Yeah, well "modern audiences" laughed at The Exorcist. Classic may be too much, but it is must see IMO for fans of horror/thrillers.

Horror is caught in perpetual 'can you top this' scenario. I frequently talk movies with the kids I encounter in the classroom and I am usually laughed at for considering Jaws to be the scariest movie I've seen. I explain to them that it cost me an entire summer's worth of swimming due to the fear of sharks it created in me, but they don't seem impressed. It is because Jaws spawned a bunch of sequels and imitators that prepared later audiences to gird themselves against that particular fright. Whereas when I saw Jaws and other movies like The Exorcist(definitely a classic) I had never before witnessed anything remotely resembling them and thus they were more easily able to fill me with dread.

I believe that Douglas Winter wrote an interesting article on the constantly evolving nature of horror; I have to see if I can locate it. He touches on the fact that people are generally replacing the fears they figure out with new ones based upon the society we live in. Can you say terrorism?

I believe that Douglas Winter wrote an interesting article on the constantly evolving nature of horror; I have to see if I can locate it.

This isn't the exact article I read , but it hits many of the same points. And if you like reading interviews by some of the genre's biggies, Darkecho is a superb site.

http://www.darkecho.com/darkecho/horroro...inter.html

This isn't the exact article I read , but it hits many of the same points. And if you like reading interviews by some of the genre's biggies, Darkecho is a superb site.

http://www.darkecho.com/darkecho/horroro...inter.html

Steve D
I believe the article you're looking for is called "The Pathos of Genre."

http://www.darkecho.com/darkecho/darkthot/pathos.html

Correct me if I'm wrong. Either way, great articles both.

Steve D
I believe the article you're looking for is called "The Pathos of Genre."

http://www.darkecho.com/darkecho/darkthot/pathos.html

Correct me if I'm wrong. Either way, great articles both.

No correction necessary, that is indeed the one. I tried to access it via a link in the interview and it took me to an art website. Ah well.

And I agree on the quality aspect of both pieces, Winter is quite eloquent in discussing horror.

Steve D
I believe the article you're looking for is called "The Pathos of Genre."

http://www.darkecho.com/darkecho/darkthot/pathos.html

Correct me if I'm wrong. Either way, great articles both.

This is a great article. I haven't had a chance to read the other yet. But after reading this one, I will read it soon.

I watched most of it on cable a few weeks ago and I was still freaked out by it as well.

Has anyone seen the "Version You've Never Seen" ? I saw some of it on cable soon after it came out. I didn't like the change to the ending. Any other opinions?

I have it on dvd. It had been so long since I'd watched the original that I really had no way to compare them. I don't remember the "crazy crabwalk" being in the first version. Man, that was great! By far my fav horror/thriller film.

"The Exorcist" scared the living daylights out of me when I saw it in the theater during its original release. It scared my so much, I haven't been able to bring myself to watch it again, believe it or not.

One of these days maybe I'll gird my loins and watch it. I don't want to be that scared with only my kitty cats to protect me from hobgoblins and nightmares.

Maybe that's something to do during a GU....rent the scariest film we can think of and watch it all together in a hotel room. I dunno, could be hysterical....