Here's Stephen King's famous quotation about The Exorcist, from Danse Macabre:

"...(two novels of the Humorless, Thudding Tract School of horror writing are 'Damon,' by C. Terry Kline, and 'The Exorcist,' by William Peter Blatty--Cline has since improved as a writer, and Blatty has fallen silent...forever, if we are lucky.)"

Anybody agree with this?

I seem to remember reading somewhere that King had modified his opinion in later years, but I haven't seen this myself.

Personally, I couldn't disagree with it more. That it comes from the guy who brought us Insomnia and Rage does prove, however, that King is not without humor.

I'm also thankful that Blatty didn't stay silent forever, as King hoped. Legion, the "sequel" to The Exorcist, is a terrific book. Very different, but just as good.

Makes me wonder about Damon. Anybody read that one?

I thought the same thing when I originally read it. When I re-read it years later (older and more attuned to the sort of conflicts those scenes represent), I changed my mind. One of the good things about the book is that its demons are everywhere.

Late to the game here. I've never read this book, but I have seen the film. This is one of only 3 films that ever scared the living daylights out of me. Actually, it takes the top spot on my list. Scared me to death. In fact, it scared me so much that I'd be afraid to have the physical book in my house. And I'm not a superstitious person!

I'm curious, how did the film compare to the book?

Very well, actually, and even more so if you've watched the director's cut, which includes a very scary scene dropped from the original, but which is in the book. It's not always true, but in this case it was good that Blatty wrote the screenplay.

Now I'm curious -- what were the other two movies that scared you so much? : -)

Oh, is that the scene where she crawls down the stairs bent backwards? That was INSANE. Loved it, but scared the hell out of me.

Okay, well don't laugh, but the second movie that scared me was The Blair Witch Project. Not kidding. I think I suffered PTSD after watching that. Nothing scares me more than that which you cannot see. The third film was The Silence of the Lambs, but only because Hannibal Lectors truly exist in every day life.

Yes! Amazing, right? Without knowing what was coming, I watched the director's cut for the first time when I happened to be alone in the house...at night...in the dark. Very cool.

Blair Witch doesn't surprise me. If you'd said Paranormal, though...

I can understand Silence, too, when you put it that way. Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer was that way for me.

Brave soul! There is no way I could watch that film alone, let alone at night and in the dark. Years ago a friend and I rewatched it--I had to sleep with the lights on for 3 days. But yeah, that scene was a great addition. It should have been kept in the original. Incidentally, I also thought the ceiling crawl scene in Exorcist 3 was kind of fun. I thought it was very reminiscent of the stairs scene, even if it didn't have the same punch.

"If you'd said Paranormal, though..."

lol No, Paranormal didn't scare me. You'd think it would, but it didn't for some reason. Honestly, there aren't that many films that scare me. Really only the 3 I mentioned above. There are scenes that I can appreciate and find scary, but as a whole they don't do much for me. For example, I really loved the scene in The Ring when the girl crawls out of the television. I still give my TV the side eye because of that. :)

I don't think I've ever watched Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer, but it sounds frightening. I think the last serial killer film I watched was Monster, which I thought was an amazing film.

And, I've totally derailed this thread. :)

That's all right. Steam-of-consciousness works, too. : -)

Blair Witch I liked (with reservations) because (a) it was something new at the time and (b) it had a cool website. But all the clones that have followed it...ugh! I tried watching V/H/S the other day and didn't make it 15 minutes before I gave up.

That bad, huh? I hadn't heard of it so I checked out the trailer. Based on your comment, it seems like one of those films where the trailer is more entertaining than the actual film.