Scariest Movie Of All Time--The Exorcist?

[Preston]

What do you consider the Scariest movie of all time? From my experience, I would say THE EXORCIST. Many other cinema buffs feel the same way too. But I wonder if that viewpoint is due to the fact that it's based on a True-life account. In that case, it would be considered a disturbing film too.

Here locally there used to be a weekly Radio show on Catholicism in which the female hostess used to speak about demon-possession and usually cited the case on which THE EXORCIST was based. The point is always made that one of the major Changes in the film is that the gender of the victim was changed from male to female. I also think there were one or two supernatural occurrences that were also added to the movie that were NOT found in the actual case.

Recently, somebody told me that Cable-TV's Discovery Channel featured a show on true-life exorcism which included old newspaper articles and even excerpts from the actual DIARY of the priest on whom the EXORCIST movie was based. If any of you on the forum has seen that documentary, maybe you can post your comments here.

[Gwangi]

Well, when I was younger, I always thought that "Carnival of Souls" was really eerie, as were a couple of Karen Black vehicles, "Trilogy of Terror" and "Burnt Offerings".

They say that "The Shinning" is one of the scariest features of all time. The only parts that really frightened me there were those creepy looking twin girls. Damm!

[Zone Fighter]

What's scary is that people actually think the Roman Catholic churce abusing the mentally ill has anything to with exorcising demons.

[Preston]

I see your point, Zone Fighter, about the mental disorders. Yes, you are right, some forms of mental illness are considered to be demon possession, especially m-p-d (Multiple-Personality-Disorder). At least that is the Catholic belief. How else does one explain it when an m-p-d has over Twenty different personalities?

A number of times I've seen a Christian Evangelist actually determine HOW MANY DEMONS are occupying a possessed victim.

[Xenorama ™]

let's keep those type of discussions to PM, please.

the two scariest movies i can think of are NOSFERATU (1923) and PSYCHO (HItch's, of course). both are in black and white and are truly creepy without being gross.

now what's scary is that some people think BLAIR WITCH was good OR scary.

David

[Gwangi]

That shower scene in “Psycho” probably has more resonance than similar scenes we see in today’s movies. Here, Hitchcock is really playing with our perceptions. Never once do we actually see the knife stabbing the body. But through clever editing and terrific sound effects, our perception was that we did see Norman stabbing poor Janet Leigh! Hitch, is showing us a little and our minds are filling in the rest, which makes for the greater impact; much more so than in today’s movies were we do see people getting stabbed or slashed or whatever. And remarkably, it has been said that some remember that shower scene in color with all the blood draining and so forth! Yeah, the first time I ever saw that it scared me silly!

When I was a kid, I also found "The Haunting" quite eerie, with those ghostly sounds. Again, our perceptions are being played as we never once see any ghosts, yet we know they are there.

[Zone Fighter]

"There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existance. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them. They themselves are equally pleased by both errors, and hail a materialist or a magician with the same delight."
-- C.S. Lewis, from Preface to "The Screwtape Letters"

Secular psychiatrists are in the first group, Roman Catholic exorcists in the second.


The original NOSFERATU certainly is more freightning than any vampire since.

[Xenorama ™]

i think the Exorcist scared people at the time because of the way it showed what it showed- it is creepy, but not really scary once you have seen it.

THE SHINING i thought was overrated and actually pretty bad- it depended on the characters doing stupid things to generate suspense, and Jack going nuts...

PSYCHO and NOSFERATU are truly scary, as noted. FRANKENSTEIN (1931) has some genuinely scary moments as well.

David

[Giganfan]

I'd throw THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE in there as well. The Tobey Hooper version, that is. Just because of how derranged utterly trashy the whole thing looks.

I don't know if anyone else would agree, but I think that MATANGO was pretty creepy. Especially the final moments where Akira Kubo's character realizes that he's the last one left, and must fend for himself in the midst of the Matango mushroom people. It plants in your mind the concept of being alone in the world with nobody to turn to in the face of terror. Some psychological scares there.

Um, let's see...the original NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, the original HOUSE ON HAUNTED HILL; I thought THE SHINING was fantastic, and creepy as hell! THE EXORCIST would definately apply. As would NOSFERATU. PSYCHO, JAWS and THE THING FROM ANOTHER WORLD all qualify for a similar reason. You get scared by things that aren't even on the screen all that much. You mostly fill in the blanks with your mind. I don't care what anyone says, I think the original DRACULA had a certain uneasy air to it. And Lugosi certainly sets that off, even if he's not in the scene. I'm sure there are plenty more that I'm not thinking of.