Reel life: Do you like scary movies?
Redbox publicist Debra Caron recently emailed me a survey of 800 customers who named the five scariest movies of all time:
1. "The Exorcist"
2. "A Nightmare on Elm Street"
3. "The Shining"
4. "Halloween"
5. "The Silence of the Lambs"
I asked Caron what criteria Redbox used in determining this list. She sent me these telling details of the Redbox survey:
• 57 percent like scary movies. (What? That's all?)
• 55 percent plan to see a scary movie this Halloween weekend.
• 92 percent prefer to watch scary movies at home rather than in a theater. (Sacrilege! Scary movies are designed for the communal theatrical experience, always.)
• 73 percent watch scary movies with the lights off. (As it should be.)
• 52 percent will not watch a scary movie alone. (Someone must have your back while you put up a good front, right?)
• 50 percent are spooked by strange noises after watching a scary movie. (That's just me, making sure your lights are out.)
• 31 percent have turned off a scary movie because it was too frightening. (Or, you can do what my two daughters did during "The Orphanage" - scream, run from the room, dive behind chairs, then ask, "What happened?")
• 17 percent believe "The Exorcist" to be the best scary movie of all time. (We're waiting for the other 83 percent to catch up.)
• 22 percent named Freddy Krueger as the movie villain who frightens them the most (especially among manicurists).
• 56 percent of females like scary movies
• 61 percent of males like scary movies.
Critics notebook:
• Halloween treats continue at Classic Cinemas. The late Wes Craven's 1984 classic horror film "A Nightmare on Elm Street" shows at 10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30, at the Charlestowne 18 Theatre, 3740 E. Main St., St. Charles. Rated R. Admission $5. classiccinemas.com.
• Ogden 6 Theatre concludes its Halloween "Friday Night Frights" series with former Chicago filmmaker William Friedkin's director's cut of his 1973 scarefest "The Exorcist" at 10 p.m. Friday, Oct. 30, at the Ogden 6, 1227 E. Ogden Ave., Naperville. Rated R. Admission $5. classiccinemas.com.
• For younger audiences, "Casper" (Rated PG) will be presented at 10 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 31, at the Woodstock Theatre, 209 Main St., Woodstock. Admission is $1 or free if you come in costume. classiccinemas.com.
• Join me and James Bond novelist Raymond Benson as Dann & Raymond's Movie Club presents "Order! Order! The Great Courtroom Movies" at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 5, at the Schaumburg Township District Library, 130 S. Roselle Road, Schaumburg. Free admission. Clips from "Inherit the Wind," "The Caine Mutiny," "My Cousin Vinny," "The Devil and Daniel Webster," plus 12 more! Go to schaumburglibrary.org.