Come On, Admit It, Did The Exorcist REALLY Frighten You That Much?
 

Come on, admit it - did The Exorcist REALLY frighten you all that much?

Maybe in its time, it did quite freak people out. I know as a kid growing up in 1973/74, when I heard all about exactly what happens to the possessed girl, that word of mouth was enough for me to shun even looking at film stills from it. However, as many years have passed, and I have since seen many movies to the point of becoming jaded (yes, jaded, sadly), I think that shock value of that 1973 shocker has lost much of its impact. Nevertheless, there is still something very disturbing in general about the movie's theme, and I still get a bit creeped out when I see pics of Reagan's face.

Do you all feel the same about this movie?

In Danse Macabre, Stephen King discusses the difference between horror and terror. Horror is an emotional and intellectual reaction to something you find frightening on a deep level. Terror is a visceral reaction often accompanied by disgust. The Holocaust is horrific, a man chasing you with a machete is terrifying. The machete man is right there in your face, the Holocaust is something we must process intellectually and spiritually to react to. In its time, the Exorcist was capable of causing terror. This is true of all horror classics. But now, the reaction becomes not one of a person whose intestinal fortitude is challenged by in-your-face awfulness but one of fear at the power of evil to warp and crush even the most innocent soul of awe at the insurmountable task in front of Father Kerras which is to test weak and wavering faith against primal, unstoppable evil. Still scary. But if you're asking, did I vomit, did I feel like fleeing the room when I first saw it, then the answer is no.

Repeated viewings will cause that reaction, because you know what's coming next. But ask anyone who watched it the first time for their reaction, and you will have a fair idea how terrified they were after the movie ended. The common, everyday premise of the film and the whole situation till the end conveys one message only - it could happen to you, and to your little daughter. That's what causes the feeling of sheer terror.

As regards shock value - I ll cite Jaws, TCM, or even Evil Dead. Watch Evil Dead 15-20 times and you won't feel the same effect on your 15th viewing. Yes they have aged (I won't use the word "dated" because it is kind of looking down to such a fantastic classic), but they have aged gracefully. Look at Alien - made in 1979! How it has aged! 31 years and it still grabs you by your guts and delivers some deep sucker punches.

Audiences have become somewhat desensitized and practical now than they were back in the 70s. Too bad, because that's the main reason they have stopped appreciating the classics. The fact that the core audience, the ones the movie studios aim at, are the teens, which doesn't help this cause at all.

I understand what you mean, I think. When people talk about a movie being "scary", I always interpret that as meaning the movie freaked you out to the point that you had terrible nightmares or suddenly doing certain activities made you tense (Psycho=showers, Jaws=swimming), so I guess The Exorcist isn't like that. However, The Exorcist will always remain one of my all-time favorites.

never frightened me at all. made me chuckle. I could never understand what the hel was so scary about that movie.

Kids my generation found the film very boring and dated, am sure it was scary in the 70's, my mother was really scared when she saw it many years ago, I think the Omen films were more scary.

I watched it on video a few times and never got creeped out or scared. It was a whole different film on the big screen with surround sound and yeh it got under my skin and made me feel uneasy and jump a few times.

I think a lot of people who watch horror movies today are looking for and expecting a different kind of experience than viewers in the past. I see a lot of people saying movies "aren't scary" and the reasons they give are things like no gore, no jumps, no cool kills and the like. They disect films down to individual moments, and if there are no moments that shock them, then a movie "isn't scary."

When you look at a film as an entity- something to be taken in its entirety- a complete package, a telling of a story, and you place yourself in that story, then different things become scary. It's about being able to identify and empathize with the characters portrayed- even if they're not exactly like you, and react differently than you might. Viewed in this light, different movies are "scary" and for different reasons.

If looking at the Exorcist in this manner, it is indeed a scary movie. I saw it in the theatre in its initial release, and found it to be a pretty scary movie. Did I run from the theatre vomitting? No. And I suspect nobody else did. Those stories were the product of a well done publicity campaign. I don't think it's "the scariest movie ever made" but it is a damn well done horror movie.

I agree with Mr. Crankypants.

At the time that I saw it, I wasn't really well-versed in horror, so I pretty much figured that "horror" meant things-jumping-at-you-making-you-scream-with-dread horror. Since the movie is definitely more of an atmospheric creepfest (to say the least), I was a little disappointed.

That and at the time, I didn't find the supernatural all that scary. Plus I was a raging Atheist (read: self righteous Believer-hating angry teen) and couldn't suspend my disbelief about someone being possessed by the devil and/or demon. I thought that it was a little silly. Scary for those involved, sure, but I myself didn't see any present danger.

