Many years ago I happened upon this sleeper while watching tv in the wee small hours of the morning. I was transfixed.
Yesterday, I happened upon the DVD in a bargain bin and, once again, I watched, transfixed, into the wee small hours. But this time it was widescreen and uncut...
This is an outstanding example of the 'supernatural thriller' genre, and certainly in the same league as another sleeper from the era, the excellent "Don't Look Now".
My list of movies that meet the terror threshold is a short one:
1. The Exorcist
2. The Exorcist 3
3. Don't Look Now
4. The Changeling
The men that directed these movies understood the importance of silence and stillness as tools for building tension and suspense. Furthermore, although children play a crucial, and curious, role in each of the movies I've listed, the movies are adult in nature: with the exception of "The Exoricst", the protagonists are exclusively middle aged to elderly. Of course, Megan is certainly a protagonist in "The Exorcist", but she shares her prominence with both the Priest and Megan's mother, both middle-aged. There is little of the modern horror movie's frenetic, youth-oriented, sex-soaked, gore-filled, slash-fest overtness.
I wonder if Hollywood is even capable of making movies like these anymore? I seriously doubt it.
Yesterday, I happened upon the DVD in a bargain bin and, once again, I watched, transfixed, into the wee small hours. But this time it was widescreen and uncut...
This is an outstanding example of the 'supernatural thriller' genre, and certainly in the same league as another sleeper from the era, the excellent "Don't Look Now".
My list of movies that meet the terror threshold is a short one:
1. The Exorcist
2. The Exorcist 3
3. Don't Look Now
4. The Changeling
The men that directed these movies understood the importance of silence and stillness as tools for building tension and suspense. Furthermore, although children play a crucial, and curious, role in each of the movies I've listed, the movies are adult in nature: with the exception of "The Exoricst", the protagonists are exclusively middle aged to elderly. Of course, Megan is certainly a protagonist in "The Exorcist", but she shares her prominence with both the Priest and Megan's mother, both middle-aged. There is little of the modern horror movie's frenetic, youth-oriented, sex-soaked, gore-filled, slash-fest overtness.
I wonder if Hollywood is even capable of making movies like these anymore? I seriously doubt it.