The Exorcist

An iconic moment in horror history, this scene still plays as shocking, horrific, and straight-up terrifying even today. The way the scene unfolds is masterful. When Regan's terrified mother runs upstairs, hearing her daughter's terrified pleas, and opens the door to her daughter's bedroom, we initially only see objects flying violently around the room with screaming in the background. That's a scary sight in itself, until it cuts to Regan stabbing herself in her privates with a crucifix, literally fucking Jesus, such a frightening, blasphemous action that I can see the initial reaction in the theater in my mind as clear as day. Chris proceeds to grapple with her possessed daughter, until Regan makes her own mother lick her before forcefully pushing her away. Ellen Burstyn's crying scream as she hits the wall behind her is legitimate by the way; she received a permanent spinal injury from this scene. Of course, at the end of it all, the infamous head spin by Regan is what tops it all off, one last lingering image of fear for the audience to digest.

Any one of these scenes would be enough for another horror movie. Yet, The Exorcist earns its title of the scariest horror movie ever by being unrelenting and breaking the mold of what can be used to scare audiences: the sacred, the verboten, the off-limits. Of course, the meaning would be empty without the brilliant performances of Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair. It certainly succeeded back in the 70s, and still works today as horror that will make you cover your eyes and look anywhere but the screen.