The Exorcist

[bhar123]

Before I saw this movie everyone scared me about the movie. But after I saw it I felt that this is a plodding mess of a movie, with very few frights, and those that are there are all timeworn clichés.

[mistyriver]

Maybe the long-troubled, twiced-filmed prequel should be called Exorcist: The Boring.

[GrannyEsme]

If you're talking about the original being full of now-timeworn clichés, remember that this one was the FIRST to present them and is the reason they have come into such general use.

[neol]

Yeah but its disappointing that the original was such a waste.

[giovanni]

I watched this in the dark and I had a feeling someone was out to get me, but not very frightening though....:D

[personalmedia]

I thought this movie was truly frightening. I swear though that I've seen different versions of the original it seems to me. I watched it recently and there was a scene where Ragan crawled down the stairs kind of upside down and contorted while she was possessed. I had never seen this before. I'm getting creeped out just writing about it.

[jennieC]

after i watch this movie, i cant get into sleep... :eek:

[piscesgirl]

I thought the original was scary but the sequels have been poorly done and a dissappointment. I love the spoof of the Exorcist done in Scary Movie. It was hilarious.

[bluerosekiller]

OMG the horror of it all!

No, it's not the film that I'm refering to now, it's the reaction to it from today's audiances! :eek:

" ... a plodding mess of a film ...", " ...cliche' ...", " ...not frightening ... "
To each their own, but I just don't understand these sorts of reactions. While I certainly don't expect the same sort of shocked & terrified reactions from first time viewers of Freidkin's classic now as we witnessed three decades ago, it's inconcievable to me how this generation is bored & unaffected by it now.
I was about 13 when THE EXORCIST was first released back in 1974 & at the time just the TV spots & the theme song "Tubular Bells" playing on the radio were enough to creep me out. And I was a hardened veteran of all sorts of genre fare by that age. I practically LIVED for horror films & monster movies then ( who am I trying to kid, I STILL do at 45! :D ), but I wanted no part of seeing THE EXORCIST. Not then.
And I was right, had I been subjected to it at that point, it would have seriously messed with my head. So, I waited until I was 17 to see it during one of it's many theatrical re-releases. By then I was mature enough to handle it & I loved it. I still found it scary as hell, but in an appreciative way. I still, to this day, consider it the scariest film of all time.

Unfortunately, most younger people & kids these days don't see it in remotely the same way. Some are allowing children 8 or 9 years old ( & probably younger ... ) to watch it with no qualms about it whatsoever, like it's a big joke. :confused:

Now, I understand very well that times change & what was potent just a few years ago can be seen as mild now, but I fail to see how THE EXORCIST can be seen as anything less than a powerful, deeply disturbing movie.

[Jewel]

I watched the original movie when I was about 9 or 10, and didn't find it all that frightening. It was definitely disturbing, but not scary. I think that people just become desensitized as more time passes between the time the movie came out and now.

[monkey4]

I still love this movie and always will. I have two older sisters that used to scare the crap out of me with movies when I was growing up in the 80's, and when the first movie came out (1973) my grand father actually took my mother to go see it. I thought that was a great thing, its always been a tradition. My husband is a huge horror freak, and we will be doing the same to our little one (when shes older that is). :)