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

[Frankendoc66]

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?

[Doc Faustus]

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.

[_____V_____]

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.

[TheWickerFan]

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.

[The Mothman]

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

[AMICUS HORROR]

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.

[Elvis_Christ]

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.

[neverending]

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.

[ChronoGrl]

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.

[phantomstranger]

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.