EXORCIST IS NOT SCARY!!! o.o

Because the BBFC had a nitwit called James Ferman in charge who hated the film and wouldn't see it passed for home consumption under any circumstances. As soon as he left it was passed.

RegarRAB

Mark
 
It wasn't cut out for being too scary, nor was it a 'banned' scene.

The scene was cut out because it didn't work so well immediately after the revelation that Burke Dennings had been killed. And I agree. It's like having a double-climax to the scene and takes away from the shock of his death.

As for the general point behind this thread, I think people have to remember that movies just aren't watched in the same way now as they were in the days before Blu-Ray/DVD/VHS.

Sitting in a dark cinema with nothing to distract you away from what's going on on the big screen makes any horror film more scary, particularly when you've been told that the film is the 'most terrifying ever made'. Back then, there was no alternative to watching the movie other than this way.

Slipping the film on your TV set while you sit on the sofa some 30 years after the film was made, won't have the same effect, particularly if you're watching it with the intention of picking it apart.

But as a movie, it's extremely powerful and thought-provoking. Remember, the film is called The Exorcist and is about the guys doing the exorcism, not the little girl. It's about the younger of the priests regaining his diminishing faith in God through the ultimate test. It's about the older priest facing an old enemy.
And ultimately the movie is about the very nature of good and evil. We see evil happening around us all the time and possible evidence the devil is everywhere. But what about God? Where do we see possible evidence of Him?
These are the questions The Exorcist explores and whether or not anybody finRAB the film scary is less interesting than the implications behind the movie.

Just my twopence worth.
 
For me, the original version of "The Haunting" is alot scarier than "The Exorcist".

I'm more frightened by implied terror/horror than seeing slash and gore which in modern day films is quite laughable (imho)
 
I do not see how the spider walk scene did not fit in with the rest of the movie. :confused:

I think the turn of the screw, or whatever they changed the name to, the old one, was really quite scary. or or me anyway.

And it's nohing to do with the fact that the excorist is an old movie, I just don't find it very scary. Nor do I find any new slasher films scary either.
 
Either way,we can be happy Ferman left the BBFC,for the re-release of Texas Chainsaw and Evil Dead,if nothing else.
If the board still retained it's often ultra strict attitude,many of the adult themed movies of the past 10 years,would never have seen the light of day (in the UK).I'm thinking the Saw franchise in particular.

Then again,in the grand scheme of things,is the BBFC still even relevant?
 
Which one? there are several in the film.
Today, no it may not be the scariest film ever made, but it is still brilliant technically and a brilliant story.
When it came out though thats a different story.
 
Eh? It's always been in colour...

There are only two official versions of the film: the theatrical one that came out in 1973 (re-released in 1998) and the restored version that came out in 2000. And there are no current plans for a Blu Ray release so what you are talking about is complete gibberish.
 
I saw this for the first time yesterday. I enjoyed it but I didn't find it particularly scary, just tense at times. Although I was slightly forgiving towarRAB it, considering it is 36 years old, and unlike many modern horror films it isn't full of cheap jump scares or drenched in gore.

Should I bother with the sequels?
 
Considering you think its the greatest film ever made you don't seem clued up on it otherwise you would realise that referring to the "colour" version is nonsense.
Where and when was this B&W version ?



It never fails to amaze me how people waste their time criticising films that are 3-40 years old without a clue as to the context of when they were made.

When The Exorcist came out the Hammer Horrors were still less than 20 years old so its unsurprising it blew people away and made people faint in the cinemas.

But its still a classic - its just unfortunate that the Bluray looks like it will be the cut and paste cashin of a few years back rather than the original cinema release
 
Yes, and they might suddenly turn into an polka-dot aardvark and fly to the moon. It could happen anytime.

RegarRAB

Mark
 
The Exorcist is one of those horror movies that I put into a box marked "go into with an open mind and in the context of the time". Blair Witch is another one. Both are technically very good, atmospheric and unsettling films but, unfortunately, due to being overhyped and horror films nowadays (that, for the most part, don't have as many sensitivities to have to combat to get released and pretty much go all out to shock), they seem quite tame.

But clear your head of all the hype, stick the film on, transport yourself back 30 years*, and it's very disturbing.

*Remember that more people were religious then, as well. This is before the Dawkins revolution and when it became fashionable to be atheist. Faith played a much bigger role in everyday culture. So a religious themed horror film was always going to have a greater capacity to unsettle than it does now.
 
Good post Elena. I have watched the film a couple of times recently (in the 'director's cut' version, which isn't really at all but does come a little bit closer to what producer/author Blatty had originally envisaged), and it is as you say quite disturbing, which I felt was on account of its naturalism outside of the more blatant 'shock effect' sequences and shots - when you think about and get absorbed in what the story is actually all about, ie the religious conflict within Father Karras, it plays much better. Ellen Burstyn's performance really is quite consummately superb to such fine detail, and the way in which the majority of her shots are filmed in a documentary-like way accentuates this. She really should have scooped that year's Best Actress oscar.
 
At the time of its release it was very scary. I agree it may not seem so now. Not as scary as Hannah Montana or High School Musical anyway
 
IMO The Exorcist was a brilliantly directed and brilliantly acted movie that just happened to be a horror movie.

I doubt very much if a film in this genre will ever be nominated for one academy award let alone fourteen.

You had to be there. If you weren't then you will never understand how groundbreaking this movie was.

It is a 100% masterpiece.
 
It's very scary when you're 5 years old and your babysitter lets you watch it. But a more recent viewing left me reaching for my laptop to do some online shopping instead. Pretty good for the time.
 
I think it is an excellent film, but it doesn't scare me when viewing it. In fact most horror movies fail to scare me whilst watching them. However, once I go to bed, I find it impossible to sleep. So job done then, I guess it does scare me in the long run. :D
 
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