Is the Exorcist the scariest movie?

[steelcouch]

As a kid I had the rare opportunity to sit thru a real live exorcism in Mexico. Not the greatest thing a kid wants to remember. The movie scares the hell out of me and dont really care to watch it now as an adult. I think being hispanic has alot to do with it. There is alot of urban legends and ghost stories you hear as a kid. This one I actually got to see in real life. My brother purchased the blu ray for me for one of my b days and it is still sitting on the shelf brand spanking new in the cellophane wrapper.

[z3zep]

Maybe back in the 70s it was -- not today. Effects get better, etc.

[Hector]

As a kid I had the rare opportunity to sit thru a real live exorcism in Mexico. Not the greatest thing a kid wants to remember. The movie scares the hell out of me and dont really care to watch it now as an adult. I think being hispanic has alot to do with it. There is alot of urban legends and ghost stories you hear as a kid. This one I actually got to see in real life. My brother purchased the blu ray for me for one of my b days and it is still sitting on the shelf brand spanking new in the cellophane wrapper.

I'm Hispanic...and I don't believe any of that silly stuff...lol.

If you don't want it...give it to me...

[Hector]

I find it kind of boring,I don't find it scary at all ...Never did.
I never understood how people could...LOL

That newer film The Rite with Anthony Hopkins was scarier than this one.

The Rite was lame...LOL (my turn)...lol.

I'm talking about seeing it as a kid...yes...it scared me.

As an adult...please...of course not...lol.

You are telling me you saw it as a very young kid...and didn't get scared?

Come on now...

[alex]

I think out of that generation of films, the omen was the scariest of all. The whole devil thing got me, and that damned music.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L97umTAnRvM

[Cmonster]

Wizard of Oz is way scarier.

SC

[wolfie]

Wizard of Oz is scarier than The Exorcist?

You can't be serious?

[Twiki1979]

The only scary movie I've ever seen was the exorcist...ive watched a couple thousand horror movies easy....only ever thought one was truly put the lights on scary and thats it

[Brazoo]

I lost the ability to get scared of a movie. Like, I can be somewhat in-the-moment of a film I'm watching, but it's not like when I was a kid and I'm afraid to turn off the light or something.

NOW, I probably think something like "The Wannsee Conference" is the scariest film.

Die Wannseekonferenz (TV 1984) - IMDb

It's a German made-for-tv movie re-enacting a conference where the "Final Solution" was presented to top Nazi officials - re-created from transcripts of the real conference and in real-time.

Bureaucrats calmly discussing crimes against humanity as if they're discussing the marketing of a product-line of socks is scary - ghosts, devils and vampires don't do it for me now.

[torgospizza]

Wizard of Oz is way scarier.

My sister would probably agree with that. To this day, the munchkins freak her out.

Someone hit the nail on the head about why The Exorcist is so frightening, and it's because the victim's a kid. If it had been a 35 year old meth head, it would be a comedy. Just a regular Thursday night at T-Bone's place.

[mego73]

Linda Blair's demon face still cuts through me even now that I know the behind the scenes workings.

[raider5gt]

Yeah as a kid The Exorsist scared me,so did The Omen,Halloween also.The Creature from the Black Lagoon was the 1st monster flick i saw,that scared me too but nowadys,nah

Have not seen a scary film for ages,you know,something that scares the life out of you.

[Gorn Captain]

In order to fully appreciate the impact The Exorcist had you would have to wipe your memory and go back in time to 1973 and watch it then. All the things that you have seen since then will alter the feelings you have watching this film now.

Yep, that's exactly it. I always try to look at the film in the mindset of that specific era. If you don't, and you filter in all the bloodshed you've seen in recent films, you can never appreciate a movie like The Exorcist.
Last time I saw him in a movie theatre, the crowd laughed out loud at everything that happened. I had to leave.
It was a "Scary Movie" crowd...

[MIB41]

I think Exorcist III has held up better than the first. The first one is still an amazing film without question. But the one "effect" that has become dated over time is the dubbed in lines for the demon when she is possessed. Most of that is not synced well, so it tends to wreck the illusion of the "possession". That is likely what today's kids see that was not so obvious in the 70's when effects were still in their infancy.

[Adam West]

Most it probably has a lot to do with what we watched as kids or teenagers. I never watched "The Exorcist" as a teenager but watching it as an adult...not scary at all to me.

I mention "Carrie" because it was the first real horror film I saw (probably 13 or 14 at the time) and didn't know that music played a big part of it.

Up until that time, the scariest movies I had seen were "Creature from the Black Lagoon" already mentioned and "The Birds" made me pee my pants...as a 10 year old watching Creature Feature.