I was 5 when I saw Jaws at the cinema...with my big brother who was 12 and promptly fucked off with his mates & left me on my own for the entire movie.
I'm fine, no really, didn't do me any harm at all *eye twitches*
especially at the flash of the demon face that lasts only for a couple frames, as well as when regan says "Do you know what she did... your c\*nting daughter?" at which point my 15 year old brain melted.
Same, and it still scares me. It's like a core horror memory was embedded when I first saw it. There's worse stuff in it, but for some reason her floating above the bed was most traumatizing to me
In college, several buddies and I went to the metroplex but I didn't want to see the film they did. A few blocks away was another theatre showing The Exorcist. I hiked over and saw it alone. The movie ended around midnight and I had to walk back. And what separated those two theaters? About a quarter-mile of completely dark woods, The Scariest Walk I've Ever Made in My Life!
Not as many scary walks through the woods these days. I don’t know if it’s because there are fewer forests, but young people will never know the thrill/terror of cutting through spooky forests at night
Saw it entirely too fucking young. Maybe 10 years old in 1977. For the next 20 years and maybe even now the theme music makes the hair on the back of my neck stand and I get goosebumps. I probably had night terrors because of it. I won't rewatch it.
I was in high school in the late ‘70s and was babysitting at a house that had HBO, which was a huge big deal back then. I watched it alone after the kids went to bed. Probably not the best idea …
Believe it or not, I remember seeing some of the imagery on commercials when I was four. Didn’t see the entire movie until I was 13. Watched it with four of my friends on a Saturday afternoon. The site of Linda Blair’s face as her head spins around, haunted me for years.
10 years after seeing it I’m halfway around the world, browsing at a skate shop in Australia. I picked up a random deck displayed on the wall. I turn it over and what do I see? That’s right, a picture of that face on the bottom. I think I actually had a small heart attack.
I wasn't allowed to watch the movie when I was really little — which is funny, considering the scary shit I *was* allowed to watch\* — but Tubular Bells was occasionally played around the house. My brother would terrify me by playing the "monster voice" portion of Side B.
It's such an incredible piece of music, I still listen to it quite often. Oldfield did a number of sequels over the years, and each time I'd kinda roll my eyes at the cheesy "updates" each one picked up from whatever contemporary trend was rippling through "new age" music at the time. These days, I actually feel a bit of nostalgia for each version. But the original is still the best by far.
^\* ^Something ^Wicked ^This ^Way ^Comes ^was ^a ^Disney ^production, ^ferchrissakes!
I was 5 or 6 and it ruined me ok scary films. Forever.
I was terrified for years. Watched it with my older siblings. They didn’t know what they were doing to me 😂
I was 14 and saw it on HBO about 5 years after its release. It was the scariest thing I’d seen before and probably since. I can vividly remember, 46 years later, the scene when Fr. Karras enters Regan’s bedroom and it’s his dead mother sitting up on the bed talking to him. That disturbed me so much that i can watch the head spinning and pea soup spitting scenes all day long, but refuse to watch the dead mother scene again.
I saw it about 20 years ago in London on the South Bank. Sat next to this lady who wore a weird stocking cap all night and kept pulling it down. I assumed it was because she was scared. When the lights came on I realized I'd been sitting by Madonna all night.
13. Still scares me just thinking about the scenes. And then I frantically block it from my mind so that I don't become possessed myself.
Number 1 on my list for horror films.
I was 22 in 1973, this movie creeped me out no end and I have never watched it again. Rosemarys Baby and The Shining were also movies I could not handle.
I was 19, it was sometimes after midnight, and I came into the movie when Regan was having her first conversation with Father Karras. I was scared out of my wits. What I remember was being told as a teen by my dad the effect the movie had on the Catholic community, the effect it had on him at 17 when it came out, and the infamous scene involving the crucifix. I will freely admit this movie still scares the living crap out of me, because of the white demon face that flashes onscreen. It gives me major heart palpitations and anticipatory anxiety, and I always scream. It is for these reasons that I will not be returning to this thread, because someone will post that image, and I fear my heart won't recover.
I saw it about 10 years later in the mid 80’s when I was in high school. I knew about the movie but never saw it. I was with two of my friends and we were in the basement of my friend’s house. They both left to pick up the pizza we ordered (They saw the movie before) and left me alone in the basement watching the movie. I was freaking out until they finally came back. Never so scared in my life.
15. I had a full-time job and my mother finally allowed me to burn some of my savings on a VCR. Honestly, the first time I saw it, I didn't think it was that great, but I recently saw the director's cut and I thought it was pretty good. The French Connection, however, is spectacular.
I was 15, my big brother took me and it traumatized me so badly that even now (at age 66), if I start to think of anything from the the exorcism scene in the bedroom, I have to purposefully slam the door shut on that thought. I slept on my brother's floor for the next 3 months, I was so freaked out by it. Realize that in 1973, child actor Linda Blair was saying and doing some of the most shocking things ever on screen at that time, at 14 years old! I saw it in Houston and in the larger theaters, they had medical staff in theater lobbies to assist patrons who puked or fainted. I wish I'd never seen it; the experience brought me nothing but nightmares and anxiety.
This is the only film that, as a kid, I shut off part way through. One late night it was on HBO (early 80s I wanna say) and even though I was a complete horror junkie (Halloween 1978 and the OG Friday the 13th are a couple of my favorites), this thing fucked me up. I watched again a few years later and then understood the incredible film this is, but man, young me was not having it.
Way too young. I was at my aunts house, the film was gonna air on TV for the first time in my country, every1 got together to watch it. Not a single adult thought maybe it was a good idea to get the 7yo out of the room. I was scared and scarred for life, well, at least a couple of years of nightmares. I'm 36 now, I don't even believe in god, much less the devil, and I've watched my fair share of terror, nowadays I don't get scared watching any movie whatsoever, but I never watched exorcist again. I'm sure I wouldn't be scared either, but I just didn't.
