Suspiria versus The Exorcist

[Donuthole75]

I was watching a game show and there was a panel of experts in a given field of media. One was a music expert, another was a television expert, and the last was a movie expert. The movie expert had his time, and said something to the effect of the Exorcist was not scarey, and to watch Dario Argento's Suspiria as the scariest movie ever. This movie expert must be smoking a lot of crack to say something stupid like that. I know a lot of you are fans, but surely you are of logical mind to know that The Exorcist is a far scarier movie than Suspiria. Suspiria is a little too surreal to match the realism and truth abound in the powerful "The Exorcist." Right? Just listen to the commentary on TVYS version and it will scare you even more!

[ctyner]

The show was "Beat The Geeks", and I had a similar reaction. I love <i>Suspiria</i>, but scary...?

[rxfiend]

the Exorcist is NOT scary. it's so over-rated as being "the scariest movie of all time." if you believe in that type of shit, ya, it may be a bit scary. but the subject is laughable to me, so i don't find it very scary at all. i do like the film, don't get me wrong. it's just not scary.
i don't find Suspiria to be scary either. to be quite honest, i have YET to find a movie that scares me. i watch horror to be entertained, not scared.

[Andrew]

I too watch horror to be entertained, and I can only think of a handful that have actually frightened me.

However, these are two of them.

The Exorcist scared the SHIT out of me at the theater. I don't know how someone could NOT find this scary (but everyone has an opinion). I'm really not sure what it is, but it still creeps me out. Maybe it's cuz I've been to the locations before and they aren't far from my house. Or maybe it's because it's based on a true story (kind of).

Suspiria, however, might be scarier. I watched the old VHS in broad daylight, with my family running around, and I still felt that tingly feeling. I don't know what it was about it though. Great movie.

So I understand how he could think of Suspiria as scarier, although IMO The Exorcist was scarier.

[jeffschmidt]

No offense to those who say it truthfully, but I think most people out there who say "The Exorcist didn't scare me at all" are just trying to sound tough :) That movie is far scarier than Suspiria. Along the same line, the dude who said that on TV was probably trying to sound cool, since Exorcist is so well-known & Suspiria is far more obscure to the average TV viewer.

I do love Argento's films, & he's probably my favorite director ever, but his material is so surreal & fantastical that it doesn't frighten with the immediacy of The Exorcist.

[slinker]

When i first saw the `Exorcist` here in the UK it was on a real shitty grainy VHS copy( due to the fact that the movie was banned over here at that time) and it did scare me a little, possibly due to the fact that it was soo forbidden and the bad copy gave it more of a realistic feel (i was young after all!!)
Suspiria was powerful and unrelentless, i actually enjoyed the movie more than the previous and the ending was real creepy and horrifying, i couldnt say what scared me most really because if i had of seen Suspiria at the same time that i saw the Exorcist it would have probably had just the same affect on me =^,^= I think the Omen should be included in this discussion too :)

[ScaryMovieFreak]

Suspiria never scared me. But I didn't watch it until I was into my older teen years. As for the Exorcist, I just recently saw it about a year ago, around the time I first saw Suspiria. I didn't find it all that scary then, but it was creepy at the time. I remember when I was younger I had never been able to sit through the entire movie because I found it scary. So I say that The Exorcist is scarier.

[rxfiend]

No offense to those who say it truthfully, but I think most people out there who say "The Exorcist didn't scare me at all" are just trying to sound tough


not everyone believes in "demonic possession" so the exorcist does not come off as believeable to me. my fiancee seen it for the first time last year (when it was re-released in the theatre) and didn't find it scary at all either.

i'm not trying to sound tough, but it's just not scary.

[mystro]

Originally posted by rxfiend

not everyone believes in "demonic possession" so the exorcist does not come off as believeable to me. my fiancee seen it for the first time last year (when it was re-released in the theatre) and didn't find it scary at all either.

i'm not trying to sound tough, but it's just not scary.

I'll have to agree. Exorcist is NOT scary. The surreal atmosphere in Suspiria makes it more of a nightmare, although I didn't find it scary, either.

[Vamp]

Here are my thoughts on both movies...

I saw the Exorcist when they put it at the movies AGAIN a few years ago. It did not scare me at all. To tell you the truth, over two thirds of the movie was very boring (just my opinion).

The Exorcist tries to play on the fact that exorcisms are real, and that they will happen like that. I did not believe that at all. I'm not trying to sound tough, but it didn't scare me at all.

I bought Suspiria just a few weeks ago. It was a great movie. *In my opinion* it was scarier than the Exorcist. Suspiria was freaking me out throughout the whole movie.. I didn't know what was going on, which scares me. Even within the first 10 minutes of the movie something horrible happened, which made me feel creepy from that point on.

