Should The Exorcist be considered the scariest movie of all time?

[ScaryFreak1827]

I think it should. What are your opinions?

[Andrew Tom]

I don't think so. Kids these days don't find it scary, just funny, so it can't be called the scariest movie of all time.

[VicVega]

Thats a tough call. I think the fact that the story was taken from actual events adds to the fright factor a lot. Is it the scariest film ever made? In my opinion, no it isnt.

[Toxferatu]

yes it should. shit, what is more frightening than being possesed?

kids are full of shit, they think all movies need constant action and if there's any character development or back story its "boring". so why should i listen to kids?

[JCR]

No I don't think exorcist is the scariest movie ever. It was banned on video by the over zealous uk video censors until the late 90s, and as a result there were midnight cinema screenings of the film here basically every week on friday and saturday from the mid 70s-90s. I was at one in 1998, in a packed crowd of about 200 people, and people were openingly laughing at it, sure most of them were drunk as hell but still. Halloween remains the movie that scared me most.

[teenkiller]

No. I believe that TCM and possibly Black Christmas are both "scarier". Well thats all for now GOoD JOURNEY my fellow schmoes.

[B-ball Dude]

I watched The Exorcist for the first time about a year ago and it didn't scare me a bit I thought i'd get scared but it just didn't happen.

[APzombie]

YES

[Romero&Juliet]

Speaking for my peers who are being bashed for not enjoying the Excorcist:

that's ridiculous!! If you're going to see the exorcist, expecting scary effects and gore, then you'll be disappointed. Simple as that!! Age has Absolutely NOTHING to do with it!!!

In fact....I think it was made to scare old people Anyway!!!!

and I REALLY dont think it was the scariest movie of all time... I think that title goes to either Resident Evil, Joyride, or Scream...

[Horror_Fanatic]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Romero&Juliet:
I REALLY dont think it was the scariest movie of all time... I think that title goes to either Resident Evil, Joyride, or Scream...</font>

To each his own.

In my opinion the Exorcist was the scariest movie of all time, but as writing, visual effects, and what the public is prepared to handel all move forward, the Exorcist has fallen to the back of the pack.

I can remember the first time I saw this movie, and it scared the shit out of me. But now it seems slow and dated. It's still one of the best and scariest, but I would much rather watch a modern horror movie.

[Guts In My Face]

Resident Evil? Scream?

Try BLACK CHRISTMAS.

[Boogeyman]

yeah, its not scary. i mean it was a while ago but now, its just kinda boring.

later

[Toxferatu]

SCREAM THE SCARIEST MOVIE EVER? AAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAAAA!!!!!!!

oh my god that was the fucking funniest thing i have ever heard. god teeny boppers a great for a laugh.

::whipes tears from eyes and starts laughing again::

[This message has been edited by Toxferatu (edited 06-22-2002).]

[Sam Hain]

the scariest flick to me is the shining.the exorcist is second.

[myers67]

It was scary, but not scariest movie of all time. Halloween scared me more also JCR

[VicVega]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Sam Hain:
the scariest flick to me is the shining.the exorcist is second.</font>

Yeah The Shining is very frighting. There is nothing more scary than seclusion and having your mind play tricks on you.

[ColonelColinCaine]

I think people tend to confuse disturbing with scary. In my opinion, is "The Exorcist" the scariest movie of all time? Hell, no, not by a longshot! But is it the most disturbing? Yes, it certainly is.

[Romero&Juliet]

gawd, I was kidding....you guys REALLY have no sense of humor.....hmm....or mabye senility is already setting in.. http://www.joblo.com/ubb/wink.gif

and I think some of you should Read The RULES before posting.

I think we're all old enough to follow them, aren't we???

[This message has been edited by Romero&Juliet (edited 06-23-2002).]

[This message has been edited by Romero&Juliet (edited 06-23-2002).]

[skweemkween]

This immature squabbling is getting useless.

When consulting many opinion poles from various media resources, magazines, websites, etc., critics and movie fans across the board agree: The Exorcist was and so far has been , the "Scariest Movie" in cinematic history. Now, there is a slight contradiction here, "in cinematic history" can mean AMERICAN cinematic history or global. You be the judge.