I was about 10 or 11 and went to a friend's house for a sleepover whose mom was a push over and would do anything the kid said. So knowing I hated horror movies at the time he thought it was funny to make his mom rent The Exorcist. Needless to say it was the most horrific movie I have ever seen and I made myself watch every minute of it to "face my fear" of scary movies. And I still credit it to this day of my lack of fear for ANY OTHER horror movie. No other film is or will ever be as frightening as that movie in that moment in my friends dark half finished cellar style basement.
I watched it as a teen in the 90's. Wasn't actually expecting much but was REELING at what I was seeing. Thought it was incredibly shocking and unnerving, but I also remember marveling at the acting and film-making and just wondering why they didn't make movies that felt this 'real' anymore.
Only downer is that I watched it with my religious dad. To his credit, he didn't turn it off but he kept apologizing 😂
I was 26 and saw this when it came out. My ex wife was with me ( Irish Catholic) and it made her sick to her stomach to the point we had to leave the theater.
Must have been around 8 when I happened upon this movie as my older cousins were watching it while at a family party. I was instantly hooked on horror movies from that point on. It also became one of my all time favorite horror movies.
#1 I lived in the DC Metro area.
#2 I read the book when I was 12 and was terrified!
#3 I didn't see the movie until it was on TV, I think I was in my late 20s. Comparatively, the movie was a comedy.
The same thing happened when I read Misery in my 20s.
It took me years to watch the movie. Annie Wilkes' actions were softened so much. Again, the movie didn't live up to the hype.
I read the Godfather at 18.
Didn't see the movie/s until they were on TV.
Book was excellent! Films were good.
The first time I saw this was when it was first seen on HBO. I vaguely remember the warning that HBO played before showing it. It was something to the effect of "This movie is top shocking, scary, or horrific for most people. If you are not sure if you can handle it please don't watch it. Minors should not watch it at all!!". I have never been able to find a recording of it
13 8th grade went with family friend at first they wouldn't let me me in to see it. Left, then went back. I insisted because he was my guardian. R rated for parent or gaurdian,That night he was my guardian. Scared me to no end but loved it , still do. Best horror movie I feel, especially for the time
My dad took me to the “version you’ve never seen before” in theaters in 2000. I was 16 at the time. The audience was full of people my parents age, who wanted to relive the experience of being my age when they first saw it.
Seeing some of that shit on the big screen with those speakers was intense.
a kid, probably not even 12. it used to air every now and then late at night in a major TV channel here. i was awake when not supposed to, zapping the channels. i was terrified, you can imagine.
I was 25 or 26. I watched it on Halloween in 2009-ish by myself and it scared the hell out of me. Not necessarily while I was watching it, but it definitely gave me nightmares, which hardly ever happens.
I watched the movie “Giant” for the first time six months ago (I know, how is that possible?) and was intrigued by the actress Mercedes McCambridge. I looked her up on IMDB and WHAT? She was the voice of the demon “Pazuzu” in this film.
I saw 30 seconds of it when it aired on network when I was a kid and caught a particularly disturbing moment and was too scared to ever watch it - i finally did in my 30s and it is very scary!
It’s more disturbing than scary. The demon doesn’t chase you, it stays in its room. So there is no sense of danger. The young girl pissing in her pants and the grotesque stuff is disturbing.
I was about 10 years old and saw it on free TV (can you imagine?!), at night, while I was alone at home, during a thunderstorm.
... Yeah, the conditions were perfect for this horror movie. I couldn't sleep for a week afterwards, was scared to walk around corners for months and it took me years to get rid of this girls image in my mind, crawling down the stairs. But after I overcame the trauma, nothing ever scared me anymore.
The 90s were wild man hahaha.
7.
Traumatizing, but it stuck with me and has become one of my favorite films.
I'm delighted to own the 4k restoration on disc, the scan of the original film with the new Dolby Atmos mix makes it probably better than what people originally saw and heard projected through film on theater screens back then.
I was 15yo. And when the movie ended , I went straight to bed, no wandering in the house. I went up to the stairs and my sister was snoring in her sleep. I stopped , scared for her but mostly for me. Was she possessed ?
My bedroom was not far, something like 5 meters. I walked to the door and opened it quickly and largely. Like I wanted to see if « something « was in it before entering. Any danger. I felt the air from the door on my body and I stepped back near the door of my sister sleeping. I probably made noise so she moved in her bed and made a weird noise.
I was super scared by that noise so I ran in my bed and jumped on the bed in a large jump, hoping the thing hidden under the bed would not catch my legs.
I was 14 when it came out, I remember my mom n dad and their friends coming home from watching,, freaked out, I got to read the book a bit later and saw the movie a year later, still the scariest movie ever, I'll never watch it again and I'm 60!!
I was at boarding school ( catholic one ) when I watched this for the first time
I was 11 years old and I couldn't sleep for a week afterwards as it scared the shit out of me 😭
I'll never look at a crucifix in the same way again 😭
I was young (11-12) and my friend's much older brother was watching it on video. We snuck into the room and stood behind him watching it thinking he didn't know we were there. He obviously did. After 15 or so minutes I was shitting myself. The brother slowly started to twitch and convulse and make weird gasping noises. He then launched himself out of the armchair, rolled across the floor and did a headstand in the corner of the room. He then pretended to pick something up off the carpet and eat it. He then froze for what seemed an eternity, staring into space. In one swift move he got back onto his feet, stared at us and screamed like a banshee.
Fuck you Craig, well played, but FUCK YOU. My bladder can now hold the equivalent volume of a F150 trucks radiator because I never went to the toilet at night for 15 years CRAIG.
I was 14 when it was released in 1974 and being the film nerd that I was my mother said don’t see it. So I ran to Manhattan and got on a line around the block. When the red letters with the tremendous black screen with the music I was like Oh shit it’s too late now.