I think that if I watch the movie now I'd probably be a lot more creeped out, since it's such an atmospheric film and generally slowburn build up genuinely give me the willies... Interesting looking back. I remember "not getting it" because I was waiting for someone to come after me with a knife.

While I can say, No, The Exorcist didn't scare me, I refuse to say that it's "overrated" or anything like that; I just had different expectations going into it and that's something that can ruin your movie-watching experience.

I remember seeing this movie in theaters back in the '70's and yes, it scared the hell out of me. In the years since it has lost a bit of it's edge, but I still think it's one of the greatest films ever made.

I remember one halloween a couple years ago, my mom had me watch the Exorcist, because she felt I would enjoy it since she always thought of it as a really scary movie. At the time I liked horror, but didn't quite have a love for it yet where I could appreciate the actual story telling. At the time I felt scary movies were the quick scares and gore. About part way into the movie I could feel myself dozing off trying to watch it (something I'm pretty sure I wouldn't do again if given the chance) and eventually fell asleep. I agree that when people are suspecting quick scares, they tend to get bored with a movie that thoroughly tells an unsettling story.
I personally feel that if I had watched some of the movies I like now, back then, I would be bored to tears.

Unfortunatly thats the only way the hollywood audience wants their scary movies these days. Story has been replaced with BOO!

I think the success of Paranormal Activity would put the lie to that statement.

The ones complaining it wasn't scary are indeed the ones who need onscreen kills, blood, gore & jump moments.

Very true. It was good to see an actual scary movie be successful.

I love a good scary story, and I found Paranormal Activity anything but. I just thought it was a terrible movie all the way around. I'm 40 and my wife is older than me, and we both regretted wasting the time seeing that movie.

On topic, I didn't see The Excorcist until I was a little older. But, I did have the advantage of being a horror movie fan from a very young age. My sister was 12 years older than me, and both she and my mom loved horror.
So, I got heavy doses of it from about the age of 5 on.

Mostly, older movies played on Saturday nights on Creature Feature, but every now and then I could bug my sister enough to get her to take me to the theater with her.

The first time I saw the Excorcist, I was already a horror veteran so to speak, and I found it pretty frightening. That movie didn't need the Boo! factor IMO. It was so creepy, and the fact that I had heard it was based on true events, I was kinda freaked that this could possibly happen to me or someone I knew in real life.
I was probably 13 or 14 the first time I saw it, still young enough to have that ability to believe some of what I was seeing, but schooled on horror well enough to be cynical.

But, yeah...it scared me. I have the original now and the one with the "crab walk" scene added, and it's still near the top of my favorite movie list, just for the scare factor it offers. Great film.

It was the early 90's when I first saw it, I must have been at least 12. It didn't give me nightmares that I can recall, but I still remember every scene. The Exorcist is great because it has scares on multiple levels; I'm still a sucker for old medical practices, the scene where she gets the cat scan-classic.

The first time I saw The Exorcist I was like 5 years old and it scared the fucking hell out of me. I had nightmares for a long time after and did not ever want to put my feet off the bed when the lights were out.

If I would have been older the first time I saw it I'm sure I would have had a different reaction. But those are some of my best childhood memories!:eek:

Not afraid to admit that it did scare me a lot when I first watched it. I can't remember how old I was, but I do remember that I was younger than Reagan.

In fact, on first viewing I don't think I was able to sit through it all! :o

I think it's too slow moving, and about an hour too long. I've seen it, saw the uncut, or re-release whatever, seen the original, don't care to see it again. No, it's not very scary.

I saw it for the first time like...5? years ago when it got a cinema re-release, I'm not sure the difference (the backwards walk thing?) but they'd digitally remastered it and it was a directors edition as I recall...
I actually found it quite effectual...not as such the demon character/possession part but the great tense atmosphere, use of both musical score and almost oppressive silence at times. The weird like near-subliminal stuff was unusual and had me feeling a little bit unsettled too. I remember at one point a phone rang in the film and I was like FUCK!
Great building sense of dread. This to me is what worked about it in terms of horror.
The story itself was pretty interesting too.
Was I personally fearing possession? No. Though I think once you get past the point of about 15 years old horror films don't much have that effect on you any more, the only things I personally find "scary" these days are things and situations that I can personally relate to and/or worry about potentially occurring in everyday life (eg - right at your door).
Horror I see, to experience OTHERS putting up with shit that will most likely never happen...and to have a look at directors/writers impressions of "horror" and "scary", I just don't often share it.
Not big on the jump-outs. Sure, it works. But just does not stay with me.

scared/scary i would say no.but it was creepy and apparently,as you all may know it was based on a true story.now that is scary as you never know!ive also seen paranormal activity,which has been mentioned in this thread.this was also creepy imo.both good films.

