It’s a shocking and horrifying twist: Esquire‘s list of the 50 scariest movies of all time couldn’t find a spot for the 1973 classic, The Exorcist.
Many horror fans would embrace writer Paul Schrodt’s choice for the top spot — Tobe Hooper’s 1974 pioneering slasher flick, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
“The movie was originally billed as a true story in a genius bit of marketing and political commentary, and broke all the rules of what was acceptable in a mainstream movie,” explains Schrodt.
But from his runner-up (2008’s Martyrs) on through No. 50 (1964’s Blood and Black Lace), a fellow horror cineaste might be forgiven for screaming bloody murder over some of the choices that bumped off The Exorcist and John Carpenter’s 1981 sci-fi scarer, The Thing.
The rest of the Top 5 was rounded out by Halloween (1978), The Silence of The Lambs (1991) and Rosemary’s Baby (1968).
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