The wire services come through with this little gem: Total Film magazine has published a poll naming Janet Leigh's shower scene the best movie death ever.
Now, the cinetrix is not going to deny that she has that iconic image in her own shower stall [she does, it's true], but aren't there better movie deaths?
"Some of the deaths in the poll, like The Wicked Witch melting in 'The Wizard Of Oz' (13th), are iconic but laughable, but nearly 45 years on, 'Psycho's' shower scene is still distressing," said Total Film deputy editor Simon Crook."It's the sheer violence of the edit rather than any explicit gore — 70 different angles, over 90 cuts and those shrieking violins. It's a master class in montage and audience manipulation."
Crook added: "Knowing that the blood is Bosco's chocolate syrup and that a pulped casaba melon stood in for the stabbing noises does nothing to reduce the impact."
Other highly rated demises include Slim Picken's rocket ride in Dr. Strangelove [2], King Kong's fatal fall in 1933 [3], Alan Rickman's similar swan dive in Die Hard [4], the end of Bonnie and Clyde [5], and the psyche-shattering death of Bambi's mom [6]. The complete top 50 list will appear in the magazine's July issue.
Clearly the cinetrix is in the wrong racket and needs to come up with a poll. For the record, she is a sucker for glam movie deaths in soft focus, like Bette Davis' noble decline in Dark Victory.