The Tenant (1976)
Repulsion and Rosemary's Baby are often cited as the high points of Roman Polanski's horror movie vein, but I'll take this clammy masterpiece over both of them. Polanski himself stars as a rather unstable man who rents an apartment in which the previous occupant committed suicide. Paranoia and terror drip from virtually every frame, and I can think of no other film that works so skillfully and effectively to undermine your sense of what's right and proper. From the novel by Roland Topor, an artist who had a hand in the animated cult film Fantastic Planet (La Planete Sauvage) and Fellini's Casanova, which should give you an idea of his mindset.

And finally . . . Who are you trying to kid?
Or, The Most Overrated Horror Movie Of All Time:

The Exorcist (1973)
Disgusting, maybe, but scary? I'll let Michael Keaton in Beetlejuice have the last word: "I've seen The Exorcist about a hundred and sixty-seven times AND IT KEEPS GETTING FUNNIER EVERY SINGLE TIME I SEE IT."

Tomorrow: The Top 13, Bottom Tier

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Originally published in The Opinion Mill.