CityNews Viewers Vote For The Scariest Films Of All Time

Do you hear about The Exorcist wig?

It means there’ll be the devil toupee.

Now, that’s a scary joke.

But there’s little doubt about what Toronto’s favourite horror movie is this Halloween. If given the choice many of you would settle down with a warm blanket (likely over your head) and screen “The Exorcist.”

The 1973 thriller starring a then unknown Linda Blair came up repeatedly in your emails, when we asked you what your favourite all-time scary movie was. The flick was so popular it did something few horror movies do – spawned a Top 40 hit record. Mike Oldfield’s ‘Tubular Bells’ reached number 7 on the Billboard Charts back in 1974.

But this wasn’t just an exercise about The Exorcist. You flooded us with frightening rapidity and with a range of titles that may surprise many.

Even though there were a number of votes for classics like “Jaws”, “Black Christmas”, “The Shining”, “The Blair Witch Project”, “Poltergeist”, and of course, “Halloween”,  the hands-down runner up belonged to a movie we hadn’t even considered – “The Grudge”.

It’s a 2004 remake of a Japanese movie about a nurse and a curse which throws a victim into a perpetual rage that gets passed on to someone else when they die. It stars Sarah Michelle Gellar of “Buffy The Vampire Slayer” fame, and even spawned a sequel – which also received a few votes.

The third place choice involves a little boy named Damien. Hmm, must be an “Omen”.

A Japanese remake also figured prominently in fourth spot – “The Ring” clanged in as another scare of choice.

“Rosemary’s Baby” was fifth, although being married to Woody Allen may be the most frightening thing star Mia Farrow ever had to endure.

There were also a large number of ties, including “Carrie”, “A Nightmare on Elm St.”, “The Shining”, “Jaws” and Alfred Hitchcock’s legendary “Psycho”.

The director’s “The Birds” was among those making the runner up list. “To this day I won’t watch it anymore,” wrote Josie Ainsworth from Durham.

A few movies were mentioned only by one person, including “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”, Dawn Of The Dead,” “The Legend of Hell House” and “The Amityville Horror”.

And then there were the responses we didn’t expect. One wag suggested “Stephen King’s IT” was the most bone chilling film ever made. But he added that could also refer to his company’s Internet Technology department.

Dian Brown watched a flick called “The Haunting of Hill House” when she was just seven. “I am 47 years old now,” she notes. “And still can’t go up or down spiral staircases.” Now that’s a scary movie. 

A viewer named Keith Lee-Whiting favoured us with some admittedly odd choices: “Brigadoon”, “Show Boat” or “The Sound of Music.” We’ll leave you to ponder those selections.

But Gary Layng gets the prize for most frightening real life nightmare – and it wasn’t on Elm St.

“Back when I was in high school, I saw a documentary on our federal parliament at work,” he relates. “Absolutely terrifying.”

Come to think of it, maybe that should be number one.

Thanks for your incredible response. Even if your movie isn’t listed, rest assured it was tabulated and included as we worked out the final numbers. In keeping with the Halloween spirit, we’re ‘afraid’ to say the voting is closed for this year.

CityNews Viewers’ Choice: Top 5 Scariest Movies For Halloween

1) The Exorcist

2) The Grudge

3) The Omen

4) The Ring

5) Rosemary’s Baby

Runner-Ups:
(These films all garnered several votes, but weren’t enough to make it into the top 5.)

Jaws

Carrie

Black Christmas

A Nightmare on Elm St.

Night Of The Living Dead

Stephen King’s “IT”.

---

Every year, CityNews asks Queen Video, one of the more eclectic movie rental spots in Toronto, to provide us with their own Boo’s Who of Halloween rentals. Here, in no particular order, are the flicks that are flying off their shelves.

Classics

Halloween

The Nightmare Before Christmas

The Exorcist

Texas Chainsaw Massacre (the original)

Sleepy Hollow

Simpsons Treehouse of Horror

 

Family-Friendly Pics

The Nightmare Before Christmas

The Great Pumpkin – Charlie Brown

Mad Monster Party (a stop-motion flick)