AS trick or treaters put the finishing touches to their Halloween costumes, film fans are getting ready to scare themselves senseless.

We love to be scared and Friday sees the opening of Saw IV, the latest installment of the horrifying series of slasher films that have redefined horror movies in recent years.

But a new survey has this week named The Exorcist the scariest film of all time.

Small wonder really. It may be almost 35 years old, but William Friedkin's 1973 landmark horror contains some of the most frightening scenes ever commited to film.

Based on William Peter Blatty's novel, the story follows a troubled cleric (Max Von Sydow) who is called in as a last resort to save a teenage girl (Linda Blair, pictured) who appears to be possessed. He sees the ensuing exorcism as a path to his own redemption.

The film won two of the ten Oscars for which it was nominated and has been considered the benchmark for horror films ever since.

The poll of 5,000 film fans by internet giant MSN Movies found one in five were most frightened by The Exorcist, followed by the Saw series and Jack Nicholson's turn in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining.

Other films in the top ten include the low budget classic, The Blair Witch Project, and blockbusters The Omen and Jaws.

More than a third of those questioned named Anthony Hopkins' portrayal of Hannibal The Cannibal' Lector in The Silence of the Lambs as the top horror villain.

The Oscar-winning performance lead to stories of cinema-goers being too scared to leave theatres and asking to be escorted to their cars.

Second scariest horror baddie was the Alien; while the list of horror heroes was headed by Alien's Ellen Ripley (Sigourey Weaver), Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) in The Silence of the Lambs and Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) in Jaws.

Scariest film music was the theme from Jaws.

What gives you the frighteners? Post your favourite scary movies below