“The Exorcist,” a shocking 1973 thriller, set an intense and
often-copied milestone for screen terror with its unflinching
depiction of a young girl Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) who is
possessed by an evil spirit. Jason Miller and Max von Sydow are
perfectly cast as the priests (Father Damien Karras and Father
Merrin, respectively) who risk their sanity and their lives to
administer the rites of demonic exorcism. Ellen Burstyn appears as
the distraught mother, Chris MacNeil.

Adapted from William Peter Blatty’s popular book of the same
name, this story is based on the 1949 exorcism that took place in
St. Louis. You read above what “really” happend, now see the
Hollywood interpretation.

“Halloween” is as pure and undiluted as its title. In the small
town of Haddonfield, Ill., a teenage baby sitter tries to survive a
Halloween night of relentless terror, during which a knife-wielding
maniac goes after the town’s hormonally charged youths.

A superb exercise in Hitchcockian suspense, John Carpenter’s
original stalk ‘n’ slash movie spawned a host of inferior sequels
and imitators.

Carpenter turned safe suburban America into a nightmare and, 26
years later, the film is still the best of its kind.

In the end, though, “Halloween” stands on its own as an
uncannily frightening experience–it’s one of those movies that had
audiences literally jumping out of their seats and shouting at the
screen.

With its disturbing images and a few good shocks, “The Ring” is
the kind of frightfest you’ll watch to set a chilling mood or spook
your friends.

When you try to sort it out, this well-mounted American remake
(of the 1998 Japanese hit Ringu, based on Koji Suzuki’s popular
novel) becomes a batch of incoherent parts. The plot follows a
Seattle reporter (Naomi Watts) as she investigates the death of her
niece, the victim of a mysterious videotape that, according to
urban legend, causes the viewer’s death seven days later. The
countdown structure follows the reporter, her son and her estranged
boyfriend into deepening layers of terror.

The symbolism used is out of this world, latching to a
masterfully constructed plot.