Why is the Exorcist Scary?

[Roiffalo]

When I first saw the Exorcist I was of age where horror movies didn't really freak me out anymore. At least I wasn't crawling into bed with mom and dad. But that spider walk scene, shit even I was a little unnerved by it. It may not be what one would call 'scary' but most people's standards, but it certainly is unsettling to the right audience. The effects were done with props and traditional mediums for that's what they had back then, and in my opinion they always come out looking more realistic. No doubt it added to the effect to scare the piss out of kids and adults of all ages when it was first released.

[neilold]

i never get the sppider walk scene, it looks comical to me, why are people scared by it? What is it about it that creeps people out?

[FryeDwight]

The special effects/makeup/music are superlative, but have never found this movie to be particularly scary or particularly good either for that matter. Maybe I heard so much about it as a JR High student and not seeing it until I was in my twenties.
Didn't see what the fuss was, so watched a couple more times. Still think it's not a good film by any stretch and incredibly overrated.
Just my opinion..if someone likes it, more power to them.

[SerialKiller]

Originally Posted by Elijah23256

I can say that children of today do have a lower standards on what is scary but I am not like that I find the original The Haunting( 1963) to be very scary.

Agreed, The Haunting is very unnerving to me as well.

[Jake.Ashworth]

Scary is all in the eye of the beholder. Fear is a very personal thing. Some people think Paranormal Activity was scary, I think it was silly. To each their own.

[Anthropophagus]

You have to remember when it was made.Times have changed and moved on from when it was released.

It is the same as the Universal monsters,are they scary,no course not but if you watched it back in its days then yes.try to remeber the age of the movie before condemming them.

[Roiffalo]

Originally Posted by Anthropophagus

You have to remember when it was made.Times have changed and moved on from when it was released.

It is the same as the Universal monsters,are they scary,no course not but if you watched it back in its days then yes.try to remeber the age of the movie before condemming them.

How bout it! My grandmother was actually afraid of the Godzilla movies. And the only ones made back when she watched it were the ones with a guy in a suit stomping on models! I find it laughable now, but I can see where she's coming from.

[DarthVader]

When THE EXORCIST first came out, there had never ever been a film like it. It was extremely scary back then in 1973, because that type of story and special effects just wasn't done. The book made it seem like those events were possible. It was truly horrifying back then.

But now today, we've seen over 1,500 Exorcist copy-cats. We're now desensitized to it.

[OLO]

the Exorcist is still the only movie that truly truly has scared me. I was younger when I watched but my whole body actually froze at parts.

possession is scary, losing complete control of your body and mind, being taken over my an unknown force (demon). i find that scary as it is.

the girl, she was amazingly scary with her face, the crab walk down the stairs, the head spin, movements, voices, everything how it was put together. great creepy stuff.

subliminal... the face of the demon popping up here and there ,the statue as well sometimes.


i dont know, i just loved it... always thought it was the scariest movie ever. If you're a kid, teenager... i really believe it would still traumatize or at least scare the crap out of you for awhile.

[Daniel J Mellor]

Originally Posted by DarthVader

When THE EXORCIST first came out, there had never ever been a film like it. It was extremely scary back then in 1973, because that type of story and special effects just wasn't done. The book made it seem like those events were possible. It was truly horrifying back then.

But now today, we've seen over 1,500 Exorcist copy-cats. We're now desensitized to it.

That's exactly it. The Exorcist had become that influential that each scene had been parodied, copied and diluted to a point that the movie feels familiar.
Similar to how of you watch Seinfeld reruns the comedy seems very derivative of today's sitcoms, even though it was 20 years before hand.

One curious way to look at The Exorcist is through the eyes of the mother. She is watching her child being taken over and has no way of stopping it. Going so far as to beg both medical and religious people for help.*
Is it scary? That is for each individual to decide, personally I think it hasn't aged too well, but for the reasons laid out before*