[kj] OT - The Exorcist

[TB]

"Alexander Smith" wrote:

Don't get me wrong -- I love "The Wicker Man" (Edward Woodward
original, not that Nic Cage bullshit),  but it's about as scary as an
episode of "Matlock".

++++++++++

I really like the original Wicker Man and like Darren mentioned, checked it 
our because of the Chris Lee/Hammer connection.  But I also agree it's far 
from being a truly scary flick.  I also agree that The Exorcist *is* a 
genuinely creepy film, at least in it's original incarnation and stands the 
test of any really solid horror film in that it stays with you in a 
fundamental way long after the first viewing.  I noticed someone mentioned 
Exocist 3, while not a great movie, it too has some extraordinary scares and 
disturbing imagery in it (the old woman crawling like a bug on the ceiling 
almost out of frame, the final near-decapitation).

Other movies off the top of my head that have some creepy and/or scary 
moments that don't neccesarily rely on gore include:

The Hitcher (original with Rutgar Hauer)
Seven
Jacobs Ladder
Freaks
The Machinist
Eraserhead
Open Water

Then there's some that have gore but are profoundly scary almost in spite of 
the gore content:

Alien
Henry, Portrait of a Serial Killer
Witchfinder General
Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Night of the Living Dead (original)

Probably the most disturbing single scene in a movie  for me was the fight 
between the Nazi and the American soldier in "Saving Private Ryan' which 
culiminated in the German slowing pushing his knife into the American's 
heart.

T.B.