Some people are really into horror movies, but I never really understood the attraction of intentionally freaking myself out. And, sitting in a pitch black theater with a bunch of strangers and loud sound effects seems significantly worse.
“The Exorcist,” which came out in 1973, is considered one of the scariest movies of all time. People actually threw up and fainted in theaters, according to a 1974 review by The New York Times. So, when I heard about the recent release of “The Exorcist: Believer,” the sixth movie in the franchise released Oct. 6, I figured it was time for me to test the adrenaline rush that supposedly comes from watching a scary movie.
Jaylen Dotson ’21, one of The Hawk’s movie critics, gets that rush along with a pounding pulse whenever he watches horror films.
“We can watch someone try to escape a mass killer and it’s thrilling, but we want to actually feel the attack and endure the trauma too. [We want] to face the things that we are afraid of but in a controlled environment,” Dotson said. “It’s scary but also thrilling.”
I also wanted to be scared and thrilled, so I bought two tickets for the 12:15 p.m. showing of “The Exorcist: Believer” Oct. 20 at Regal UA Main Street in Manayunk. My roommate, Clare Johnson ’25, came with me for moral support, very willingly to my surprise.
We threw a mix of popcorn, chips, goldfish and an assortment of candy in a bag and covered it with a blanket. The lobby was empty, and in the theater, there were only two people in front of us and three behind. We all sat there in silence, anxiously waiting for the horror.
The movie started off slow, introducing the plot. Victor Fielding is a single father to Angela, whose mother died from earthquake-related injuries. One day after school, Angela and her friend Katherine wander into the woods to perform a seance to contact Angela’s mother.
The girls go missing for three days and return with burn marks on their feet. They start acting strange, having outbursts and convulsions. Eventually, a certain religious ritual is performed with the intent to drive the evil spirit out of them. You know the one.
The first jumpscare was about 30 minutes in, and it didn’t scare me at all. No one in the theater audibly reacted. But my roommate, who usually doesn’t get scared by horror movies, jumped in her seat when the python popped out from under a rock.
As the movie went on, the music got louder, the scenes grew darker and demon voices began emanating from the girls. None of it scared me as bad as I thought it would, and I could always tell when a jumpscare was coming.
In one of the more intense scenes, one of the possessed girls stabs a woman in the eyeballs with a crucifix, and that was the only time I really felt like I had to look away from the screen. Blood was squirting everywhere, and I could see right into her skull. It was repulsive.
But the horror genre wasn’t designed to make people feel comfortable, said Ashlee Wellenreiter, professor of music, theater and film. The genre is about “digging into your own fears,” she said.
“Whatever the situation is in that horror movie, you’re pretty much looking at a part of yourself that you don’t like, and it’s forcing you to think about those ideas and things that you don’t like,” Wellenreiter said.
As the movie continued, the two possessed girls looked worse and worse, with cuts and bruises on their pale and weakening bodies. It made me feel more sad than scared.
The main event was the exorcism, of course. In this movie, there were multiple religious leaders present, not just Catholic priests. To my disappointment, no one said the iconic line from the original movie: “The power of Christ compels you!” Nonetheless, it was a great scene. One of the girls stared at a priest until his neck snapped. It was quite shocking.
Steven Hammer, Ph.D., associate professor of communications and media studies, said he enjoys sharing the experience with others.
“You find connection in panic or in difficulty, so I see scary flicks on opening weekends as much as I possibly can because it’s a really excellent way to share things with people,” Hammer said.
By the film’s end, I didn’t want it to be over. So, I went home and watched “The Exorcist,” the original from 1973. I sat on my couch with my eyes glued to the screen, not wanting to miss a single detail. I didn’t think it was scary, but I loved how disturbing it was.
I now get why people enjoy freaking themselves out, and chances are, I’ll be chasing that rush again soon.
