3. Jaws (1975)
The Academy have really been trying to make it up to Spielberg for snubbing this masterpiece when it came out. With Lincoln looking as if it will be the big winner at this year's awards, it doesn't appear that they're through, either, but that's an article for a different day. Jaws is a perfect example of how to make a horror/thriller film. The monster is kept to the imagination for the majority of the film while John William's masterful score highlights the tension to make for some truly heart pounding viewing. The score is the most important aspect of Jaws because the now infamous "du-du" is synonymous with fright and it gives you an insight into the shark. The "du-du" is like the shark's heartbeat as it gets closer and closer to its prey which happen to be the three main characters of the film. One thing Jaws gets right above almost every other film of its type is it gives the audience protagonists that they actually like and have real motives for doing what they do. Jaws is still just as frightening now as it was the day it came out.