The Exorcist

[PsychoSKfan]

I want to talk about what some people call the scariest movie of all time.
And, in my opinion it's the scariest movie I've ever seen. It takes a lot to scare me- and this movie did. (And then I saw it again, and again, and again, and again... GO FIGURE ;) )
But, it has very few special effects, and that is what this new generation is growing up with. So- as new horror fans enter the world, do you think in time the Exorcist will be seen not have the same affect on people that it has now?
Do you think it's already happening? Even my generation (I'm almost 19) is starting to comment about the lack of visuals and the pure stupidity of it.
This is ashame...

-Liz

[The_Return]

Have you read the book? It completly puts the movie to shame. I was quite disapointed, I saw the movie for first time about a week after reading the book. The movie was good, but I think it's extremly overrated, far from the "scariest movie ever". Yes, this is coming from a Christian....I just didnt find it scary/disturbing/ect.

[PsychoSKfan]

To be quite honest, it didn't scare me the first time either. (Granted, I saw it edited for TV so they cut a lot of stuff out)
It had nothing to do with the visual effects, but some of the stuff that I saw when I saw it un-edited disturbed me.
Yes, I have read the book- and the book was just as scary as the movie.

-Liz

[urgeok]

when this movie came out - most people were never exposed to anything like it before.


like anything that old it sufferes when you compare it (for scares) to much that's come out since but there are still a few of us that remember the power this film had at the box office when it first hit the theatres.

thats also part of the problem .. by the time most of the younger people here see these classics - it's on a small TV screen in your living room .. not a big dark theatre surrounded by 300 terrified people. It diminishes the effect.

personally - i never found the film frightening ... but i thought it was a well acted, superbly directed, effective bit of filmmaking ..

and it - among other old classics - inspired countless of other films. It was a landmark in film history, let alone horror film history ..

[PsychoSKfan]

I got to see it in theatres.
I was too young yet when the "Version you've never seen" came out, but luckily my local theatre brought it back for a "Big Screen Classics" weekend.
That was very exciting! There was a big rain storm that night and the electricity in the theatre went on and off a couple of times. (and that included the movie)
:eek:

Yikeys! So much fun.
-Liz

[ItsAlive75]

Originally posted by PsychoSKfan
But, it has very few special effects, and that is what this new generation is growing up with.
-Liz

If by "special effects" you mean computer animated effects, then yeah they're scarce. But there's a shitload of effects in the movie, whether it be the animatronic turning head or the bile vomit scene or her COMING DOWN THE STAIRS... that scared the shit outta me when I saw it in the new version.

[AUSTIN316426808]

Originally posted by ItsAlive75
If by "special effects" you mean computer animated effects, then yeah they're scarce. But there's a shitload of effects in the movie, whether it be the animatronic turning head or the bile vomit scene or her COMING DOWN THE STAIRS... that scared the shit outta me when I saw it in the new version.

Glad you said that, I never bothered with the new version because I just thought they were trying to make a couple extra bucks off the not so special stuff you see in most extended version.

[mikeywalsh]

I agree with the last poster that there are a fair few special effects in it, not just the CGI that younger folk expect in a horror movie now. I do think it's a genuinely chilling film, there is a marvellous air of malevolence and the crucifix masturbation scene still, in my eyes, causes shock.

I do have a major problem with the film however. I was raised Catholic but am quite anti-christian now for all sorts of reasons and I find the way the film puts the Catholic Church in the role of supernatural saviour to be quite distasteful. In the US and UK at least the way that priests interact with children has come up for much scrutiny and criticism in the last 5-10 years, besides which as all intelligent, right-thinking folk know there is no God or Prime Mover or Supreme Being so I don't believe in gods, angels, devils, demons or Pizuzu but still the film freaks me if I'm watching it on my own.

Could I ask any other athiests how they respond to films like The Omen and The Exorcist where the existence of God/Satan is taken for granted (I realise most films expect us to suspend our disbelief in monsters, ghosts etc, the difference with God is that some people believe in it 100% all the time, which few folk do with vampires or zombies)

[PsychoSKfan]

Originally posted by ItsAlive75
If by "special effects" you mean computer animated effects, then yeah they're scarce. But there's a shitload of effects in the movie, whether it be the animatronic turning head or the bile vomit scene or her COMING DOWN THE STAIRS... that scared the shit outta me when I saw it in the new version.

Yeah, that's what I meant. OMG, the spider walk scene scared the crap outta me. I didn't see that the first time, that was added in the new version! :eek:

[Angelakillsluts]

I haven't seen the new version with the added scenes yet.