The Exorcist (the real one), what'd you think the first time?

[MillieDynamite]

I was 14, new to my home, and had heard about the movie. I asked my father if we could watch it. He said, "Sure if you won't get scared. It's a real horror movie." I said, "I don't get scared."

Boy, was I wrong. Fortunately, it was a Friday night, and I had a full weekend to recover. Friday night, no sleep, not one week. Saturday after, woke up from a nightmare, daymare? Saturday night, little sleep, lots of vivid dreams. Sunday afternoon, rewatched it---twice. Yeah, still scary. But I slept well that night. Every couple of years, I rewatch it.

Does anyone want spider walk down the stairs? Twist your head around and blow me a kiss? Anyone, anyone at all?

 

[BodieOhl]

I don't remember how old I was (apparently not enough), but it scared the bejeezus outta me at the time.
I got to meet Linda Blair when we were both adults and told her, so she gave me a nice, long hug! Totally worth it!

 

[AwkwardlySet]

It was nightmarish scary, for sure. Compelling as well. True horror is not about making enormous CGI monsters or human murderers who refuse to die even when you unload a machine gun into them. It is about the atmosphere, the build-up of tension, the fear of unknown. Good days

 

[CyranoJ]

My Dad has described many times the impact The Exorcist had on him. I found it plenty creepy when I saw it, but it didn't keep me up for days on end as he described happening to him. Maybe it hits differently if you've been raised Catholic. Great horror movie, though. Still tops lists of the Scariest Horror Movies and I can't say it hasn't earned it.

The original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was quite scary to me. I think precisely because I find human craziness a lot creepier than demonic possession as a premise. That one stuck with me on a first viewing and still does.

The Blair Witch Project is reliably creepy with very little budget and without ever sighting the title villain. It remains unexcelled in the found-footage genre for my money, and a better film overall than Cannibal Holocaust (another found-footage film that often makes the charts but relies much more heavily on gore; I just find suggested threats are often creepier).

John Carpenter's The Thing was terrifying in a wholly different way: really bringing out confrontation with something utterly alien and horrific in a way that is just beyond human experience. It's always in my top ten list.

The original Alien is probably one of my all-time favorite horror flicks, from before the "xenomorphs" effectively turning into a meme buried in imitations. The premise of a slasher flick featuring a ruthless alien lifeform scratched the same itch as The Thing, but in a way that almost brought alien horror together with the slasher horror that's so effective in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

I think my top pick is The Shining. Masterful blurring of lines between the supernatural and madness and just one of Kubrick's most amazing creations.

(SORRY, kinda detoured there, it's just that talking about one movie automatically makes me want to compare it with others.)

 

[Euphony]

because human craziness a lot creepier than demonic possession

Long scares are just more terrifying than intense or jump scares.

Saw or even parts of the Purge (when they were still novel) wrecked me more than usual paranormal or murder spree affairs because the breakdown of basic humanity lingers.

 

[Wonderer67]

One of the scariest fucking things I’d ever seen. I was too young to see it in theaters, but saw it in the 80s on a VCR w some friends. I think I’m too desensitized to all of the gore annd cgi and shit now, but I will never forget that movie, that’s for sure.

And The Omen too. More of a psychological thriller. But terrifying.

 

[MillieDynamite]

One of my father's friends said, "All of us had the shit scared out of us. We jumped at every shock, popcorn flew, and drinks dropped. But you're Daddy sat there like, when's this going to be scary? I swear to god, nothing ever scared him." Dad confided in me, "Don't let anyone see your fear. I don't care what the situation is. Learn to hide that emotion."

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

It was on HBO, I think near Halloween, in 1986 or 87, making me 7 or 8 years old. I set an alarm for 1am because it was coming on at 1:30. Holy shit, this Jew child wasn't ready for that shit. I didn't sleep for days. I was upset, but i couldn't tell my mommy or daddy I'd watched it. So I went to Gramps, he told me it wasn't real and even if it was, that wasn't the way it was.

He said, "The real demons I knew marched with goosesteps, wore black or grey uniforms, were Nazis, SS-Schutzhaftlagerführer, guards, SS soldiers, Gestapo, those are the only Satan's, I've met."

Somehow, that didn't make me feel better.

 

[SyleusSnow]

The parental units didn't allow me to see it, and even today I've only seen clips (like frigging spider walk).

Right up there with the trailer for It's Alive... never saw that movie either. The trailer was puh-lenty.

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

Beast Within, was scary shit too. But didn't hold a candle to Exorcist.

 

[AmandaKellyUK]

I saw this late in life after all of the years and years of hype, so unsurprisingly I was disappointed

 

[MillieDynamite]

I get that, if you hear about the chest popper before you see the chest being popped, it isn't as scary.

 

[theWollstonecraftWoman]

I get that, if you hear about the chest popper before you see the chest being popped, it isn't as scary.

No, you're wrong. It scares the shit out of me every time.

 

[MillieDynamite]

It would.

No, you're wrong. It scares the shit out of me every time.

 

[WyreBendr0417]

The original still scared the shit out of me well into adulthood, but apparently I've grown out of it as I've watched a couple of times in the last year. But even then, it was not without the familiar chills it always gave me.