I think I waited too long to watch it. I didn't see it until I was probably 19 or 20 years old and by then it had no chance of being scary for me. I remember being terrified of screenshots of the movie when I was younger.

My cousin was twenty six the first time he saw the spider walk, and it literally brought tears to his eyes.

Always felt it was to camp to be scary - the Exorcist always felt a bit Monty Python to me...Granted I didn't see it on it's first cinema release but i did on the VHS relwase.

I was 13 or 14 when this movie was released. It made the news many times because of the lines, people running out of the theatre screaming. Fainting. My whole family went (I was the youngest), while everyone else in the theatre was gasping and oohing, we were hysterically laughing. It didn't frighten us then, and it hasn't the other two times I've seen it.

I still don't get what the fuss is about. Though Linda Blair, still hot.

I think you need to take a seat over there..

http://www.fohguild.org/forums/attac...ris-hansen.jpg

I always found the movie rather not so scary, but rather twisted, not in as far as horror or gore, but as the sense of being possessed by satan himself or multiple demons. It's scary to see for the first because you're wondering what's gonna happen next, which keeps you on the end of your seat, but after you see it, it's not scary really.

Linda and I are the same age. So, when I saw it in the theatre, I thought she was pretty. Now she's gorgeous.

I friggin missed her at the Chiller convention years ago. I have a poster of her, sold through Famous Monsters or 16 magazine with her on one side, ,and shots from the Exorcist on the other. I brought it to get autographed, but she had left early.

And let my cry come unto thee
 

I dont think frighten is the right word, distubing and shocking would be more apt, the film is shot in almost documentary style in order to capture Reagan's ordeal, charting the initial onset of her possession to the full blown demonic infestation, not only of her body but her demeanour and physical appearance, here is a twelve year old girl who has seen the breakdown of her family, no father, her mother is a successful actress and so reagan is left in the care of ageing housekeepers and minder, sharon, who on the face of it is too preoccupied with everything other than Reagan and so to no surprise finds entertainment with the Ouija board which consequently opens the door for the possession, the visual aspects of the film are very shocking to this day and the visceral onslaught can leave you numb, I think what the film wanted to show was the collapse of the all American dream, the family unit and the struggle with pre-pubescence, it has been documented that the film was/is based around that very issue as the overt sexual overtones are very prominent throughout the film without being vulgar for the sake of it,

during the sixties the world had changed dramatically after the end of WW11 and values had become more relaxed, so much so that the younger generation of that era ushered in a new and free-er sexual explosion, the rise of the hippy and peace movement strengthened the relaxed attitude to the way people lived, drugs became prominent in many social circles and so gave rise to experimentation in other area's IE; the Occult, the catholic church became very concerned with the attitude of our liberated young men and women and so called for reform on many issues regarding the use of "recreational" drugs and alcohol citing it is the work of the Devil and is due to a collapse in the moral values of modern society, these issues are very evident in the Exorcist, whilst the movie is to all intents a work of fiction it draws upon the issues that govern society to this day and what happens if we dont take responsibility and in its way that is frightening,

I believe the film leaves everyone with some kind of impression, not necessarily fear but certainly an overpowering sense of something, for me I feel it is the impact the film still has to this day that is its power, the ability to shock, disturb or maybe frighten, I think the one question we can all be agreed on is whether good did prevail over evil... I dont think so !

The Exorcist does'nt depend upon gore to be effective in achieving its aim to shock, I think the fact that the subject of an all american family is the focus of the Demonic attack is its strength, a real person in real situations give rise to the repulsion viewers feel about the Devil defiling this young girl, there is the debate as to whether the Exorcist has lost its ability to shock, disturb or frighten and I think this lies in two factors, (1) there have been too many sequels/prequels which tends to stretch the franchise too far, (2) there are too many poor rip off movies made which make the whole topic of demonic possession almost comical which goes a long way toward diluting the effect of the Exorcist, I also believe that through the many slasher movies and gore fests that are out I believe horror fans and movie goers generally have been de-sensitised against being genuinally shocked by a horror movie, many of these movies depict the most horrific and graphic cruelty one human can do to another and through that it loses its ability to become shocking and people become less appalled by these acts as they are deemed commonplace within these movies, how many ways can you behead, disembowel, rip, sexually abuse etc.. and it is this which has made these movies more comic than horror,

I really believe that the Exorcist's true strength is that it had a story, good actors, a plot which had a theme, beginning, middle and end and above all it opened a debate on many levels, that is what a good movie should do whether it be a horror, drama, adventure or whatever, the power to get people talking and the Exorcist did that and continues to do that 37yrs after its release.

