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"The Exorcist is the one movie in the world that STILL scares the crap out of me. I've heard a lot of the "younger" folks here say it's a stupid movie. Why do you think it has no effect on them??"
The Exorcist manages to be both intellectually terrifying and visually assaulting to the viewer. It’s hard to think that the demonic possession of a young child and watching her slide further and further away from the possibility of savior can have no effect on even a seasoned viewer of horror. Today it seems that horror has moved in a different direction. Now on the silver screen we see visions of torture, maiming, and murder which are far easier to identify with than possession. I think for a lot of viewers, especially the younger ones, it’s more terrifying to imagine a psycho hunting you down and slitting your throat because it’s easier to imagine. You don’t have to contemplate the existence of a higher power or forces that can’t been seen or heard but can readily take us over and cause our destruction when you’re watching a hillbilly remove the head of an unfortunate hiker. I think that “younger folk” simply desire an evil that’s more tactile, something that they can see in their mind’s eye stalking them to their car after leaving the theater. Another possible answer is the rush you get from plotting in your head how to deal with a villain. We’ve all done it haven’t we? Who hasn’t watched Night of the Living Dead and thought about how they would dispatch with zombies? Who hasn’t watched a horror film and thought about how a character made a stupid move and he or she could have survived had she done something else? With The Exorcist you lose that rush, most people can’t imagine battling a demon much less that Devil himself (although I’m sure it was Pazuzu and not Satan). I can’t answer for all the youngsters out there as I’m sure some of them just didn’t like the story or felt that the effects were dated. I can however venture a guess which is what I’ve done, and it was quite a chore to do so. I can’t imagine anybody not being shaken to the very core by this masterpiece.
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