The Exorcist - Who thinks it's scary?- Page 2

[kate2]

Posted: 10/31/07 at 11:55pm

My dad is 58 and saw this movie when it first came out and still refuses to watch it. I don't really watch any horror movies because I'm chicken, so if my dad had that reaction, I'll probably never watch it!

[Jane2]

Posted: 10/31/07 at 11:55pm

I've only seen the spider scene once, but that's another VERY scary sight. It's an excellent film in every way, I think.

[supportivemom]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 12:11am

I was in 6th grade when the movie came out. Not really a huge fan of horror movies but I wil say that the theme music is phenomenal! Everytime I hear it, it makes my hair stand on end. I don't remember who composed the music but it fit perfectly! mom

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 12:13am

Mike Oldfield.

[uncageg]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 12:19am

He recorded 2 versions of Tubular Bells (both of which I own). The original and a new version released in 1992 titles Tubular Bells 2. Same music but the 1992 version is instrumentally updated and includes some additions to the "songs" including vocals.

[RetroBoy]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 12:49am

Okay, this is one of my all time favorite films. It's a strong narrative based on a truly spellbinding best-seller. The casting, music and direction are stellar. The movie scared the living daylights out of me when I was younger but I was always compelled to watch it. Watching it over the years on TV dulled it's edge, that is until the late 1990's I went to see an anniversary showing of a restored director's cut with William Peter Blatty and Ellen Burstyn at Radio City Music Hall.

Once again the film had the power to shake me down to the core. What scares me most is the metaphor of good versus evil in this world and who will prevail...not so much the little girl's head doing a 360. The film's message is what scares me as evil invades and defiles a poor innocent child.

Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells" is an excellent theme but was not written specifically for the film. It was chosen by William Peter Blatty for inclusion in the film. I own it but I still to this day cannot bring myself to listen to it.

It's definitely on my all time top 10 favorites list.

[etoile]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 1:13am

To this date I think "The Exorcist" is William Friedkin's best film, even better than "The French Connection" which I loved. And unlike its contemporary "The Omen", which in recent viewing seems to have lost its impact over time, this film still has a chilling and mesmerizing effect.

[uncageg]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 1:56am

I consider it a classic.

Posted: 11/1/07 at 3:14am

I think people laugh at things sometimes because it's too intense for them and they need a release. I also think your state of mind when you watch it is important- When it was new, it was a phenomenon. There was a LOT of hype and people went in waiting to be terrified.

I compare it to Blair Witch- see it now and it's dull and slightly silly. But i remember seeing it in the theater and people screaming in trror and leaving with tears running down their faces, mostly because they went in expecting to be scared.

[tazber]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 6:16am

I'm a horror movie lover and this is still one of the top 5 scariest movies I have ever seen.

Posted: 11/1/07 at 9:11am

The part I found most terrifying was the part with the large needles for dying the girls blood at the hospital. I had to leave the room.


I am so squeamish.

[Mamie]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 9:15am

Rebo-

I think the fact that it was (loosely) based on a true story added to the horror factor back then. Of course by the time we saw the film, the 'facts' had grown until it wasn't just based on a true story - it WAS a true story. Plus it took place in a location we were all very familiar with. (I went to high school in Georgetown and, as I said before, we could watch it being filmed from the office I was working in. All of this made it feel very, very real to us. And that made it absolutely terrifying!

[Mister Matt]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 10:27am

For me, the movie is more disturbing, intense and unsettling than it is "scary". When I think of a scary movie, I think of the typical slasher films like Friday the 13th, Halloween or Nightmare on Elm Street. Films that in their original release, caused me to jump in my seat or actually cry out from tension and terror. The Excorcist is something I've never been able to view in one sitting. It is so perfectly crafted, it never lost its intensity for me. I can sit through multiple viewings of the old slasher flicks without batting an eye. Some of them even evoke a fond sense of nostalgia. Mainly for mourning the loss of a film style that, save for the Scream franchise, has been revisited, yet not truly revived. But The Excorcist is different. It is a classic and will remain one of the most unique and remarkable films in Hollywood history.

[best12bars]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 10:57am

Well, I've been watching this film for the past 34 years now, so it's not "scary" in the sense of unexpected frights.

What movie would be, after all that time?

No, I don't cringe anymore.

But it's still deeply disturbing, and terribly creepy. I first saw it at the age of 10, after reading the book (yes, my parents said, "you can see the movie if you read the book first.").

Even then, I could see it as an allegory. I knew it was symbolic of things that were much larger than just a little sweet innocent girl, and a troubled priest who had lost his faith.

The film holds up better than most horror movies that are barely 10 years old. A lot of it has to do with the excellent acting, and the raw, gritty, "documentary" style approach that Friedkin gave it. There is very little music in the movie, even though people talk about it. But I played Tubular Bells (which incidentally WASN'T written for the film, but was licensed for use) over and over again as a kid.

What really stands out for me today is the writing. It's still one of the best written horror movies ever made, if not THE best.

So no... things don't "jump out at me" and cause me to scream from it. That's a lame excuse for "scary" anyway.

But it's the kind of "scary" that creeps into your thoughts on a rainy day walking down the street... or entering a church or cemetery... or hearing a strain of music that reminds you of it.