I believe Suspiria is scarier than The Exorcist.. I actually believe many movies are far more scarier than The Exorcist... Suspiria adds a bit of mystery to the movie, which helps give me a creepy feeling.

To sum it all up. I believe the Exorcist is not that scarey at all, and very overrated.. It is certainly not the scariest movie eve made, but neither is Suspiria. To me, Suspiria *is* scarier than the Exorcist, but we all have our own opinions. :)

Have a nice day.

[The Chaostar]

Originally posted by Donuthole75
The movie expert had his time, and said something to the effect of the Exorcist was not scarey, and to watch Dario Argento's Suspiria as the scariest movie ever. This movie expert must be smoking a lot of crack to say something stupid like that. I know a lot of you are fans, but surely you are of logical mind to know that The Exorcist is a far scarier movie than Suspiria.

I don't like it at all when someone tries to impose his opinion as "truth" on others. I've never smoked crack in my life, I don't feel stupid and I was much more scared from Suspiria than The Exorcist - so according to you Donuthile75 there must be something seriously wrong with me. The Exorcist is good filmaking, no doubt about it, but Suspiria deals with Witchcraft and the occult in a more serious tone - the film has "magic" in every frame. And watching your friend becoming a cut-throated Zombie, coming to you laughing, with a knife in her hand and pins in her eyes is one of the scariest images ever captured on film. At least in my eyes.

[johnmar]

This is a moot point since it's all very subjective. Both films are great, IMO, and it's rediculous to compare them on that level.

[_pi_]

Neither film scared me...

I already knew The Exorcist by heart when I saw it for the first time, thanks to an overly enthusiastic friend who just "couldn't stop himself" from telling me the entire plot of the film.

I watched Suspiria in the middle of the night with my parents asleep in the next room. I didn't want to wake them up so I had the volume really low. This meant that I couldn't hear any of the dialogue (and there were no subtitles) and also, because it was the middle of the night, I was very tired and not very focused.

But I love both movies, especially Suspiria - my favorite horror movie.

[napalm68]

Neither film scared me, but The Exorcist has the honor of being in the very exclusive group of films that has literally put me to sleep (along with 2001 and Mission Impossible) (I am being serious here).

I found the truck sized story continuity holes too frustrating, and lost interested, and just drifted off. I like the newer version of the exorcist much better.

[rhett]

I love Suspiria, but to me the film comes across as a surreal experience, but not really that scary at all. Argento's craft in the film is just so manipulative and obvious (the overcasts of red, the elaborate camera movements, etc.) which makes it play out more as a nightmare than reality. You can wake up from a dream, but you can't turn away from the real, and that is why I think The Exorcist is much scarrier. It is done very seriously, and although it deals with an unearthly experience, it shows it in a realistic manner, and just the thought of something that awful being plausible makes it all the more scary. Do I believe in being possessed or witchcraft? Hell no, so I have no bias here...I just feel that due to the presentation of the two films, The Exorcist comes through more in a realistic fashion with less visual obtrusion than Suspiria, and that is what made it scarier for me.

[Nekromantik]

Neither Suspiria or Exorcist are that scary at all. Suspiria is a much higher quality film however. That's just my opinion. I didn't like the Exorcist because it had a kid in it and I hate kids starring in movies.

[Se7en]

I saw both on DVD for the first time this year... The Exorcist scared the living shit outta me! And I'll never deny it! Suspiria was "eh" Can honestly say I didn't like it much. The Exorcist, is for me, the scarier movie and is in my top 5 list of all time favorites.

[RAYMOND BUSH]

All you non-believers who diss THE EXORCIST cause the concept of demonic possession is laughable to you, consider that the film was based on an actual documented case. William Peter Blatty, the writer of the book and the film's screenwriter actually saw some weird unexplainable shit, most of which was re-enacted in the film. There are a lot of things that can not be explained, but did indeed happen. There are even cases of it raining frogs, viewed by respected scientists.
The Exorcist only works if you believe just a little in that which can not be explained.
Speaking of real cases of possession, just a couple of months ago, the Catholic Church officially declared a woman possessed. The church hardly ever does this. The Pope himself came to exorcise the supposed demon inside the woman. The lady was said by some to be possessed by Satan himself. The Pope failed.
CREEPY!!!!!:eek:
THE END IS NEAR!:D

[jmc]

SUSPIRIA has some great scenes, but THE EXORICST is a better movie. I didn't like most of the stuff that was added in the re-release, though. Too many "subliminal" images took away from the impact of the film. But the sound was great!

[keith70]

Raining Frogs?You wouldn't happen to know of a link to this would you?

[singing to the tune of It's Raining Men]

It's Raining Frogs! Hallelujah!
It's Raining Frogs, Amen!
I'm gonna go out to hop and let myself get
Absolutely warted to death
It's Raining Frogs! Hallelujah!
It's Raining Frogs. Every Speciman!