WB

 

[needfulgrl3126]

My Dad has described many times the impact The Exorcist had on him. I found it plenty creepy when I saw it, but it didn't keep me up for days on end as he described happening to him. Maybe it hits differently if you've been raised Catholic. Great horror movie, though. Still tops lists of the Scariest Horror Movies and I can't say it hasn't earned it.

The original The Texas Chainsaw Massacre was quite scary to me. I think precisely because I find human craziness a lot creepier than demonic possession as a premise. That one stuck with me on a first viewing and still does.

The Blair Witch Project is reliably creepy with very little budget and without ever sighting the title villain. It remains unexcelled in the found-footage genre for my money, and a better film overall than Cannibal Holocaust (another found-footage film that often makes the charts but relies much more heavily on gore; I just find suggested threats are often creepier).

John Carpenter's The Thing was terrifying in a wholly different way: really bringing out confrontation with something utterly alien and horrific in a way that is just beyond human experience. It's always in my top ten list.

The original Alien is probably one of my all-time favorite horror flicks, from before the "xenomorphs" effectively turning into a meme buried in imitations. The premise of a slasher flick featuring a ruthless alien lifeform scratched the same itch as The Thing, but in a way that almost brought alien horror together with the slasher horror that's so effective in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

I think my top pick is The Shining. Masterful blurring of lines between the supernatural and madness and just one of Kubrick's most amazing creations.

(SORRY, kinda detoured there, it's just that talking about one movie automatically makes me want to compare it with others.)

The Exorcist was creepy for me when she turned head all the way around.

But Alien was creepy too when it tore out of guy's stomach. But Aliens, was much better - the late great Bill Paxton yelling "We're gonna die man, we're gonna die!"

 

[Djmac1031]

I suppose my problem is I waited far too long to watch the original.

By the time I finally got to it, there was decades of hype.

I frankly was a little underwhelmed.

I didn't hate it. But it didn't blow me away either.

 

[MillieDynamite]

Aliens, not Alien. No Paxton Gyreen in that one.

The Exorcist was creepy for me when she turned head all the way around.

But Alien was creepy too when it tore out of guy's stomach. But Aliens, was much better - the late great Bill Paxton yelling "We're gonna die man, we're gonna die!"

 

[CyranoJ]

The Exorcist was creepy for me when she turned head all the way around.

But Alien was creepy too when it tore out of guy's stomach. But Aliens, was much better - the late great Bill Paxton yelling "We're gonna die man, we're gonna die!"

Aliens was more of an actioner than a horror movie, really. But yeah... some of Bill Paxton's best work. "It's game over, man, game over!" Deathless.

 

[BodieOhl]

Aliens was more of an actioner than a horror movie, really. But yeah... some of Bill Paxton's best work. "It's game over, man, game over!" Deathless.

I quote that line far, far too often

 

[Abbafan]

People focus too much on the shock scenes.

What makes the movie work is how believable Blatty and Friedkin make it all. The characters are so well developed. Many of the best moments are the subtle ones, like Karris's psychological battles with the demon.

 

[BobbyLaker]

First saw the film in my late teens.

It scared the pants off me and probably would again today though I suspect it would, inevitably, look a little dated.

A true classic of the Horror genre.

 

[DickandDoof]

I saw the Exorcist when it first came out and it scared the Bejesus out of me. I made my dog sleep in bed with me for the next three months. The thing that scared me most was when a deep demon-y voice came out of Linda Blair’s mouth.

I also found Abbot and Costello meet the Wolfman pretty scary, but I was considerably younger at the time.

 

[samhasstories]

I love the Exorcist, it's a great movie, one of the best horror movies ever made. But I think when I saw it for the first time I went in expecting the scariest movie ever because that's what I'd always heard about it. And on that front I think I was a little disappointed. But that's usually the case for me with horror movies - I love them, but I seldom find them particularly scary.

 

[Comshaw]

One of my father's friends said, "All of us had the shit scared out of us. We jumped at every shock, popcorn flew, and drinks dropped. But you're Daddy sat there like, when's this going to be scary? I swear to god, nothing ever scared him." Dad confided in me, "Don't let anyone see your fear. I don't care what the situation is. Learn to hide that emotion."

I agree with your dad. I've been in situations that scared me spitless, but I tried (and mostly succeeded) in not letting it show, at least too much.

I saw the exorcist when it came out in '73. And yes it scared the crap out of me. But it didn't stick with me. That kind of scary movie just doesn't. The ones that do are those that are plausible. Being a hunter and a fisherman most of my life the two that gave me nightmares were Jaws and The Ghost and the Darkness.

After seeing Jaws, every time I went out fishing that fucking music would play through my head and I'd find myself glancing around into the water waiting for a dorsal fin to appear.

The Ghost and the Darkness was even worse. I read the original account of the incident of the Tsavo maneaters in Argosy magazine as a kid and the struggle of Col. Patterson to kill them. For a long time after I read it, my well-developed imagination caused all kinds of disturbing dreams and evil shadows stalking me through the woods to appear. It got even worse after watching the movie. There is a scene where Patterson's wife arrives and is standing on the train platform holding their baby, waiting for him. As he sees her he also sees movement in the tall grass next to the train platform and realizes it's one of the lions. He runs towards her but never makes it as a lion bounds from the grass and takes his wife and child down. That scene caused me a few weeks of nightmares.


Comshaw