What "possessed" me to watch this movie after dark by myself?

Rating: Null/10 (20 July 1999)

I'm not kidding. I am a grown woman, have seen hundreds of horror movies, and even watching this in the middle of the day when it was sunny outside it gave me chills. In fact, a couple of scenes (like the head spinning) scared me so bad I almost started to CRY. I saw this movie on TV when I was in high school and for some reason it scared me WAY more now. The documentary was excellent, and I finally got to see the notorious "spiderwalk" scene that was cut out. I wanted to see this part for a long time, ever since I heard about it, but I didn't think I'd get to because I don't have a DVD player. I was thrilled that it was included, but YEEEESH it gave me the creeps. I think it was a great idea to remaster the sound, as the sound is one of the most frightening aspects of the movie. It rightly deserved the 1973 Academy Award for best sound. Her voice is creepy enough, but these horrible animal-like sounds come out of this little girl that make every hair on your body stand on end. I also didn't think upon a second viewing that I would find any scenes shocking as it takes a lot to shock me, and I am not exaggerating. Well, the scene with the crucifix made my jaw drop and I had to cover up my eyes, I couldn't watch! ( if you are easily shocked I would seriously recommend either fast-forwarding or NOT looking during this scene). What's also interesting in the documentary is hearing about how rough a shoot it was. Evidently Friedkin is not very well-liked by most of the actors who have worked with him, and you will find out they have good cause for this. But I have to admit, he got results, and this is one hell of a movie.