Small, green, dark and lean
Rough and fat and strong and mean!
It's Raining Frogs! Hallelujah! It's Raining Frogs!

http://tvdance.com/clinton/4a.gif http://tvdance.com/clinton/7a.gif

[DVD Connoisseur]

...and, at the time, ABC news had shown a real exorcism as part of their Monday night slot (I caught it on satellite on our Sky News). Now, whatever the facts behind the case, the Catholic church had allowed the exorcism to be filmed. It was harrowing stuff.

A girlfriend I was seeing at the time also told me of her own friend's alleged possession.

And so, when I entered the cinema, I had a lot of baggage with me! The performance was at midnight and the film silenced drunken hecklers after its powerful introduction. The film frightened me...big time. Very few movies have the same documentary-like feel to them. The cinematography, the performances and the soundtrack...they all add up to a chilling package. This film was ground-breaking stuff and probably wouldn't be made today.....IMHO, it's the Godfather of the horror genre.

[jmc]

And don't forget all the stories about the mishaps on the set, and the unusually large number of deaths in the families of the cast and crew while the film was being made [including the death of one cast member, the man who played the film director and whose character may have been killed by Regan.]

I don't entirely buy the whole argument of "You have to believe in demonic possession to find The Exorcist scary." If that's true, I assume a person who feels that way doesn't find the 99% of horror films that have supernatural or fantastic elements to be scary either.

[Vamp]

Oh man, I saw that thing on NBC.. Those guys didn't work for the church though, didn't the lead guy quit the church and just get calls to do exorcism from normal people? The guy who was having it done to him was like "grrrrrrrr grrrrrrrrr grrrrrrrrrr-- I need a break now... Can we have a break?"

That was funny stuff.

[Erg0n]

I'd say In terms of picture, I'd say Suspiria without a doubt. But in scare factor, nothing beats night terrors from the devil. Scares the living hell out of young children more than suspiria, because of the devil theme. But i like suspiria better.

[rdcalderon]

hi i'm new to this board and love this website...


I have to add my 2 cents worth. Suspiria is a gorgeous movie and in many ways better than the Exorcist. But the Exorcist in my opinion is a more terrifying experience. All of those scenes before linda blair is fully possessed when the mother is wondering what the sounds are and what is happening to her daughter are truly creepy to me. As far as the discussion of demonic possession being more or less real than the witchcraft in Suspiria... well I don't think either are plausible in reality but you have to remember that in the 70's demonic possession and exorcism was a popular subject and discussion of it was kind of new. It had a weird taboo associated with it that added to the creepy context of the film.

As far as the scariest movie experience of my life... I would have to say it was a film I saw on tv when i was 11 or 12 years old in the late seventies. It was on after midnight and my parents were visiting their friends in an apartment upstairs from me. I just stumbled across this film.. It was black and white and I had never heard of it before. It was about the dead rising from the grave and it scared the living crap out of me... It was my first introduction to romero's Night of the Living Dead. And for my money that is the scariest a movie can ever be.

[jmc]

The scariest experience I ever had was when I was four. My dad took me to see "The Shaggy D.A." and they showed a preview for "Carrie" during the coming attractions. Scared the crap outta me!

[Donuthole75]

I have the Exorcist TVYNS and to my knowledge, most of the "subliminal" stuff seems to also be in the original version. I thikn the longer running time makes for an even better Exorcist though. It makes it more interesting and adds to the impact of the film. As far as Suspiria goes, the acting kinda ruins the movie and there is hardly anything terrifying about the movie. Sure, some of the deaths are kinda cool and gruesome, but it's a little over the top IMO. I like the theme of an old witch living hidden in the school, but I think it could have come across a lot better than it did. I like Suspiria, but it's just not in the same class as The Exorcist.

[Darkness Fear]

Neither are scary in my opinion.

[ParmagentoCheez]

suspiria- scared the shit out of me, mostly because it was my first argento (first italian too!) and i didn't know where it was going or what it was about. only lost highway has scared me since.

i hold exorcist in the same vein as F13ths, freddy, and halloween. while it is a good book, and i love blatty (9th configuration rules!) the movie is a propaganda reel for catholicism. nitty gritty realistic demon posession? the movie was cool, but very predictable and goofy. its like someone took every "evil" cliche from the past 100 years and whittled it down to an "american-classic". the polyester clad weenies in the early 70's may have been scared, but i was bored and aggravated. its like someone took peyton place and dumped some catholic horror in the middle of it. no thanks. ugh. next.

btw- exorcist 3 is a superior film.

[iluvdaria]

Neither film scared me. Suspiria is a gorgeous film to look at but not scary. The Excorcist actually had me in hysterics. That is one film that made me laugh. The pissing on the rug sequence, the vomiting, the head spinning. Now that is classic, funny stuff.