But just for the record:

I don't remember any other movie in cinematic history that had audience members vomiting simultaneously, fainting, and leaving the theatres in droves, including critics. A movie that had the Catholic church as well as other churchs, protesting it in hundreds of cities. Yes, there have been other movies in which folks hurled and churches protested (Last Temptation of Christ, that Sodom Italian movie, forgot name) but none, the size,the drama, and the overall effects as The Exorcist.

We have to go the mass majority now, not our personal tastes. Even though some of us found Exorcist frightening or not. And as for not finding it scarey or creepy or whatever, that IS a shame. You missed out on a great classic.

[beastmaster]

Well you guys SHOULD have downloaded the screensavor that i posted in here last week. That one screensavor alone is actually *I think* scarier than the movie itself.

Put it this way...I could hardly watch it in the dark on my pc, it's that bad. But to each his own...as for the film, I thought it was chilling but Halloween scared me lots more.

[HalloweenShape31]

To me, HALLOWEEN is the scariest movie I've ever seen. It will always be!

[DeaditeDerik]

To me to really get the full experience of the exorcist you really have to know about the way it was based on real events and about all the strange things that happened during the filming and during the screening of the film.

[DeadByDawn]

It was scary at the first time many years ago, but not anymore. Now I'm not so easily scared by movies (don't know why, maybe I've just gotten used to them), but recently one of the scariest flick I've seen for a while has been The Gates Of Hell. Those zombies look creepy with their empty looks and all that stuff. I have to say that it's the scariest zombie movie I've ever seen.

[Pumpkinhead]

I don't think that it is, but it's really just a matter of taste. I personally think that Black Christmas, The Shining, and Halloween are more frightening (although Halloween owes a lot of this to the score, and atmosphere). But once again, it's simply a matter of taste.

[The Clown]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by Toxferatu:
yes it should. shit, what is more frightening than being possesed?

kids are full of shit, they think all movies need constant action and if there's any character development or back story its "boring". so why should i listen to kids?</font>

Im just a kid (14) and the excorcist is my favorite horror movie.

[Dehydrator]

<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">Originally posted by skweemkween:
This immature squabbling is getting useless.

When consulting many opinion poles from various media resources, magazines, websites, etc., critics and movie fans across the board agree: The Exorcist was and so far has been , the "Scariest Movie" in cinematic history. Now, there is a slight contradiction here, "in cinematic history" can mean AMERICAN cinematic history or global. You be the judge.

But just for the record:

I don't remember any other movie in cinematic history that had audience members vomiting simultaneously, fainting, and leaving the theatres in droves, including critics. A movie that had the Catholic church as well as other churchs, protesting it in hundreds of cities. Yes, there have been other movies in which folks hurled and churches protested (Last Temptation of Christ, that Sodom Italian movie, forgot name) but none, the size,the drama, and the overall effects as The Exorcist.

We have to go the mass majority now, not our personal tastes. Even though some of us found Exorcist frightening or not. And as for not finding it scarey or creepy or whatever, that IS a shame. You missed out on a great classic. </font>

Good point with the mass majority but I don't think that the amount of people who love or hate a movie, let alone their positions (churches ect.) do have any impact on a movie's quality. THE EXORCIST is a good example of needless (I say needless because I don't see anything too controversal in the movie) hype making a movie hard to watch. Hard to watch because it's not the movie that counts, it's the reaction people gave it (a looong time ago). I swear I don't lie when I say that even though I'm christian-educated this movie didn't scare me one bit- quite a disappointment considering that each and everybody praised (oooohhhh it was soooo sccaaaaarry) it on the way to school the other day, making me wonder what the hell is wrong with me.

I can't think of anything less scary than some 12-year old girl screaming "Fuck me Jesus!" while sticking up a cross in her vagina. It's amusing in an over-the-top way and just screams for negative reactions on the side of the churches and I find it even more amusing that they were dumb enough to give the movie exactly what it wanted from them : Utter despise and perhaps some burning at the stake of copies and exactly that's what made this movie notorious and famous.