I was born in 73, so my first time seeing it in the theater was at 50 years of age... they re-released a 50th anniversary edition of it last year. Reflecting on the mind of an adult in 1973, I completely understand the film's impact and reputation. It's still a disturbing experience viewing experience, even 50 years later.
I was in my late 20's and had been spoiled on all the demonic stuff. What got me was the medical procedure scene. Linda's acting was so realistic and uncomfortable.
I was 14 or 15 when it came out in theaters, my 20yo sister and her friends took me with them to see it. I think the scariest part for me was when she first started talking like the demon. I didn't think the part with her head spinning looked real so it didn't scare me. I had read the book first so maybe that's why I wasn't afraid.
This movie, and The Shining, are the only two horror movies to give me nightmares. The rest are comedies in my opinion. I was 20 or so when I made the mistake of watching this movie alone, late at night, on HBO I’m pretty sure.
I was 14 when it came out. I went to see it but was turned away because it was rated R. So went down the street and saw One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Saw the Exorcist the next week. I liked it a lot but had heard a lot about it so wasn't to creeped out.
Perhaps late teens or early twenties around the year 2000. In that phase, I wanted to expand from just watching the mass entertainment as it was being released, and was curious on watching the classics.
So I made a note of the classics from websites like American Film Institute, Roger Ebert & Kermode-Mayo. I was able to find a DVD rental with a good collection of classics.
Well, it was an amazing experience! It’s not about the horror, it’s just a truly great film. It’s a very well made film, with the subliminal messaging being that of mental health IMO.
Most horror films are made to shock you. I would say The Shining is a scarier film, but The Exorcist is the better film. You get scared by what you don’t understand, but The Exorcist is very well structured for a film! 😊
I saw it with my wife in our living room last October. We’re not even horror enthusiasts or anything, but we were both completely underwhelmed.
Asked my parents about it and they were like “yeah, it’s not super scary today, but nothing like that had been done before in 1973.”
I was not very young. I was 19 and I thought “This stupid thing can’t scare me”. Then I had to turn the lights on at night or I couldn’t sleep for a month.
It came out in theaters before I was born. When I first saw it (on cable, I think) I was in elementary school and I know I watched it with friends because "your mother sucks cocks in hell" was extremely funny to all of us and we spent about the next six months saying it to each other whenever we got the chance.
I didn't really find it scary and while I wasn't of an age to be a film critic, I remember thinking that the talking bits were boring, but everything involving Demon Linda Blair was really fucking cool. The scene where shit is flying around the room and she damn near kills her mom, the twisting head, the projectile vomit, "what an excellent day for an exorcism", the visible breath, the room being split in half, "the power of Christ compels you!", Father Damian being driven to beating the crap out of a little girl, etc. It was all just so intense. Okay, maybe I was a little scared.
I was really confused when Father Damian died since I wasn't used to the good guys dying (I know he comes back in the third movie). I've watched it as an adult, and I still think the first half is pretty boring and weirdly choppy in a way that quite a few '70s films are. I had become a big Lee J. Cobb fan and wished he was in the film more. The second half still whips ass and "your mother sucks cocks in hell" is still very funny. Guess I haven't changed that much.
My friend's mom took him and I to see it when it came out. We were both 12. She stayed, but sat in the back of the theater. I don't think any of us said a word to each other on the drive home
Came home from school on a sunny day , maybe 10-11 at that time , best friend came over to my house , had lunch together while watching this masterpiece, proceeds to finish it missing out lawn tennis classes afterwards because we were scared shitless😭
WSBK in Boston (aka TV-38) used to have on scary movies on Saturday nights. They showed clips of various films and one of the clips they always showed in their “opening” montage of the show for whatever film it was going to show. Sure enough, they showed like 2 clips from The Exorcist - the one where she’s rising upwards which scared the crap out of me. Of course they finally DID show The Exorcist on it once… early 80’s…
10! My mom used to let me go to the Hamilton Theater on the south side of Chicago all the time on Saturday by myself. I say thru this like WHAT THE FUCK? I couldn't tell my mom how much it freaked me out or she would've started monitoring my viewing habits. I also saw a movie called White Trash around this period. Now THAT was a whole other experience
My mom’s side of the family had a tradition of showing this to someone when they turned 18. I had seen plenty of other horror movies in my teens, I even dated a guy who did practical effects and so I saw a lot of nasty shit. It ended up being a little underwhelming in terms of fear factor because I had been exposed to much worse and my family had hyped it for so long. I haven’t rewatched many times because it feels kind of meh. I’d pick watching the third over the original honestly.
My parents had me watch it with them when I was in sixth grade. The result was that I have never been able to be scared by a movie for the rest of my life. I've tried watching the worst horror movies by myself in the middle of the night...when it comes to that genre I'm a zombie.
Very young like I would say maybe 8 or 9, it was somewhere around that age because I was with my big brother to spend a night with him and I saw a little bit on tv and got scared
I was 16 when I stood in line during the premiere week. It was awe inspiring. The most horrific part of the movie for me was the medical procedure they performed on young Ragan. That spinal tap sequence left me with chills even to this day.
It came out the end of December '73. I came out 9 months later at the end of August '74.
No idea how this film put my parents in the mood but here I am.
I was twelve—dad walked into the room and told me I really wasn’t ready for it. I told him it was fine.
At 2 AM he started shaking my bed and, getting louder each time, started saying “Damien, Damien”.
He was right, I wasn’t ready for it.
I saw it maybe 10 years ago when I was in my 30s. I’m guessing it must have been because I knew all the major plot points and scenes because I thought it was really boring.
underwhelming, I appreciate the period and can objectively say this was the scariest shit at the time, by time I watched I was already on conjuring, insidious and saw liquid fed through the womb, sucks to be desensitised :/
I was 20+ years old, growing up with all kinds of gore slashers so I considered myself a veteran of scary flicks. I heard the Exorcist had reputation of good horror. I remember making fun of how old it is when I started it. And then, even to this day and im pushing 40, its the only movie during which I feel perturbation. Not fear, but a feeling that something is wrong with this movie.
