By Lori Vetrano

Staff Reporter

It’s difficult nowadays to find an actually scary movie. “The Happening” was boring, “Prom Night” was laughable and “Orphan” was a disappointment.

A good horror movie should leave you with lasting feelings of fear and paranoia and even bring on a few nightmares.

Granted, there are plenty of great horror films out there, but here’s a list of the top 10 horror movies of all time that have left impacts on their audiences.

10. “Paranormal

Activity”

A couple moves into a house together and decides to record on camera a continual disturbance from a possible demonic presence.

It may have been released only weeks ago and might not be up there with the top five, but this movie deserves recognition for being a well-made, low budget film with psychologically creepy effects and talented acting.

9. “The Ring”

A journalist investigates the story behind a cursed videotape that claims the lives of its viewers after seven days.

Who wasn’t scared that they were going to die a week after watching this movie? The entire tone of the movie is chilling from beginning to end, with its grotesque bodies and alarming conclusion.

8. “The Shining”

A family moves into a hotel during its offseason and discovers the horrors that lie within it. It is a classic Jack Nicholson movie that is still revered decades later for its disturbing scenes and memorable phrases (“Here’s Johnny!”).

7. “Texas Chainsaw

Massacre”

A chainsaw-wielding killer and his family of equally psychotic cannibals torture and kill five teenagers.

Several sequels and even a prequel have followed this movie, but none compare to the original that revolutionalized the slasher genre.

6. “Psycho”

A woman pays the price for stealing $40,000 by encountering a seemingly normal motel owner who turns out to be exactly what the movie title describes.

The shower sequence alone remains a famous scene in the horror genre to this day.

5. “Saw”

Not II, III, IV, V or the recently released VI-just the first. Two men find themselves chained to a bathroom wall and realize their only means of escape is to kill the other or cut off their own legs. Its brilliant acting and disturbingly graphic violence leaves a lasting impression on audiences and spawned its extremely subpar sequels.

4. “The Omen”

Parents discover that their son is the Antichrist. With its eerie death scenes and an incredible performance by Gregory Peck, this movie has become one of the scariest movies of all time.

3. “Nightmare on Elm Street”

A former child murderer haunts the dreams of teenagers and kills them in their nightmares. It is a truly terrifying movie that makes it very difficult for anyone to fall asleep after watching it.

Since then, Freddy Krueger has become less alarming over the years (“Freddy vs. Jason” was a joke) but this horror film remains a cult classic.

2. “Halloween”

A young man named Michael Myers, who started by murdering his family on Halloween, sets off to continue the tradition by killing people in order to get to his adopted sister Laurie.

The series explain the story behind Michael and what happens as he continues to haunt Laurie over the years.

1. “The Exorcist”

A 12-year-old girl is possessed by the devil and can only be saved by an exorcism.

Though the “Scary Movie 2” parody made it a little less terrifying to watch, it is a classic cult hit that is still revered as one of the top scariest movies of all time.