When I was growing up, I was always amazed by the number of people who told me that their parents had never allowed them to watch horror movies. It was one thing if they said they hadn't let them watch them when they were 7, but when people of voting age would say they hadn't seen, say, "The Shining," it seemed unfathomable.

That is because my exposure to said scary movies began shortly after I left my mother's womb. It was a taste fully bestowed upon me by my mother, who had me watching movies such as "Godzilla", "Dracula" and episodes of Night Gallery well before I entered grade school.

Now, I'm no movie snob, and my past efforts at film criticism have been limited. But nothing is more disconcerting than to hear someone argue that "The Devil's Own" or "Saw" is "way scarier" than "The Exorcist." That is the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard.

Of course, people making those arguments might not even know what a chalkboard is, so they're not entirely to blame.

But it brought back good memories for me this week when I saw that the Elks Theater in downtown Rapid City was playing "The Exorcist" on Halloween. It brought back memories of those giant, ominous black and white print ads promoting the film, proclaiming "held over for 41 weeks" and the such.

I was only 7 or so when the movie came out, so it was about a decade before I actually saw the movie, but I can still recall adults speaking in hushed, shaky voices discussing this strange and ultimately scary movie.

But more on that later.

Ultimately, the discussion of "scariest" movie ever is one unlike any other. The people who have less credibility in reviewing movies in general are often the best at determining what the best horror flick is. I think back to the movie "Summer School" with Mark Harmon and the two students so obsessed with the gross-out horror flick that one of them is affectionately nicknamed "Chainsaw" in honor of "The Texas Chainsaw Massacare."

Their verbal review of that movie is funny but also disturbingly accurate as they go into the finesse of making body limbs fall off and the subtleties of an actor given the role of a flesh-eating madman.

And these are the people who live and die horror films, where such abnormalities are the things upon greatness lie.

I am not one of these people.

But I sure do like scary movies. Here's my top five.

5. "Jaws"

Much like "The Exoricst", the first I heard of this movie was through the discussions of adults. Although I didn't see it when it made its initial theater run, I do remember the irrational fear of beaches many of them had in the summer of 1976. And I say irrational because I don't think many sharks were swimming around in the chilly waters of Lake Superior.

"Jaws" induced a kind of man against nature myth that certainly seems plausible, and thus its scariness. Where many horror flicks take us to an area far beyond our sensibilities, "Jaws" seemed like it could happen.

Well, kinda.

I can also remember my father - who actually went to the movie theater to see the movie, something that happened only two or three times a decade - saying that he liked the movie all the way up to the point where the shark ate the boat.

That being said, the scene were the audience first gets to see the shark in full is considered by many to be the scariest single moment in movie history.

4. "Psycho"

There's a reason that Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" tops so many scariest movie lists.

For one, it bears no resemblance to those that preceded it. Hitchcock, in the height of his abilities and popularity of his career, mustered everything he could in creating a movie that, when released in theaters, had people running from said theaters in abject panic and fear.

In a good way.

He first built the suspense by having theaters prevent anyone from entering the theater after the start of the film. It was commonplace in those days that the moviegoing public would trickle after the movie had begun. Hitchcock would have none of it, and thus, he simultaneously created a buzz about the film and prevented what would lessen the effect of the early parts of the film (the plot seemingly headed in one direction, a kind of chase sequence, perhaps?) when compared to the shocking turn of events later.

Of course, the films best-known attribute is the shower scene, which single handedly launched the slasher genre. It was brutally shocking for the time, especially since it is the protagonist (Janet Leigh) that is stabbed to death about a third into the movie.

It was beyond unsettling; it changed movie history. And taking a shower would never be the same again.

3. "The Ring"

I never did like VHS. It's a good thing this movie was released on DVD.

The plot seems irrational, but like many great horror movies, the film works as much as allegory as it does on a standard plot level. And the plot on this one is a bit odd. As offered up at imdb.com, the plot is as follows:

Rachel Keller is a journalist who decides to go undercover on the mysterious death of her niece and her three friends, who seemed to all died on the same day at the same time- 10:00 PM. After being told that her niece was found in a closet with a horrifying look on her face, she searches through her room and finds some pictures, pictures of the cabin where her niece and her friends had stayed a week before the deaths. Rachel finds the cabin and finds an unknown video there. She decides to watch it there, and now has only a limited time to live. She and her divorced husband, Noah, research about the video and find facts about Anna Morgan and her daughter, Samara Morgan, the maker of this video. With only a week left, Rachel and Noah discover the unknown secrets of the life of Samara Morgan, and, hopefully for them, a way to break the curse.

That's the basics. I will only say this. When my wife, Heidi, and I saw this and then came the moment when Samara seems to be crawling toward them inside the television, I said aloud, "Oh, no way." And remarkably, way.

The dread leading up to the point where she crawls out of the TV and kills Noah is surprisingly not too unbelievable. If you can believe that.

The show works on a secondary level by playing on our fears of infection from unknown sources. With the advent of diseases such as Ebola, SARS, monkey pox and a seemingly unending string of stronger, irrepressible diseases, the film continues to strike a nerve among audiences six years after its release.

2. "The Omen"

For my top two horror flicks, I maintain that nothing is scarier than the devil incarnate. And the most direct manifestation of that is "The Omen," which starred movie stars Gregory Peck and Lee Remick.

However, the true star of the show was Harvey Stephens, who played the role of Damien Thorn. Literally demon spawn (at least in the movie), his mischievous smirk and intense stare were almost as scary as the scenes where the mom falls to the floor from the upstairs bannister, or when the priest is impaled after the lightning bolt hits the top of the church, or when the reporter is decapitated by that sheet of glass …

OK, maybe the boy's look wasn't that scary. But this was the first R-rated movie I saw in the theater. I was only 9 and it left an impression and a level of excellence all other horror films are held to.

It, too, led to a horror-film sub-genre, the end-times flick.

1. The Exorcist

There's a reason "The Exorcist" appears on all scary movie lists, even 35 years after its release. It is not the most enjoyable movie to watch, but if it doesn't give you the creeps and scare the living daylights out of you, then you might want to seek professional help.

It is a traumatic and profane movie, and it touches on some deep topics, such as the existence of God and redemption. Check out how it has stuck with actors and film folks through the years by click here.

The first time I watched it was at my friend Norm Smith's house on cable television. The show came on at 1 a.m., and as we sat watching the opening moments - which are a bit slow but necessary, nonetheless - the movie was building up to the moment where the young possessed girl (Reagan) suddenly is lifted off the floor by unseen forces. At that moment, my friend's house began vibrating and shaking.

I looked at him. He looked at me. And then we took off running and threw open his parents bedroom door, yelling, "Did you feel that?"

It turns out that it was simply a mine blast or some kind of microburst, but it was a memorable moment for me.

Most of my memories of "The Exorcist" came long before I saw the film. As aforementioned, it was a huge media event for what seemed forever in the early 1970s.

I can remember my mother and my aunts talking about a friend of theirs from their hometown in northern Minnesota who said he couldn't look at a 12 year old girl without being freaked out.

Because it was more graphic than possibly imaginable (some of the scenes are nearly unfathomable and are still among the most disturbing ever put to film), audiences reacted appropriately.

The left the theater. They vomited in aisles. And they kept coming back for more.

It was extremely well-done, and when the director's cut came out a few years ago, I realized how well it was made in the first place. It's extended cut is nowhere near as good as the original.