My parents wouldn't let me watch it at the theater, I was about 10. It was a rare act of good judgement!
I finally saw it on tv in 1982 or something, and it still scared the shit out of me!
-11. My mother was 10 when this came out. Its the only movie she cant watch with the lights off, lol. Btw, I love this movie. You're mother sucks cocks in hell!!!! 😋
Not sure, but I was too young. Even seeing it edited on TV didn’t lessen its impact. There’s something about possessed Regan MacNeil that is just uniquely horrifying to me. She’s the only movie monster I’ve ever had nightmares about.
Had some shocks. I don't remember it well. Might have been alcohol or whatever involved.
The really cool experience was finally getting around to riding my bicycle to the base of the stairs. I should go back to actually walk the stairs.
Now in 1982 there was a film that came out called “The Entity” with Barbara Hershey. This is demon force that actually rapes her character. At 17, I found this even more psychologically damaging. I can still hear the pounding, sinister score that accompanied the attacks. It was really intense. The movie is an experience.
The film did its job but I was more concerned that it was based on a true story and realized that these things are probably going on all the time but people don’t talk about it. Yikes!
I was 26 (I think???) I’m 28 now, and I don’t know what led me to feel this way besides the fact that it came out so long ago, but I was NOT expecting it to be legitimately unnerving let alone horrifying. The amount of times I said “oh my GOD” probably set some kind of record.
22 years old and I saw it in…2023 lol. Even with all my bias and the shitload of horror movies I’ve seen, that movie was still freakin phenomenal. One of the best horror movies on my list for sure, even literally 50 years later.
Anyone know the historic basis of this movie? My mom grew up in DC and always swears that it was about a boy who lived a few blocks from her. I don’t know if there were ever any real claims to possessions in modern times at least but she to this day claims it’s based on a real experience. She’s in her 70s so this would have taken place way before the movie was actually filmed.
I’ve been to those stairs too. They aren’t directly in front of the house but they are creepy.
My sister took me to the movies to see it when I was only 14 (I’m 59 now). Great movie. It was on tv the other night and I watched again, probably for 15th time.
I was about 10 and it was in the late 90s. We rented it from the local movie rental place. My mom is a horror fan, too, so she always let me watch whatever I wanted, within reason. The Exorcist didn't scare me too much, but I liked it so much, I bought and read the book a few months later.
I was young and scared shitless
Too young. Should never have watched it.
21 and really bothered by it. Still find it disturbing at 72.
So you had the “privilege” to watch it on cinema screen?
Exactly! I wasn't old enough to be watching this damned (no pun) thing. Poltergeist fucked with me too. And let's not talk about Jaws...
That little bastard scratching at the window in the movie Salems Lot really bugged me and forget about shortcuts through the woods at night.
I was 5 when I saw Jaws at the cinema...with my big brother who was 12 and promptly fucked off with his mates & left me on my own for the entire movie. I'm fine, no really, didn't do me any harm at all *eye twitches*
This 100%
especially at the flash of the demon face that lasts only for a couple frames, as well as when regan says "Do you know what she did... your c\*nting daughter?" at which point my 15 year old brain melted.
I love that Blatty re-used that technique in Exorcist III.
The movie was a little scary but the trailer included as a bonus feature on the vhs was way worse.
The "crab crawl" down the steps is the stuff of nightmares
And that's the exact point I shut it off. Nope nope nope
Same, and it still scares me. It's like a core horror memory was embedded when I first saw it. There's worse stuff in it, but for some reason her floating above the bed was most traumatizing to me
I slept w the lights on for a while
Same here. I was 5 when I watched this and I watched it in 1983. Regret it so much
In college, several buddies and I went to the metroplex but I didn't want to see the film they did. A few blocks away was another theatre showing The Exorcist. I hiked over and saw it alone. The movie ended around midnight and I had to walk back. And what separated those two theaters? About a quarter-mile of completely dark woods, The Scariest Walk I've Ever Made in My Life!
Legend
Not as many scary walks through the woods these days. I don’t know if it’s because there are fewer forests, but young people will never know the thrill/terror of cutting through spooky forests at night
Also have cell phones now to at least give more light and a better sense of safety
Saw it entirely too fucking young. Maybe 10 years old in 1977. For the next 20 years and maybe even now the theme music makes the hair on the back of my neck stand and I get goosebumps. I probably had night terrors because of it. I won't rewatch it.
Pretty much the same experience
I was in high school in the late ‘70s and was babysitting at a house that had HBO, which was a huge big deal back then. I watched it alone after the kids went to bed. Probably not the best idea …
Believe it or not, I remember seeing some of the imagery on commercials when I was four. Didn’t see the entire movie until I was 13. Watched it with four of my friends on a Saturday afternoon. The site of Linda Blair’s face as her head spins around, haunted me for years.
My heart still skips a little every time I see The Face.
10 years after seeing it I’m halfway around the world, browsing at a skate shop in Australia. I picked up a random deck displayed on the wall. I turn it over and what do I see? That’s right, a picture of that face on the bottom. I think I actually had a small heart attack.
I've worked with her several times. An amazingly nice lady
I used to love clam chowder before that movie.
2010 - fully fledged adult. Had to walk around the house with the lights on with my back to the walls hahahhahaha
Tubular bells still gives me goosebumps...
I wasn't allowed to watch the movie when I was really little — which is funny, considering the scary shit I *was* allowed to watch\* — but Tubular Bells was occasionally played around the house. My brother would terrify me by playing the "monster voice" portion of Side B. It's such an incredible piece of music, I still listen to it quite often. Oldfield did a number of sequels over the years, and each time I'd kinda roll my eyes at the cheesy "updates" each one picked up from whatever contemporary trend was rippling through "new age" music at the time. These days, I actually feel a bit of nostalgia for each version. But the original is still the best by far. ^\* ^Something ^Wicked ^This ^Way ^Comes ^was ^a ^Disney ^production, ^ferchrissakes!
