Personally I don't even classify it as scary. I think its because i'm just 16 and i just seen it. I can see how it was scary in its time. But i thought it was boring, a couple cool scenes, but its not one of my favorites. I'm also not religous so it didn't have an impact on me that way either. I think after seeing everything i have, it kind of numbed my brain or something lol, maybe if i had been younger it might have scared me.

For me, it IS the scariest movie.

When I saw it as a child, I had nightmares and it became the source of all my fears.

What makes it even scarier is the fact that Blatty based his book on actual events and actual cases of possession.

When I saw the re-mastered "Version You've Never Seen" in the theaters 5 years ago, I was pleased to be scared all over again.

indeed...

This is the way I feel about this matter:

I'm 16 years old, and the Exorcist scared the living shit out of me...by far my pick for the scariest movie ever made...so I think that it goes like this:

There are two catagories of scary movie effects. There's the "scare you over and over again until your voice is hoarse" kind and then there's the "disturbs you in a way so strong that you actually feel like vomiting...or crying...or seeking psychiatric help."

And so The Exorcist was utterly disturbing...an innocent little girl, had never done anything to anybody in her life, and this happens to her, and she masterbates with a cross, and she talks about sukcing cock and whatnot...this, to me, is why it was the scariest movie of all time. In my opinion, of course...

I agree with you 100% I never thought it was all that good and I saw it in the cinema when it was originally released. Some people leaving the flicks with me were shaking like leaves, and one guy outside was chucking his ring up (he may have been drunk though, didn't get to close). Others were white as ghosts. I suppose it's true what they say, everything is a matter of opinion :D

This is, IMO, the scariest f'n film of all time! Wanna know why? Of course u do. Because it's based on a true story (even though I heard the book is better) and I can never look at a picture of Linda Blair the same way ever again without getting goosebumps. *looks at pic of Blair and shudders* Sure, the sequels sucked on so many levels (especially Beginning), but this is, without a doubt, the scariest movie ever made! In my opinion, anyway.