Didn't ever do more then bring up questions, I just wanted to know why o.o

It didn't scare me the first time I saw it, but I feel its a great movie.

My wife on the other hand is a pretty devout Catholic and refuses to watch it (but has seen parts by accident lol).

I think your level of religion (especially if you're Catholic) has something to do with how scary the posession scenario is. Thoughts of Religion/God/Satan are rather personal things close to people's hearts for the most part. This movie exploits those fears. The closest those things are to your heart, the more exploitave the film is to that individual. If you're an Atheist, this movie is probably laughable. If all you know is Catholicism, it could be the scariest thing you've ever seen.

Of course, this is just my personal opinion. Yours may vary.

Mine indeed do. I've never been a Christian, but when I saw this in its original release, it was a good scary movie. I never ran screaming from the theatre, but it was the best scary movie at the time.

I don't think I conveyed myself the best I could have. I guess I could've been more clear by saying you can be scared at different levels. For the devout folks, this could scare them at a very spiritual level. My wife is afraid of Nightmare on Elm Street too, but that's a very different level. She's most afraid of the Exorcist because of the attack on her spirituality. This is what makes it the most scary movie in the world to her. On the other hand she can watch movies that are 10X scarier in my opinion, and not be affected by them at all. :)

I'm not exactly the best at conveying what I'm thinking, so I hope everyone can kinda see what I'm getting at.

I grew up in an Irish Catholic family and I saw The Exorcist when I was seven. It scared the shit out of me.

As an adult and father, now the first half of the film contains the scares for me. All the painfull and (ultimately) unnecessary medical proceedures on a child make my skin crawl.

My kids just think it's a cool "spooky" flick.

Exorcist 3, however is SCARY and cool as hell.

wait....what



:D

I saw it on its first release at the theatre........pretty creepy for its day, and still holds up very well.

agree on Exorcist 3.......great movie with one of the best scares in any movie.

I don't think it takes being a Christian to fully involve oneself in this movie. I always saw any demons-- there are many, even non-Christian varieties-- to be the embodiment of the choice to commit evil acts.

I remember seeing this on TV when I was all alone at home. Don't think I was older than 12 at the time but since I by that time already loved watching horror movies even though my mom didn't let me.. ehemm. So I thought it would be fun. But hell no, I actually DID throw up afterwards. And couldn't be alone for the next few weeks. It's safe to say that after that scare I have never really been scared by a horror movie. Built up some kind of immunity.

Now I'm on the hunt of finding something similar to give me a scare but these modern (2000-) horror flicks are all so lame that I find them funny instead. And yeah, everyone seems to want the whole jump thing instead of a good story with an eerie feel. They seem to not have the patience in which good horror builds up. For example the Spanish movie REC. The first 10-20 minutes are quite a bore but it builds up and in the end it's pretty goddamn good.

I'm just kind of tired of the typical serialkiller coming after you with a knife kind of crap. Or anything with a bunch of teenagers in a deserted anything. As for taking the piss out of those movies, yeah, I have a fun time.

I grew up in a fairly devout christian-catholic household. My mother is very religious and refused to let me watch this movie when I was a child, but mother's aren't everywhere and my father liked watching action & horror movies with us kids, thankfully. A bit jealous of him though, he got to see it in theaters. Really spooked me when I was around 5 or 6 from what I can remember, but E.T. actually scared me much, much worse. (Something about aliens when I was that young, I guess...)

Didn't really get the chance to see it again until around 3 years ago, got the box set with all The Exorcist flicks and decided to watch it with my girlfriend at the time. Thoroughly enjoyed it, didn't find it that scary, but unsettling at times definitely. Ex found it extremely scary though. She was screaming and kept covering her eyes for a lot of it, then the classic spider-walk scene came on and she started crying like a baby. Almost made me turn it off. She apparently had nightmares of Regan standing at the edge of her bed for a couple of nights, wouldn't let me leave her alone in any room at night. Haha Never thought a 20-year-old could get that scared of a movie.

If anything I think the movie has aged extremely well, 37 years old and still scaring the crap out of some people. Easily one of my top favorite horror movies, and top favorite movies in general.

*runs into thread*

Did someone summon me?