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There seems to exist within the human psyche a strange, intoxicating need for being frightened at a distance. This is what horror movies offer us, a simulation of fear, but protection from the object behind the fear itself. We place ourselves in the path of those being chased by mad men in masks, or those left alone in a haunted room at night, safe in the knowledge that it is just a movie and not real life. However some horror movies stay with us long after we have seen them.

I remember as a child being truly terrified of Freddy Krueger's claws coming for me at night. It was not until much later as an adult that I caught a glimpse of "Nightmare on Elm Street" and wondered how on earth I could have been scared of this. There are however some movies which have not aged as bad as this 80's movie has and remain scary, if not outright terrifying, even if it is just a glimpse or an image that stays with you from a viewing. What follows is what I would generally consider my top five "best" horror movies to date, with a couple of notable exceptions I couldn't bear to leave out.

5 Jaws (1975) Directed by Steven Spielberg

OK, so the plastic looking shark is not as scary as it once appeared at a close-up, but this movie still sends shivers down my spine - and all it takes is the music! I suspect that many would agree with my on this point. Anyone who has ever been in warm waters on holiday has at one time had the image of jaws lurking somewhere at the back of their mind as they paddle through the water. Such is the unconscious fear with which this movie essentially taps into and plays with. It is after "King Kong" the highest grossing horror movie of all time, a testament to the incredible sensation this movie had at release. The fear of being out of one's depth and not in the usual position of control, as we humans are on land, is one that seems to strike a chord of evolutionary disharmony. "Jaws" was, and is, a big movie in every sense of the word, with the uncanny ability to make you jump and squirm even today, an excellent movie with superb production and performances throughout.

4 Psycho (1960) Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

Many film critics and movie-goers alike view this movie as Hitchcock's finest ever production, a masterpiece of horror and easily rates as the IMDb's most highly rated horror movie of all time. Anthony Perkins as Norman Bates plays the repressed motel owner in an acting performance that has viewers resting on a knife edge. The famous shower

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