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this day. I have dared to watch this movie about three times and each viewing it loses none of its sheer evil terror. The music alone won an Oscar and is enough to send images of hell right to the very forefront of your now disturbed mind. There is something about the face of evil in a little boy that feels wholly wrong and indefinitely scary which easily outshines any fool in a mask. The innocence and evil within Damian and the haunting thoughts of the unknown possibilities which this movie taps into exploits something deep within the viewer. The cold grey cinematography used throughout, really emphasises the bleak feelings created by the characters, whose acting performances are superbly drawn, so much so that we truly feel for them in the face of unstoppable evil and the uncanny fates with which they will meet with. "The Omen" has the ability to suck all the life out of a room in which it is played, leaving behind only fear of the unknown which we all must face. Uncomfortable but brilliant.

This list would represent my own personal top five, however there are many, many more horror movies which deserve a mention, and many more which deserve a mention but won't get listed. Movies I had to leave out of my top five would include the likes of "The Birds" by Hitchcock, which along with "Vertigo" is probably my favourite Hitchcock movie of all time. The strange sense of nature turning against man and the air of mystery around this is more than enough to make you feel a little uncomfortable and the acting and direction is of course second to none.

The Shining is also one which is up there on the lists of many peoples top ten list I would have thought. The performance from Jack Nicholson alone is enough to make this a great movie; the only weakness is that I feel that the movie is a little slow in places so for this reason it doesn't quite make my top five.

Of the more modern productions I would like to give the likes of "Resident Evil" a favourable reference. Who would have thought a movie based on a computer game would be any good? Whereas obviously not in the same league as some of the movies already mentioned its endless fast pace and quick shocks means that it belies its humble beginnings. In the same vein "Final Destination" deserves a mention for its fun, fast pace and enjoyable shocks.

Such lists are obviously down to personal opinion which is naturally going to vary from individual to individual. The best consensus of the overall public opinion is to consult the IMDb's list on the top horror movies, which remains the best source of movie entertainment on the web. According to them the top five as voted for by the public (at the time of writing) are:

1 Psycho
2 Alien
3 The Shining
4 Aliens
5 Diaboliques, Les
(With "Jaws" coming in at six place.)

Though when all is said and done what makes each person feel fear and enjoy feeling such an emotion lurks deep within us. There are many people that simply don't like horror movies and the feeling of being scared at all, and who can blame them? Surely to take such a person and to show them the movies on this list would be enough to keep them awake at night for a very long time indeed. For those of us who enjoy a good horror movie there are plenty more to explore in this fascinating area of cinema.

Learn more about this author, John Gray.
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