PopHorror Let's Get Scared
It’s definitely hard to narrow down my favorite horror movie, but The Exorcist is definitely up there for me. The movie also means something special to me personally, because it was the first movie I ever took my then girlfriend to see when it was re-released with an extended cut. It’s funny enough to take a girl on a first sober date to see The Exorcist, but obviously it didn’t deter her because she married me!
There are many other horror movie favorites of mine, including Lucio Fulci’s Zombie and The Beyond, Argento’s Tenebrae, Suspiria or Deep Red, Ruggero Deodato’s Cannibal Holocaust or other more obscure titles like The Changeling, Ils (Them) or Session 9. Then you have the classics like The Evil Dead, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Halloween, Last House On The Left, or more extreme fare like the original Martyrs or A Serbian Film.
The Exorcist packs such a wallop because it delves into religion and features a number of blasphemous occurrences which are so shocking, plus, of course, the cast of a young Linda Blair used as the vessel for Satan. The deal sealer for me is the character of Reagan and the many classic profanities which creep out of the possessed young’un’s mouth. The Exorcist has been done to death with its own sequels and countless imitators.
Interestingly enough, although I am looking forward to Unearthed Films’ upcoming Song Of Solomon, which plays as a more extreme gore exorcism. Stephen Biro and crew have crafted an indie monster which has taken the horror scene by storm with his American Guinea Pig Series and has sparked my interest by having scream queen Jessica Cameron play the lead role as the woman possessed. The scenes where Cameron is in full make up wallowing in all her glee are highlights that bring me back to seeing Reagan in The Exorcist.
The Exorcist is definitely one of the more mainstream movies for me, considering my usual tastes, but it goes back to where most horror fans cut their essential horror viewing teeth. You have to start somewhere, and sometimes you crave more substance than Friday The 13th… although that series, I believe, is every horror fan’s guilty pleasure once in awhile.
