Revealed: The most iconic Halloween horror movie moments

  • The shower scene from Psycho has been named the most iconic horror movie moment 
  • The Shining and The Exorcist also appear in the top three 

Ahead of Halloween this weekend, horror movie fans have named the iconic shower scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 thriller, Psycho, as the most iconic horror moment of all time meaning that the old classics still stand the test of time.  

The study, conducted by Gala Spins, asked 2,000 horror movie fanatics to name which scenes they find the most memorable, with over a quarter (27%) rating the murder of Marion Crane in the shower as their most memorable scene.  

Brits prefer classic scary movies over their newer counterparts, with all the top five released in 1980’s or earlier. 

Horror Movie Scene Where to watch 
1) Psycho 
2) The Shining 
3) The Exorcist 
4) Alien 
5) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 
6) The Blair Witch Project 
7) The Ring 
8) Jaws 
9) Paranormal Activity 
10) Halloween 
1The shower scene 
2″Here’s Johnny” 
3Head spinning moment 
4Chest bursting scene 
5Leatherface introduction 
6Final scene in the basement 
TV scene 
Body floating up from the water 
Stood by the bed 
Closet scene  
Amazon Prime 
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Amazon Prime 
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Netflix 
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Amazon Prime STARZPLAY 

Ranking fourth, Alien is the highest rated non-horror film, with the famous chest bursting scene ranking above horror classics like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (fifth) and Halloween (tenth). 

The rankings changed depending on both age and gender, with men naming the chilling “Here’s Johnny” moment from The Shining (28%) as their most iconic scene, whilst women chose Psycho’s shower scene (27%). 

Top five most iconic horror movie moments for men 

  1. The Shining – “Here’s Johnny”  
  2. Psycho – Shower  
  3. Alien – Chest bursting scene 
  4. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – Leatherface introduction  
  5. The Exorcist – Head spinning moment  

Top five most iconic horror movie moments for women 

  1. Psycho – Shower  
  2. The Exorcist – Head spinning moment  
  3. The Shining – “Here’s Johnny”  
  4. Alien – Chest bursting scene  
  5. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre – Leatherface introduction  

The “Here’s Johnny” scene from The Shining was commonly chosen as the most iconic