Audience Reactions to 'The Exorcist' (Friedkin, 1973)

I used to watch the movie all the time when I was 9-11 years old. That probably explains a lot.

This again?

Team Pazuzu—

R2? I did a search!

I'd heard about audiences losing it but didn't see much when I went a few years later - well, except for a us. We were a group of 4 16 year olds and nearly kicked out for laughing.

It's a strange film. It has a reputation for being so scary, but there are really only a few genuinely scary scenes: the "spider walk" (which was cut and not restored for decades); Ellen Burstyn looking around in the dark attic (with the flashes of the demon;s face); and the cerebral angiography scene at the hospital, which still is terrifying because the machine is so horrible.

Most of the rest of it was just either endless dialogue or camp, or both. I love it for the camp ("You're gonna die up there!"), but it's not aged well in terms of being still scary.

I saw it when I was in junior high at a friend's house. He had a video of it or something. Scared me half to death. I slept with a crucifix handing from my bedpost for about year.