Tag Archives: ted leo

Happy Hallowe’ekend!

Two clips to get you started right for the night of fright ahead.

Subliminal chills from The Exorcist

First, you are aware, of course, that The Exorcist is one of the scariest movies of all time, because it harnesses that bone-shaking fright of The Unknown, and worse yet, the Intimate Unknown, the thought that something real and horrible and pure evil has cracked your safety shell and is living its chaotic path right under your roof, its next move always unpredictable but you stuck there, powerless to evacuate the situation. But have you ever seen the original trailer for the 1973 movie, the one that was never released because it was deemed too scary for audiences?

If you can, turn the lights down and watch this and you will feel the hot breath of unwelcome demons breathing in your ear. This is not one of those cheap scares where some shit jumps out at you from a darkened corner. It’s just the right discomfiting combination of sound and images that makes your skin move on its own accord:

They don’t make em like that any more, the subliminal eeriness that invades your subconscious and sets your mind into unease in ways the eewy gory Saw movies don’t even comprehend.

Second, something lighter, but still — in the mind of my 6-year-old self, at least — almost as goddamned terrifying.

Continue reading →