By Caroline Briggs BBC News Online entertainment staff

The movie deals with a cannibalistic family led by the chainsaw-wielding Leatherface. In the film, a group of young hippies, drawn into their web, are systematically hunted down and killed.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a classic horror movie

Jamie Graham, features editor at Total Film magazine, told BBC News Online it was the first successful, and one of the most horrific, films in the slasher genre.

He said: "Leatherface is repulsive and his mask is incredibly scary. The thought that it is made of dead human skin, with his tongue lolling through, is terrifying.

"The scariest moment has to be the first time you see him.

"It is a long build up, you know something isn't quite right, but when it comes the impact is amazing.

"He lunges out of the door, a hammer swings down, and it is all over in seconds.

"It happens so quickly and so unexpectedly that you are left reeling and wondering what happened."

Wes Craven created this timeless horror that spawned numerous sequels and catapulted the terrifying anti-hero Freddy Krueger into popular culture.

In the film, a group of high school friends are slaughtered in their sleep by the scarred Krueger - the hideous fiend that haunts their shared nightmares.

Graham believes it is the vulnerable state of humans as they sleep that creates the fear in the audience.

"The film really plays on that," he said.

"The scariest scene is near the beginning where Tina wakes up to the sound of stones being thrown at her window.

"She goes down to investigate... and Freddy gets her.

"It's a dream scene interjected with reality and it cuts to her boyfriend who is watching her failing around and sees her being slashed and bloodied, but can't see what is causing it.

"Her body is then dragged up the wall and across the ceiling where her blood splashed onto her boyfriend. It is a scene that stays with you."

This 1999 budget flick went on to be a massive cult hit, despite the lack of stars and gore. It was hailed as an innovative piece of film-making.

The Blair Witch Project was filmed using camcorders

The secret of its success was the power of suggestion that penetrated the imagination, instilling paranoia and fear into the audience.

The absence of horror on screen, paired with the ever-present suggestion of imminent danger, creates fear within the mind of the viewer.

Graham said the use of the internet to promote the film propelled it to cult status.

He said: "The mystique around the film was built up on the internet to the point where some people really believed it was real.

"You really buy into the fact it is just three kids with a camcorder, so when things start happening the impact is immediate.

"But the final scene, where the little boy is standing with his face to the wall, really got under your skin."

The 1976 film, starring Gregory Peck, mixes gothic horror and mystery into the story of Damien - a young boy suspected of being the son of the devil.

The infamous scene where a photographer is decapitated by a pane of glass which falls off a truck, is hailed as one of the greatest moments in horror film history.

Chris Hewitt, of Empire magazine, told BBC News Online: "I think everyone, whether they are religious or not, has a part of them that buys into apocalyptic films and films about the devil.

"Films about the end of the world really touch a nerve in these godless times.

"There is a fear in everyone that there might just be something out there pulling the strings and controlling our destiny."

This classic killer zombie film was remade in 2004 and see refugees from an undead apocalypse, trapped in a shopping centre with other desperate survivors.

The film was a remake of the 1978 original

Director Zack Snyder pumped up the action with a gory shoot-em-up.

Hewitt said the shot of adrenalin injected into the zombies was the secret of the remake's scary success.

"They changed the zombies in the film, which was controversial, but really worked for me.