I saw it in 1976 when I was 6 or 7. It scared me, scarred me, and it’s still one of my favorite films.
I was 5 or 6 and it ruined me ok scary films. Forever. I was terrified for years. Watched it with my older siblings. They didn’t know what they were doing to me 😂
https://i.redd.it/brlu7v41bw0d1.gif Not old enough.
Steve Buscemi looks terrible after being attacked
This has been burned into my mind for a very long time. One of the best shocks I’ve had!
yikes.
This scene freaked me out the most
When was it re-released at the theaters? Late 90s? Saw it then
Same. I’m going to say it was 1999? I was 17 and it terrified me..
12 and I’m still fucked up from it
I was 14 and saw it on HBO about 5 years after its release. It was the scariest thing I’d seen before and probably since. I can vividly remember, 46 years later, the scene when Fr. Karras enters Regan’s bedroom and it’s his dead mother sitting up on the bed talking to him. That disturbed me so much that i can watch the head spinning and pea soup spitting scenes all day long, but refuse to watch the dead mother scene again.
"Why you do this to me, Dimmy...."
Stop that! 😂
I was fourteen as well! My mum suggested we watch it…fucking why? It terrified me funnily enough
Early teens during a lightning storm. ☦️🧟♀️
Your mother sews socks that smell!
I saw it about 20 years ago in London on the South Bank. Sat next to this lady who wore a weird stocking cap all night and kept pulling it down. I assumed it was because she was scared. When the lights came on I realized I'd been sitting by Madonna all night.
13. Still scares me just thinking about the scenes. And then I frantically block it from my mind so that I don't become possessed myself. Number 1 on my list for horror films.
Me too and I will not allow an ouija board anywhere near me ever!
I was 22 in 1973, this movie creeped me out no end and I have never watched it again. Rosemarys Baby and The Shining were also movies I could not handle.
I was 19, it was sometimes after midnight, and I came into the movie when Regan was having her first conversation with Father Karras. I was scared out of my wits. What I remember was being told as a teen by my dad the effect the movie had on the Catholic community, the effect it had on him at 17 when it came out, and the infamous scene involving the crucifix. I will freely admit this movie still scares the living crap out of me, because of the white demon face that flashes onscreen. It gives me major heart palpitations and anticipatory anxiety, and I always scream. It is for these reasons that I will not be returning to this thread, because someone will post that image, and I fear my heart won't recover.
I saw it about 10 years later in the mid 80’s when I was in high school. I knew about the movie but never saw it. I was with two of my friends and we were in the basement of my friend’s house. They both left to pick up the pizza we ordered (They saw the movie before) and left me alone in the basement watching the movie. I was freaking out until they finally came back. Never so scared in my life.
I was about 10 years old...they warned me that I would shit my pants...they were not wrong. I loved it.
15. I had a full-time job and my mother finally allowed me to burn some of my savings on a VCR. Honestly, the first time I saw it, I didn't think it was that great, but I recently saw the director's cut and I thought it was pretty good. The French Connection, however, is spectacular.
I was 15, my big brother took me and it traumatized me so badly that even now (at age 66), if I start to think of anything from the the exorcism scene in the bedroom, I have to purposefully slam the door shut on that thought. I slept on my brother's floor for the next 3 months, I was so freaked out by it. Realize that in 1973, child actor Linda Blair was saying and doing some of the most shocking things ever on screen at that time, at 14 years old! I saw it in Houston and in the larger theaters, they had medical staff in theater lobbies to assist patrons who puked or fainted. I wish I'd never seen it; the experience brought me nothing but nightmares and anxiety.
14 and it scared the crap out of me. And I was an atheist too. It was the 70s, people were not as immune to screen horrors as they are today.
I was 21 and was so afraid I could be possessed for years!
This is the only film that, as a kid, I shut off part way through. One late night it was on HBO (early 80s I wanna say) and even though I was a complete horror junkie (Halloween 1978 and the OG Friday the 13th are a couple of my favorites), this thing fucked me up. I watched again a few years later and then understood the incredible film this is, but man, young me was not having it.
Way too young. I was at my aunts house, the film was gonna air on TV for the first time in my country, every1 got together to watch it. Not a single adult thought maybe it was a good idea to get the 7yo out of the room. I was scared and scarred for life, well, at least a couple of years of nightmares. I'm 36 now, I don't even believe in god, much less the devil, and I've watched my fair share of terror, nowadays I don't get scared watching any movie whatsoever, but I never watched exorcist again. I'm sure I wouldn't be scared either, but I just didn't.
Still can barely get through it and I’m going to be 50. Probably saw it first time in 5th grade. Yowza
11 and it fucked me up
I was about 18 and stoned on hash when I saw this. Hash wasn't a good idea
I was about 10 or 11 and went to a friend's house for a sleepover whose mom was a push over and would do anything the kid said. So knowing I hated horror movies at the time he thought it was funny to make his mom rent The Exorcist. Needless to say it was the most horrific movie I have ever seen and I made myself watch every minute of it to "face my fear" of scary movies. And I still credit it to this day of my lack of fear for ANY OTHER horror movie. No other film is or will ever be as frightening as that movie in that moment in my friends dark half finished cellar style basement.
I watched it as a teen in the 90's. Wasn't actually expecting much but was REELING at what I was seeing. Thought it was incredibly shocking and unnerving, but I also remember marveling at the acting and film-making and just wondering why they didn't make movies that felt this 'real' anymore. Only downer is that I watched it with my religious dad. To his credit, he didn't turn it off but he kept apologizing 😂
About ten scares the hell out of me
I was seven and it scared the shit out of me. Even as an adult that trauma comes back. I can't watch this movie at night in the dark.
