The Shining voted scariest horror movie

Certainly seeing Jack Nicholson wielding an axe and crying “Here’s Johnny!” with a manic glint in his eye is pretty pant-filling and the 1980 chiller about a writer’s slow descent into madness has long spooked audiences. It beat stiff competition from Rosemary’s Baby, Roman Polanski’s 1968 supernatural saga about a young woman (Mia Farrow as the titular Rosemary) who fears that she’s pregnant with Satan’s spawn which ranked second and Brit cult favourite, The Wicker Man, starring Christopher Lee complete with horror hair, was third.

The rest of the list shapes up like this: 4. James Whale’s 1935 Universal movie monster classic Bride Of Frankenstein; 5. Anthony Perkins has mother issues in shower deterrent, Psycho; 6. The first and still the scariest in the frightening franchise, Sir Ridley Scott’s Alien, 7. George A. Romero kicks off the Dead zombie films with 1968’s Night Of The Living Dead; 8. Leatherface torments innocent teens in The Texas Chain Saw Massacre; 9. Jamie Lee Curtis’s babysitter is stalked by Michael Myers in John Carpenter’s Halloween; and 10. Steven Spielberg scares swimmers with Jaws.

TotalScifiOnline.com’s editor, Matt McAllister comments on the timeless quality of The Shining, calling it “an unparalleled study in isolation, madness and paranoia”. Adding: “The expansive sets, surreal visuals, and an intense performance from Jack Nicholson add up to a film guaranteed to give viewers a sleepless night.”

Every Halloween such polls are conducted and it’s interesting to note the shifts in popular taste. Just last year The Exorcist topped two similar surveys, one by HMV, the other by Blockbuster and yet it’s nowhere to be found on this list. The Shining did make it onto these previous polls, as did more modern efforts such as The Ring, The Blair Witch Project and The Grudge, while this time round there’s more love for vintage black and white treasures like Bride of Frankenstein and Night of the Living Dead. The latter can be attributed to the current craze for zombies, but the former? Maybe everyone just really digs the Bride’s barmy barnet.

What do you make of these results Boxwishers? Do RED RUM and The Shining bring you out in a chill or are there some overlooked gems that you’ll be catching up with come Halloween? Let the debate begin.

[via The Press Association]