The Most Terrifying Slasher Scenes
			The Exorcist III An audacious shot, in both conception and execution, marks out William Peter Blatty's sequel as something of an under-rated gem. With a serial killer on the loose, Blatty holds a long shot on a hospital corridor as a nurse goes about her rounds. And when we say long, we mean it – it's about a minute long. As she pops in and out of rooms, we're both pretty sure that something nasty is about to happen and yet not sure how it can – and then, suddenly, Blatty crash zooms in on the nurse as the hooded killer, shears held at head height, suddenly appears behind her, ready to slice. It's unsettling and quite, quite brilliant – as is the next cut, to a shot of a headless statue.
			The Texas Chainsaw Massacre We hope we never have a dinner party like this one. In this skin-crawling moment from Tobe Hooper's directorial debut, sole survivor Sally (Marilyn Burns) is the guest of honour at a banquet thrown by Leatherface and his deranged family. Problem is, she's also intended to be the meal. The tension orchestrated as the senile Grandfather tries and repeatedly fails to bash her head in with a hammer is almost unbearable.
			Halloween The genius of John Carpenter's peerless slasher film is that, unlike Friday The 13th or Nightmare On Elm Street where the likes of Jason or Freddy are rarely seen until they leap out at their victims, here, the audience is forced to become complicit in Michael Myers' crimes. We're with him throughout. We stand behind him as he spies on three babysitters. We hear his masked breathing even when we can't see him. And it's this breathing we hear at the end of the film,over a series of static shots of an empty house – where the seemingly unstoppable Myers could be lurking in any shadow. The message is clear: evil will never die. And that's scarier than any 'gotcha' moment.
			Nightmare On Elm Street Despite Freddy's omnipotence in his murky, devilish dreamscapes, it's not actually a death that makes our list, but a nursery rhyme. Namely, the eerie kids' poem - “1, 2, Freddy's coming for you, 3, 4, better lock your door, 5, 6, grab a crucifix, 7,8, better stay up late, 9,10, never sleep again” - that is sung by even eerier kids early on in Wes Craven's haunting classic. Sung, and shot, in slow-motion, there's a dreamlike quality here that gets under your skin and is, somehow, scarier than anything Freddy himself does. Eat that, pizza-face.
			Scream 2 A superior film to the original Scream – perhaps because Wes Craven and Kevin Williamson had the confidence now to do whatever they wanted – Scream 2 features one of the most superbly orchestrated death sequences this side of Dario Argento or Brian De Palma. About halfway through, as Randy (Jamie Kennedy), Dewey (David Arquette) and Gale (Courteney Cox) discuss their options in a grassy park, they receive a call from the taunting Ghostface. Randy takes the call and tries to keep Ghostface on the line as Dewey and Gale keep an eye out – but it ends badly for Randy when, out of nowhere, Ghostface emerges from a van behind him, yanks open the door, drags him in and butchers him. The scene scares for several reasons: it happens in broad daylight, which is usually a no-no especially when it comes to generating suspense. It's a masterclass in misdirection – you expect something to happen to Dewey or Gale, but not to Randy. And lastly, unusually for a slasher film, you actually feel an emotional connection to a likeable character, and therefore pain at his untimely demise. Especially since he knew all the rules – with Randy dead, all bets are off.
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