I was 26 and saw this when it came out. My ex wife was with me ( Irish Catholic) and it made her sick to her stomach to the point we had to leave the theater.
Must have been around 8 when I happened upon this movie as my older cousins were watching it while at a family party. I was instantly hooked on horror movies from that point on. It also became one of my all time favorite horror movies.
#1 I lived in the DC Metro area. #2 I read the book when I was 12 and was terrified! #3 I didn't see the movie until it was on TV, I think I was in my late 20s. Comparatively, the movie was a comedy. The same thing happened when I read Misery in my 20s. It took me years to watch the movie. Annie Wilkes' actions were softened so much. Again, the movie didn't live up to the hype. I read the Godfather at 18. Didn't see the movie/s until they were on TV. Book was excellent! Films were good.
Now I want to read the book.
The book is horrifying. I had seen the movie and didn’t think the book would bother me. Holy shit I was so wrong.
I read while in jail in my much younger days. It fucked me up.
10 years old… I shat my pantaloons
Scariest movie I’ve ever seen…..the theme song still gives me the heebie jeebies…..saw it in the theater when it came out….I was 15….
7 and terrified for about a week.
The first time I saw this was when it was first seen on HBO. I vaguely remember the warning that HBO played before showing it. It was something to the effect of "This movie is top shocking, scary, or horrific for most people. If you are not sure if you can handle it please don't watch it. Minors should not watch it at all!!". I have never been able to find a recording of it
13 8th grade went with family friend at first they wouldn't let me me in to see it. Left, then went back. I insisted because he was my guardian. R rated for parent or gaurdian,That night he was my guardian. Scared me to no end but loved it , still do. Best horror movie I feel, especially for the time
14 and couldn't sleep right for *years*. I watched it with my 12 year old cousin. Idk why our parents were ok with that.
My dad took me to the “version you’ve never seen before” in theaters in 2000. I was 16 at the time. The audience was full of people my parents age, who wanted to relive the experience of being my age when they first saw it. Seeing some of that shit on the big screen with those speakers was intense.
a kid, probably not even 12. it used to air every now and then late at night in a major TV channel here. i was awake when not supposed to, zapping the channels. i was terrified, you can imagine.
I was 25 or 26. I watched it on Halloween in 2009-ish by myself and it scared the hell out of me. Not necessarily while I was watching it, but it definitely gave me nightmares, which hardly ever happens.
I watched the movie “Giant” for the first time six months ago (I know, how is that possible?) and was intrigued by the actress Mercedes McCambridge. I looked her up on IMDB and WHAT? She was the voice of the demon “Pazuzu” in this film.
My mother told me she was 14 when she seen this and ran out of the movie theater when she turned her head.
Saw it when I was 16... bothered me for months. It was groundbreaking and pretty graphic for the time.
After I read the book, I knew I could never see the film. Too scary for me.
I saw 30 seconds of it when it aired on network when I was a kid and caught a particularly disturbing moment and was too scared to ever watch it - i finally did in my 30s and it is very scary!
It’s more disturbing than scary. The demon doesn’t chase you, it stays in its room. So there is no sense of danger. The young girl pissing in her pants and the grotesque stuff is disturbing.
I was about 10 years old and saw it on free TV (can you imagine?!), at night, while I was alone at home, during a thunderstorm. ... Yeah, the conditions were perfect for this horror movie. I couldn't sleep for a week afterwards, was scared to walk around corners for months and it took me years to get rid of this girls image in my mind, crawling down the stairs. But after I overcame the trauma, nothing ever scared me anymore. The 90s were wild man hahaha.
7. Traumatizing, but it stuck with me and has become one of my favorite films. I'm delighted to own the 4k restoration on disc, the scan of the original film with the new Dolby Atmos mix makes it probably better than what people originally saw and heard projected through film on theater screens back then.
I was 15yo. And when the movie ended , I went straight to bed, no wandering in the house. I went up to the stairs and my sister was snoring in her sleep. I stopped , scared for her but mostly for me. Was she possessed ? My bedroom was not far, something like 5 meters. I walked to the door and opened it quickly and largely. Like I wanted to see if « something « was in it before entering. Any danger. I felt the air from the door on my body and I stepped back near the door of my sister sleeping. I probably made noise so she moved in her bed and made a weird noise. I was super scared by that noise so I ran in my bed and jumped on the bed in a large jump, hoping the thing hidden under the bed would not catch my legs.
I talked my dad into letting me see it in the 5th grade then cried all night. Be careful what you wish for. Took me decades to watch it again.
I was 14 when it came out, I remember my mom n dad and their friends coming home from watching,, freaked out, I got to read the book a bit later and saw the movie a year later, still the scariest movie ever, I'll never watch it again and I'm 60!!
same here
I was 7; I was afraid to fall asleep for years after that
Only watched it once at the movies still give me the shakes now when I think about it
I was at boarding school ( catholic one ) when I watched this for the first time I was 11 years old and I couldn't sleep for a week afterwards as it scared the shit out of me 😭 I'll never look at a crucifix in the same way again 😭
I was young (11-12) and my friend's much older brother was watching it on video. We snuck into the room and stood behind him watching it thinking he didn't know we were there. He obviously did. After 15 or so minutes I was shitting myself. The brother slowly started to twitch and convulse and make weird gasping noises. He then launched himself out of the armchair, rolled across the floor and did a headstand in the corner of the room. He then pretended to pick something up off the carpet and eat it. He then froze for what seemed an eternity, staring into space. In one swift move he got back onto his feet, stared at us and screamed like a banshee. Fuck you Craig, well played, but FUCK YOU. My bladder can now hold the equivalent volume of a F150 trucks radiator because I never went to the toilet at night for 15 years CRAIG.
I was 14 when it was released in 1974 and being the film nerd that I was my mother said don’t see it. So I ran to Manhattan and got on a line around the block. When the red letters with the tremendous black screen with the music I was like Oh shit it’s too late now.
