The 1978 classic horror film "Halloween" is the best horror movie of the past half century, horror fans said in a new survey.

A survey of readers by horror movie site eSplatter (http://www.esplatter.com), one of the Internet's largest horror film communities, found that 'Halloween' ranks as the best horror movie of the past 50 years. "Halloween" beat out such classic films as "The Exorcist" and George Romero's "Dawn of the Dead."

"'Halloween' is just as much as a masterpiece today as it was 29 years ago," said eSplatter founder and editor Lucius Gore. "Many of the people that participated in our survey were not even born when the film was originally released to theaters. But they still identify it as their all-time favorite title."

Directed by John Carpenter and produced on a budget of only $325,000, "Halloween" grossed $47 million at the box office in the United States, making it one of the most profitable independent films of all time. It spawned seven sequels and a remake.

"The Exorcist" ranked second in the horror movie survey, followed by 1975's "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" and number three, 1978's "Dawn of the Dead" at number four and 1968's "Night of the Living Dead" at number five. Ranking in at number six was Sam Raimi's original "Evil Dead."