What I mean is that without those reactions, not as much people would have given the movie any second thoughts, thus making it a "classic". But I don't think it really lives up to all the controversity. It's an okay movie, very entertaining and very good performances but it's hopelessly dated. Come on, am I supposed to be scared at the sight at some broad pissing on the carpet? Do you know how many people I've seen vomiting on OTHER people's carpets? Do you know that I once managed to shit and vomit at the same time, in the same toilet? Are you scared?

[skweemkween]

Well, if you started speaking in a low gutteral demonic voice telling "your mother sews socks in hell" yea, that WOULD scare me.

No one's disagreeing with you that a little girl pissing on the carpet is scarey. But, surprised as you may be, some people actually do find said little girl doing a 180 with her head, crawling upside down a flight of stairs like a spider, and having glowing demonic eyes scarey.

[Fergie]

Scary my ass, it's completely shit, maybe it was at the time, but nothign scares ppl anymore its all been done now

[APzombie]

I bet in a poll of average people more than 80% of them would say it was the scariest movie of all time.

Like many of you posted, movies like Halloween, Scream, The shining (my 2nd pick) or Black Christmas did not have lines of people running to get comfort in a church after their viewing.

Some people rather have a unstopable serial killer hiding behind a mask, others will have a haunted house poking at their residence with mind boggles, and others will have the devil himself take control of a little girl and present himself in all format (not behind a mask or teasing through a house).

True one voice makes a dfference, but The Exorcist captured millions of people and scared the living shit out of them and there is nothing you can do to change that or to change the millions of people the film will continue to scare!

[nickbabs1186]

No it's definetly not. Back in the 70's when it came out it was. That's why everyone thinks it is, it has a good reputation of being the scariest. But it's not. I think the scariest movie it HalloweeN. I've seen it a million times not all he time does it scare me, but sometimes when I watch it with all the lights out it gives me chills.

[CAPTAIN BLAKE]

Perspective makes the question "what's the scariest movie of all time?" all but pointless...It all depends on the individual, their priorities (if you were raised catholic, I can see why THE EXORCIST would leave you feeling mauled; I never believed in the devil per se, so the threat of the knife wielding psycho in HALLOWEEN was WAY more immediate and terrifying for me as a youngin'), the age in which they saw said film, etc...If you're paralysed by the thought of spiders, KINGDOM OF THE SPIDERS might be the "scariest movie ever" for you, regardless of the fact that it's not as well made as, say, PSYCHO. You may recognise this (that PSYCHO is the more ground breaking, important, "better" film), but it just doesn't matter, 'cause that sort of intellectual assessment won't change the fact that some things scare the shit out of you while other things don't.
Horror is a gut level thing; A movie doesn't have to be classy or respectable to be scary, right? For instance, I find some of the early 80's slashers like THE PROWLER, HALLOWEEN 2 and JUST BEFORE DAWN gut-level scarier than THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS. No shit. Does that make them "better" movies? No. But for me, SILENCE was a very glossy, tightly controlled entertainment ala Hitchcock, despite the violence and horrifying subject matter...It's a "film". The others I mentioned, however, seemed like their only purpose was to give you serious nightmares. They were fucking dangerous, and they were nasty, and "taste" didn't have any leeway at all in the proceedings. Anything could happen, at any time. For the most part, we didn't recognise these people, so no one was safe (and we didn't have those pesky Hollywood actor associations with the characters to spoil the illusion.) Get what I'm saying?
For the masses, THE EXORCIST may be the scariest shit, EVER!!!...if you don't agree with their assessment, you can comfort yourself with the knowledge that the masses also really like Britney Spears and Limp Bizkit. If you do agree with them, great, you have at least one thing in common with the flock.
Blah Blah Blah...Sorry folks, I'm at a serious loss for sleep, if you couldn't tell...Anyway, basically I'm trying to say that the only "scariest movie of all time" is the one that won't leave YOU alone. Forget about everybody else's nightmares. You have enough to deal with.

[BadBrandon]

Yeah everyone has different opinions. It comes down to what the viewer thinks is scary. A killer behind a mask, a ghost, a girl possessed by the devil, vampires, etc. I thought the Exorcist was a scary film, not the scariest to me. Halloween scared me to death when i first watched it. And i remember as a little kid not being able to sit through Pet Semetery. The Shining and Suspiria also are pretty scary movies.