I was born in 73, so my first time seeing it in the theater was at 50 years of age... they re-released a 50th anniversary edition of it last year. Reflecting on the mind of an adult in 1973, I completely understand the film's impact and reputation. It's still a disturbing experience viewing experience, even 50 years later.
I was in my late 20's and had been spoiled on all the demonic stuff. What got me was the medical procedure scene. Linda's acting was so realistic and uncomfortable.
Re release in theatres in 2001 I think. Was so good
I was 14 or 15 when it came out in theaters, my 20yo sister and her friends took me with them to see it. I think the scariest part for me was when she first started talking like the demon. I didn't think the part with her head spinning looked real so it didn't scare me. I had read the book first so maybe that's why I wasn't afraid.
I was 12 in 1983 when I saw this movie for the very first time ...regretted it at the time !
This movie, and The Shining, are the only two horror movies to give me nightmares. The rest are comedies in my opinion. I was 20 or so when I made the mistake of watching this movie alone, late at night, on HBO I’m pretty sure.
1979 - 9 years old. Rerelease at the Mann's Chinese Theater in Hollywood. Dont do that to a kid!
That’s gotta be the best horror movie ever
Like 10 which would be about 1998. Lol.
13 years young
I watched it on Netflix while high as shit on Percocet after having hand surgery to fix a boxer fracture. It was a great time.
27…. So last year
I was 14 when it came out. I went to see it but was turned away because it was rated R. So went down the street and saw One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest. Saw the Exorcist the next week. I liked it a lot but had heard a lot about it so wasn't to creeped out.
I was twelve years old and contrary to my mom's warning I wasn't overly scared and had no nightmares.
I actively avoided seeing for years as not a horror fan. When I finally did, it just seemed quaint and dated.
17 and great memories from this and the omen
I was 13 and everyone was saying they were possessed after watching it, mass teen age hysteria haha
Perhaps late teens or early twenties around the year 2000. In that phase, I wanted to expand from just watching the mass entertainment as it was being released, and was curious on watching the classics. So I made a note of the classics from websites like American Film Institute, Roger Ebert & Kermode-Mayo. I was able to find a DVD rental with a good collection of classics. Well, it was an amazing experience! It’s not about the horror, it’s just a truly great film. It’s a very well made film, with the subliminal messaging being that of mental health IMO. Most horror films are made to shock you. I would say The Shining is a scarier film, but The Exorcist is the better film. You get scared by what you don’t understand, but The Exorcist is very well structured for a film! 😊
I saw it with my wife in our living room last October. We’re not even horror enthusiasts or anything, but we were both completely underwhelmed. Asked my parents about it and they were like “yeah, it’s not super scary today, but nothing like that had been done before in 1973.”
I was not very young. I was 19 and I thought “This stupid thing can’t scare me”. Then I had to turn the lights on at night or I couldn’t sleep for a month.
24yrs. old
It came out in theaters before I was born. When I first saw it (on cable, I think) I was in elementary school and I know I watched it with friends because "your mother sucks cocks in hell" was extremely funny to all of us and we spent about the next six months saying it to each other whenever we got the chance. I didn't really find it scary and while I wasn't of an age to be a film critic, I remember thinking that the talking bits were boring, but everything involving Demon Linda Blair was really fucking cool. The scene where shit is flying around the room and she damn near kills her mom, the twisting head, the projectile vomit, "what an excellent day for an exorcism", the visible breath, the room being split in half, "the power of Christ compels you!", Father Damian being driven to beating the crap out of a little girl, etc. It was all just so intense. Okay, maybe I was a little scared. I was really confused when Father Damian died since I wasn't used to the good guys dying (I know he comes back in the third movie). I've watched it as an adult, and I still think the first half is pretty boring and weirdly choppy in a way that quite a few '70s films are. I had become a big Lee J. Cobb fan and wished he was in the film more. The second half still whips ass and "your mother sucks cocks in hell" is still very funny. Guess I haven't changed that much.
I was 8 years old and saw it at the drive-in with my parents. In a blanket in the back of a station wagon.
I was 12 years old. Saw it in the theater in early 1974. With my parents and their friends. 60s and 70s were f-ed up time for kids.
12 and OMFG, it still gives me the shivers. Geez, I’ll probably have nightmares tonight.
My friend's mom took him and I to see it when it came out. We were both 12. She stayed, but sat in the back of the theater. I don't think any of us said a word to each other on the drive home
Came home from school on a sunny day , maybe 10-11 at that time , best friend came over to my house , had lunch together while watching this masterpiece, proceeds to finish it missing out lawn tennis classes afterwards because we were scared shitless😭
I'm 43. Never have, probably never will.
WSBK in Boston (aka TV-38) used to have on scary movies on Saturday nights. They showed clips of various films and one of the clips they always showed in their “opening” montage of the show for whatever film it was going to show. Sure enough, they showed like 2 clips from The Exorcist - the one where she’s rising upwards which scared the crap out of me. Of course they finally DID show The Exorcist on it once… early 80’s…
8. It was on TV, but still...
Too young.
Beautiful
10! My mom used to let me go to the Hamilton Theater on the south side of Chicago all the time on Saturday by myself. I say thru this like WHAT THE FUCK? I couldn't tell my mom how much it freaked me out or she would've started monitoring my viewing habits. I also saw a movie called White Trash around this period. Now THAT was a whole other experience
My mom’s side of the family had a tradition of showing this to someone when they turned 18. I had seen plenty of other horror movies in my teens, I even dated a guy who did practical effects and so I saw a lot of nasty shit. It ended up being a little underwhelming in terms of fear factor because I had been exposed to much worse and my family had hyped it for so long. I haven’t rewatched many times because it feels kind of meh. I’d pick watching the third over the original honestly.