Updated On: 11/1/07 at 10:57 AM

[peach]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 11:23am

Best12 sums it up nicely. It's not the type of movie loaded with "shock seconds," those moments that make you gasp and jump, but it is truly terrifying to the core.

I could not watch the movie in its entirety until I was in my late 20s when it was re-released in theatres (with added spider walk footage!). Before that, I had only seen it in parts on tv, and could never get through the whole thing without running from the room practically in tears.

Once I saw it start to finish, I can now watch it on TV all the way through. It is a truly chilling and brilliant film. In my book, it is indeed the scariest movie ever. I think what gets to me so much is how gradual the posession is. It is so realistic. That's what makes it so chilling.

And Tubular Bells gives me chills too - in the creepiest, scary way.

Where is doodlenyc? He should be weighing in here!
Updated On: 11/1/07 at 11:23 AM

[JohnBoy2]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 11:24am

The part I found most terrifying was the part with the large needles for dying the girls blood at the hospital. I had to leave the room.

I agree. That has always been the most disturbing part of the film for me, as well. As I said in my earlier post, the film is intense, not scary. Exorcist 3 is scary.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 11:51am

I slap you all for discussing this without me!

Exorcist, Exorcist...how do I love thee?

Obviously one of my favorite films and definitely my favorite horror film.

besty, I cannot believe you saw it at 10 in its original run (I know we are about the same age) because I couldnt even hear it mentioned at that age! I was raised strict Catholic, and I do think it's more intense when these ideas have been drilled into your imagination, and then when the sight is actually worse than you imagined? Yikes! You have to know what it was like when it came out...it was HUGE! Mentioned so much in the media, you almost got a contact fright! Tales of people in the theaters crying, puking, screaming and fainting...mention pea soup? People gag.

I was a teenager when I finally saw it, and it lived up to what I had been expecting for years...and moreso. I didnt expect the film to be so good. The image of Chris checking the attic for rats, and the flame of the candle. Walking home with leaves falling, passing nuns...Tubular Bells. The scene with Kinderman questioning Chris in her house..."a warm breeze in November...", and EVERY time anyone looked up or walked up those g/d stairs.

The greatest aspect of the film, however, is the use of sound. AS someone pointed out, there is not much music at all in the film. The demon Pazuzu's voice was it's own character (and given credit to Mercedes McCambrige). It won the Oscar that year for sound, and I think it is one of the best examples of what sound can mean to a film.

After hearing that voice for so long, the effect of hearing Regan giggle after killing Merrin is SO chilling, that moment shocked me more than the crucifix or head spinning.

There is one thing FOR ME that a remake could do (yet would probably ruin it), is that the bed, when levitating, looks like it is being manipulated from the other side of the wall...silly, isnt it? I always think "gee, couldnt they do a better job making the bed fly?"

The acting is superb, and I urge anyone who liked this film to read the book. The story is different, but no less frightening. The story thread about Karl and his wife and daughter is great, and something I wished was in the film.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 11:54am

"I think the fact that it was (loosely) based on a true story"

That's just marketing. Back when audiences were actually naive enough to believe it when they were told something is "based on a true story." I remember having to repeat again and again to a friend the basic fact that Blair Witch Project was not based on a true story at all. He needed to believe it was because that was the only thing that would have made the movie slightly scary.

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 11:58am

Classic. End o' story. Loved the way Friedkin shot it like a documentary almost...and the long, slow buildup. Great acting...its just a gem for the ages whether it "phases" you or not. The early scenes in Iraq? It's all brilliant.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 11:59am

There was an actual case, but what actually happened is questionable...and nothing like what happens in the film is even reported in the true case of the boy in Ohio.

I love that there was a resurgance of Exorcisms due to the film, AND another one when it had it's 25 anniversary.

Did anyone see the 20/20 exorcism (or one of those magazine shows)? Hilarious...the subject was deemed possessed because she was speaking in tongues...and what did she say? Ooga Booga!

[Borstalboy]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 12:02pm

Another When Good Directors Go Bad article, this one about the true blue oddity that is EXORCIST 2: THE HERETIC
Exorcist 2

[Mamie]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 12:05pm

Well, the story is that it was based on the exorcism of a boy in Maryland. I just heard about that again on a show about exorcisms on one of the cable channels. His 'possession' wasn't anything like Regans though. I've never heard about a boy in Ohio.

[Roscoe]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 12:05pm

I never found this film scary for a minute. Occasionally disgusting, but never scary. It seems to think it has something serious to say about something, but it never really gets around to saying it. I mean, what is all that stuff in the desert at the beginning supposed to be about anyway? And that idiotic spider walk really should have stayed on the cutting room floor.

I think NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and the original TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE are much more upsetting.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 12:15pm

Okay, yes, that's "the story." But let's reestablish the basic baseline fact:

There is no such thing as "the devil" and there is no, absolutely NO such thing as demonic possession. There is simply misunderstood mental illness and religious mumbo-jumbo created by people who had no grasp of human psychology.

[doodlenyc]

Posted: 11/1/07 at 12:17pm

Maryland, yes, I just looked it up...I seem to remember him having moved from or to Ohio. It's been awhile since I heard the story. There was a film made about that exorcism a few years ago.

I agree that the spider walk doesnt belong in the movie, which is why Blatty and Friedkin agreed it needed to be cut. It just doesnt fit where it placed in the film...though I dont get the confusion about Iraq or what the serious thing it isnt saying...but to each his own.