Hooray! Look at Sally screaming in delight! She’s celebrating (with a little sausage dinner) because The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974) has just been crowned The Scariest Movie Ever by you, our dear readers!
If there’s one thing we learned from the nail-biter of a championship round, it’s that Exorcist fans vote early and Leatherface fans vote late, but while William Friedkin’s demonic horror flick held a slight lead going into the evening, our friendly neighborhood cannibals overtook Linda Blair so fast it made her head spin. The final tally was 808–657 in favor of Texas Chainsaw, but if Exorcist lovers are bummed out, they can always cheer themselves up with this.
Thanks to all whovoted. October Insanity has been intense, so let’s take a victory lap over the final numbers.
Championship Round Results
The entire voting process can pretty much be summed up by this image:
Duck season!
So here’s the final bracket with a jubilant Leatherface raising his chain saw in gleeful celebration:
Images designed by Jenn Lindeman (www.icandyart.net)
It gets bigger when you click it.
What else is there to say? You like your horror down and dirty with a little violence against the handicapped and a reminder that your grandparents aren’t really that bad. But isn’t it kind of adorable when Grandpa tries to swing that hammer? Poor old thing. Can’t even murder a young girl anymore.
Overall, there was a strong showing from fans of all kinds. It seems clear that niche movies like Session 9 didn’t have a shot at the top prize simply because not enough people have seen it (so tell a friend to see it right away). That went for older fare like Freaks and the original Dracula as well.
However, when it came to a sweet spot that we could call the Horror Golden Era, it’s clearly the 70s leading into the early 80s. It’s perhaps no coincidence that the final competitors were released a year apart from each other.
So Texas Chain Saw Massacre is your champion. We’ll be holding a special All-You-Can-Meat Buffet in its honor. Look for your invitation in the mail. We’ll be here all week. Don’t try the veal.
Take a Look Back on October Insanity
Celebrate 5 Years of 31 Days of Horror