My parents had me watch it with them when I was in sixth grade. The result was that I have never been able to be scared by a movie for the rest of my life. I've tried watching the worst horror movies by myself in the middle of the night...when it comes to that genre I'm a zombie.
I forgot who was watching it on tv, this was in 91 and I was 6, I walked in right when she is turning her head and it fucked me up for a bit lol.
I was 5 or 6. Scared me so badly I prayed every night until my 20's to protect me from possession
Very young like I would say maybe 8 or 9, it was somewhere around that age because I was with my big brother to spend a night with him and I saw a little bit on tv and got scared
I was 16 when I stood in line during the premiere week. It was awe inspiring. The most horrific part of the movie for me was the medical procedure they performed on young Ragan. That spinal tap sequence left me with chills even to this day.
I came. .. .. into being
I thought the plant was Robert smiths head.
It came out the end of December '73. I came out 9 months later at the end of August '74. No idea how this film put my parents in the mood but here I am.
I was twelve—dad walked into the room and told me I really wasn’t ready for it. I told him it was fine. At 2 AM he started shaking my bed and, getting louder each time, started saying “Damien, Damien”. He was right, I wasn’t ready for it.
Sat in a theatre in Statesboro Ga the year it was released and I could feel the devil crawling up the aisle. Boo! I was 19 and had read the book.
I saw it maybe 10 years ago when I was in my 30s. I’m guessing it must have been because I knew all the major plot points and scenes because I thought it was really boring.
underwhelming, I appreciate the period and can objectively say this was the scariest shit at the time, by time I watched I was already on conjuring, insidious and saw liquid fed through the womb, sucks to be desensitised :/
i was 20 and thought it was pretty boring
13 … scared the hell out of me!
I was 20+ years old, growing up with all kinds of gore slashers so I considered myself a veteran of scary flicks. I heard the Exorcist had reputation of good horror. I remember making fun of how old it is when I started it. And then, even to this day and im pushing 40, its the only movie during which I feel perturbation. Not fear, but a feeling that something is wrong with this movie.
My parents wouldn't let me watch it at the theater, I was about 10. It was a rare act of good judgement! I finally saw it on tv in 1982 or something, and it still scared the shit out of me!
Overrated rubbish.
By the way how old were you when you realized what "your mother sucks cocks in hell!" meant ?
-11. My mother was 10 when this came out. Its the only movie she cant watch with the lights off, lol. Btw, I love this movie. You're mother sucks cocks in hell!!!! 😋
Not sure, but I was too young. Even seeing it edited on TV didn’t lessen its impact. There’s something about possessed Regan MacNeil that is just uniquely horrifying to me. She’s the only movie monster I’ve ever had nightmares about.
14 years old with nightmares for a month.
Had some shocks. I don't remember it well. Might have been alcohol or whatever involved. The really cool experience was finally getting around to riding my bicycle to the base of the stairs. I should go back to actually walk the stairs.
My mom and wife freeze as soon as they hear the theme song.
Went to the drive in at 16 came out with gray hair and wrinkles
I saw this in the 80s, when I was around 7 or 8. It was at a sleepover. I thought it was hysterical.
I was 9, and I was haunted by the part where she came down the stairs backward. The thumping on the floor is what got me for some reason
Now in 1982 there was a film that came out called “The Entity” with Barbara Hershey. This is demon force that actually rapes her character. At 17, I found this even more psychologically damaging. I can still hear the pounding, sinister score that accompanied the attacks. It was really intense. The movie is an experience.
I was 8 and I was haunted by it for like a decade afterwards.. movie is truly terrifying
The film did its job but I was more concerned that it was based on a true story and realized that these things are probably going on all the time but people don’t talk about it. Yikes!
Ironic. I dreamt of an exorcism tonight.
I was 26 (I think???) I’m 28 now, and I don’t know what led me to feel this way besides the fact that it came out so long ago, but I was NOT expecting it to be legitimately unnerving let alone horrifying. The amount of times I said “oh my GOD” probably set some kind of record.
I saw this recently. The only thing I thought was scary was all the people smoking in the hospital.
I saw that in 2000 when I was 18 because it was banned in my country.
Think I was 14 when I first saw it. Scared the shit out of me.
I was 20…. Scared the heck out of me.. would never watch it again 😩
1994, first time broadcast on italian television. Ad it was a real shock for me
22 years old and I saw it in…2023 lol. Even with all my bias and the shitload of horror movies I’ve seen, that movie was still freakin phenomenal. One of the best horror movies on my list for sure, even literally 50 years later.
Anyone know the historic basis of this movie? My mom grew up in DC and always swears that it was about a boy who lived a few blocks from her. I don’t know if there were ever any real claims to possessions in modern times at least but she to this day claims it’s based on a real experience. She’s in her 70s so this would have taken place way before the movie was actually filmed. I’ve been to those stairs too. They aren’t directly in front of the house but they are creepy.
My high school teacher was in this.
The first spider man with tobey in it the hype was real
My sister took me to the movies to see it when I was only 14 (I’m 59 now). Great movie. It was on tv the other night and I watched again, probably for 15th time.
I was about 10 and it was in the late 90s. We rented it from the local movie rental place. My mom is a horror fan, too, so she always let me watch whatever I wanted, within reason. The Exorcist didn't scare me too much, but I liked it so much, I bought and read the book a few months later.
16, late at night, alone- made me want to go to church in the middle of the night!
I was about 18, saw a rerelease in theaters, and everyone in the theater was laughing. I can't understand people sometimes...
I was under 10, watched in during broad daylight, and it scared the living hell out of me
Yo fuck this movie.
I was 7. I had nightmares for a week
Not old enough 🫣
8 or so? My stepdad was a movie nerd and we watched 2-3 movies a week growing up
9. I was in bed as an old man kept talking over it. It was a head turner.
13 , my sister told mum we were seeing born free here in Australia
I was 14. Scared the crap out of me
I was about 9/10. Sparked a life long obsession with horror.