10/30-The Exorcist (1973)

I know I'm going to get shit for this, and maybe it was all the hype, but after having never seen The Exorcist, I was kinda disappointed.  Yes, there were scary moments, primarily when devil Regan was on screen, but not only was that a fairly minimal part of the movie but also the scenes in between failed to keep the tension for me.  On top of that, I found the ending to be abrupt and unsatisfying.

I dunno.  I feel bad about not being blown away by it.  I mean it tops just about "Scariest Movie Ever!" list, but it just didn't get to me the way some of the others on I've watched this month.  That iconic music?  Super stressful and awesome.  Yet they play it like twice in the whole movie for about ten seconds each.  I want more damnit!

That shit gives me chills every time.  So why use it so little?  I know I've used the term slow burn on here a bunch, and that would apply here, but again, the final act just didn't do it for me.  In fact, the most scariest scene for me, and it was truly horrifying, comes almost exactly at the halfway point.  After that, I was really excited for the rest, thinking it would only get more tense and awful (which remember is a good thing for horror films), only to be disappointed that the climax (my apologies for unintended future pun) came at the halfway point.  Here's the scene:

That scene really gets to me.  Rewatching it while putting it here gave me just as much unpleasantness (again this is good) as the first time, but again, what follows just doesn't do this scene justice.

Disappointed.  I wanted to be terrified of this movie.  I so wanted this to be a contender for scariest of month, but it just fell kinda flat.  

All that said, from a movie as a whole standpoint, it was great.  Characters that were somewhat developed, beautiful cinematography, it was even nominated for Best Picture (the first horror movie to do so).

If anyone hasn't seen it and watches it, please tell me what you think.  Or even if you have seen it, tell me what you think.  I just feel really weird about this.

Rating on the Spook-o-meter: 4 out of 10 boos (the above scene is 7 boos)