Eighteen Film Buffs Talk About The Scariest Movies They’ve Ever Seen
Even film critics watch these movies with the lights on.
The Exorcist (again)
Luke Goodsell, 4:3
As obvious as it is, for me the most terrifying film was The Exorcist. Unlike many, I’d never seen it as a kid but heard so much about it that I felt I had.
So when I took myself to the cinema to see the rereleased director’s cut, I expected lots of entertaining head-spinning and pea-soup vomiting, maybe even a little ’70s camp. How wrong I was. I’ve never wanted to leave the theatre so much, and contemplated doing so – mere minutes into the film, as I clawed my seat while the sounds of stray dogs howled over that silhouette of an ancient statue.
I’m not remotely religious, but the movie is so ingenious at cultivating an atmosphere of dread it didn’t matter. Every time director William Friedkin’s camera prowls up those stairs, I could taste the rising sick. Suffice to say the vomiting wasn’t too amusing (okay, maybe just a bit).