallowe'en approaches.
Second spot went to 'The Shining. The deep space adventure 'Alien' came in third.
Jonny Scurfield, HMV DVD buyer, said: "This year, with the doom and gloom of the credit crunch, you get the feeling it may prove a bit of a boom for horror, with more people staying in to watch their favourite movies." The oldest film in the Top 50 is director FW Murnau's 'Nosferatu' (1922) at number 39.
The top 10 films (with director) are:
1. The Exorcist, William Friedkin (1973)
2. The Shining, Stanley Kubrick (1980)
3. Alien, Ridley Scott (1979)
4. The Silence of the Lambs, Jonathan Demme (1991)
5. Saw, James Wan (2004)
6. Hallowe'en, John Carpenter (1978)
7. A Nightmare on Elm Street, Wes Craven (1984)
8. Ring (Ringu), Hideo Nakata (1998)
9. The Wicker Man, Robin Hardy (1973)
10. The Omen, Richard Donner (1976).
