Mensa Members Rank Their Top 10 Halloween Films — Hitchcock Slays The Competition

Oct 16, 2014

Arlington, Texas, October 16th, 2014 — Zombies, a momma’s boy, and a crazed author each secured a spot in American Mensa’s top 10 Halloween films, just in time for the bewitching holiday.

The No. 1 overall pick as ranked by Mensa members nationwide was Alfred Hitchcock’s “Psycho.” The “less is more” approach to gore was a characteristic that helped it secure the top spot. “It allowed the viewer to use his/her imagination. Suspense built naturally and ended with a quick gulp of the unexpected”, said one participating member. It also made bath time a feared and dreaded activity. “The movie that had a generation of children refuse to take a shower,” said another member. Scarily enough, “The Exorcist” did not make the list.

Here are the top 10 Halloween films as selected by Mensa members:

“Psycho” (1960)
“A Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984)
"Carrie” (1976)
“Aliens” (1986)
“The Shining” (1980)
“Halloween” (1978)
“Frankenstein” (1931)
“Rosemary's Baby” (1968)
“Night of the Living Dead” (1968)
“The Birds” (1963)

Participating Mensa members chose their top 10 from a list created by rottentomatoes.com. To view the full infographic, visit us.mensa.org/topten.

# # #

American Mensa is an organization open to anyone who scores in the top 2 percent on an accepted standardized intelligence test. Mensa has more than 50,000 members in the United States and more than 130,000 members globally. For more information about American Mensa, visit americanmensa.org or call (817) 607-0060.