Bhoot in Hollywood's ishtyle

The rousing audience response to Bhoot confirms that horror is the flavour of the season. While desis like us can’t stop raving about Ram Gopal Varma’s ‘fear in your face’ capsule, we take a rewind trail via Hollywood to recreate some ‘original’ horror fun. To all the Bhoot(s) inside and outside, we present our Top five-horror flicks list.
The Exorcist (1973) -Based on the 1971 novel by William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist combines three different scenarios into one frightening story line.There’s nothing this movie doesn''t have, from head spinning all the way around scene to the split pea soup. Whether it touches on your faith in religion or just the pair of glowing red eyes you can swear you saw underneath the bed, this movie is a classic.
The Haunting (1963)- No blood and gore, no scary Bhoot walking after anyone, instead what the film has some terrific camera shots which helps your imagination possibly get the better of you. The story centers on a large mansion. A mysterious clairvoyant and a psychic begin a research on the mansion only to find out that they have gotten more than they bargained for.
Psycho (1960) - The standard of all slasher flicks. Psycho retains its power to horrify because Hitchcock picked the very best of all the nightmarish disturbing themes of corruptibility, confused identities, voyeurism, human vulnerabilities and victimisation, the deadly effects of money, Oedipal murder, and dark past histories.
Saul Bass’s special effects and Bernard Herrmann’s minimalist musical score also contribute. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)-Psychological terrorism and supernatural horror have rarely been dramatised as effectively as in this classic thriller directed by Roman Polanski from the chilling novel by Ira Levin.
Rosemary (Mia Farrow) is a young, trusting housewife in New York whose actor husband (John Cassavetes), unbeknownst to her, has literally made a deal with the devil when he arranges to have his wife impregnated by Satan in exchange for success in a Broadway play.
By the time Rosemary discovers that her infant son “has his father''s eyes� ... let''s just say the urge to scream along with her is unbearably intense! Halloween (1978) - On the top, John Carpenter’s first foray into horror is about a mental institution escapee stalking babysitters, but underneath we have a very basic story about Good vs. Evil. This is a movie filled with shadows, suspense, scary images and a chilling score composed by none other than the director himself.
PS - Scream, The Omen, The Evil Dead, Friday the 13th and The Blair Witch Project make it to the bottom five list. harneet_singh@indiatimes.com