Having already put together a hubpage on the best martial arts movies ever when I started lookinng back over my hubs looking for inspiration on something new to write I decided that it would be fun to do the same thing for one of my other favourite genres and write a new hubpage for the best horror movies of all time. I hope you find it interesting and that you like my selection, by I obviously do recognize that a lot of people who read this page will have different opinions on which of the many, many movies I could have picked that should have made it into this top 10 list, so if you are one of those people who think you know a movie which I really should have included here but haven't, then feel free to put your case forward for your choices in the comments box near the bottom of the page.

I should also make it clear that although this is written as a top 10 list they are not placed in any particular order. I found it hard enough picking just ten out of such a big selection of great titles, and there is no way I could pick out just one to put above the others, or to put them in any kind of order of greatness. So it's just 10 top titles that could be displayed in any order.

Donny Darko is a real cult classic that didn't have any great success when it was first released, but which has since built up a following of fans who are happy to watch it over and over again - and I would count myself amongst them. No great special effects or gore, but this film is dark, twisted and atmospheric, with a very surreal touch centering on the giant humonoid bunny rabbit who plays the evil villain role, and a twist in a tail that takes some getting your head around and always provokes some interesting conversations when watching with friends. I've heard this described as 'stoner horror', but I think it is one that all horror fans should see at least once.

There is no way I could have written a list like this one without including the Blair Witch Project, which was a real game-changer when it was first released. Drawing inspiration from the rise of reality televison this was the first production to base itself around acheiving maximum realism. Purporting to be real camcorder footage it contains lots of wobbly camera shots and hysterical monologues from a group of students going into a forest to investigate the legend of the blair witch, cut together with gruesome shots as one by one they are picked off for the others to find their bodies, this was described at the time as the scariest movie ever, and if I remember correctly it really did scare the you-know-what out of a lot of people.

 Of course not all horror movies are made to be scary like the Blair Witch Project. One of the things I really love about this genre is the way it lends itself so well to spoofs and tongue in cheek humor. Not many productions have done that better than the zombie flick Shaun of the Dead, which surely counts as one of the best British films in a long time.

 The original and arguably still the best Hanibal Lecter flick. The famous cannibal toys with the FBI and does what he does best. There are some really classic scenes in this, such as the female agent getting splattered with semen as she walks alongside the cells, or Hanibal Lecter himself making that funny noise he does. Brilliant acting makes this a true classic.

This is another one that nobody could possibly leave out, whatever their personal tastes. The scream trilogy has had such a major impact because of the way that they have pulled off the trick of being a complete parody / spoof, with plenty of references that fans will understand and a good bit of humor thrown in, whilst at the same time keeping intact all the elements of a geniune orginal production in its own right. Absolute genius if you ask me. I could easily have included any of the three installments, but I have gone for the original simply because at the time it was so, well, original.

 More than anything else I just love the evil little girl in this one. The way she looks, the way she moves, the ways that she pops up into the scenes she is on, it all seems to really evoke a sense of evil. It's also an interesting story thats well written and holds your interest and attention well when she's not around doing here thing.

 As you could probably guess from what I wrote in my last choice there is something about young children playing the villain in horror flicks that really gets me. It's something about the paradoxical mix of the pure innocence of a sweet young kid and the manifestation of pure evil that is really quite spoky on its own, regardless of what actually happens. And that paradoxical mix has never been done better than in The Exorcist, featuring shoking scenes such as the possesed prepubescent girl in the starring role violently masturbating herself with a crucifix. It was very controversial at the time, shocked a lot of people, and got banned in a lot of places. if you like supernatural horror within a religious framework of absolute good and absolute evil then this is still the best even now.

 If your after a pure zombie movie with no messing around, no 'we know this is silly really' ironic humor, just straight up blood, guts, gore, brain eating and zombie killing action then this has got to be at the top of your list. 28 days later places the zombie movie in a modern setting, with a modern story, and with some great action.

 I wasn't sure whether to put in Brain Dead or that other one made by the same people - Bad Taste. At the end of the day they are both made along similar lines, and they are both brilliant, but my personal favourite is Brain Dead. Ultra low budget and even more ultra high gore factor this is the absolute epitomy of those 'so bad it's good' horror movies that don't need to include any jokes to be laugh out load funny. From the zombie tea party complete with zombie sex, to the gorefest of an ending where the hero runs around a house packed full of brain eating zombies with a lawn mower held at head height this is without any doubt at all the best of its kind.

Again I'm putting in what is actually a series as just one movie in my list, and again I invite you to take your pick which one because they are all equally great if you ask me. Although they might not be the scariest ever made, I would challenge anyone to come up with anything else at all with the same ability to make you jump up out of your seat as the first installment in this series - I'll always remember the girl getting caught mid sentence as she's hit by a speeding bus, and how much it made me jump and set my heart racing, and that's exactly what I want a good horror movie to do. I enjoyed 2 and 3 too, getting rid of any need for a bad guy to just have death itself stalking people makes for a thrilling story.