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Exorcist hit the theatres, and was immediately the target of much hatred. The film dealt with the exorcism of a young girl that had been subjected to demonic possession by the devil. The film followed the trials and tribulations of a priest conflicted with trying to figure out how to save this little girl. The dialogue spewed forth from her mouth was far viler than the pea soup projectile vomiting in later scenes. The film touched on issues of Catholicism and whether or not good could triumph over evil. In the end, the little girl is exorcised, and she is free to return to her normal life. Audiences worldwide were unable to get some of the haunting scenes out of their minds for quite some time.

The Shining starred a crazy Jack Nicholson in one of his most superbly acted roles. Nicholson's character went nuts while secluded in a remote hotel, where delusions and psychotic episodes and hallucinations caused him to seek out vengeance on his family. The movie was quite scary in its time, and still holds the audience at its mercy today.

Halloween, a low budget film from the late 1970's introduced the world to Michael Myers, a young man that had been institutionalized for 15 years since committing the brutal murder of his family. Myers escapes from the institution and begins to run amok in Haddonfield, Illinois. On Halloween night, a night where everybody wears masks, and good turns to evil, the town is unsuspecting of the terror being wreaked on many of the townspeople. The film is a classic in the horror genre, and worthy of inclusion in a best of list.

The Silence of the Lambs centred around a young F.B.I. cadet that has been assigned the task of solving a rash of unsolved murders in the midwest. The heroine is forced to confide details of the murders to an incarcerated cannibalist who is able to peer into the mind of the killer and give clues as to his whereabouts. The movie scared audiences and faced them with some frightening scenes, one of which included night vision infrared goggles that had viewers screaming help to the onscreen characters.

These are the best of the horror lot, with some obvious omissions, such as The Thing, Night of the Living Dead, Carrie, and Friday the 13th. The debate is open to much criticism, since horror movies mean different things to different people. For evoking fear, and scaring the heck out of the audience, the above mentioned films are some of the best ever.

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