What do you think of when you see the The Exorcist movie poster? (Yes, two “the”s)
If you grew up in the 1970s or 1980s, then your answer has something to do with how to keep you jeans dry … or you’re lying and trying to be more macho than you really are.
I mean, The Exorcist was one of the most terrifying films ever released when it first assaulted moviegoers in 1973, and it hasn’t lost much of its pea-soup, pee-squirting sheen since then.
So anytime any little nugget of the movie comes up — visually, in conversation, in a nightmare — you can be sure the shivers will be right behind.
And the movie poster itself brings all that back in a flash, and it delivers some chills of its own … enough that you might feel like you’re inviting trouble just by having one hang on your wall.
With that in mind, here are five reasons you should still fear the The Exorcist movie poster after all these years.
Creepers
Put aside all your memories of The Exorcist and take another look at that movie poster up there.
What’s the first thing you notice? What’s your overall impression?
For most people, I think the basic idea transmitted on first visual inspection is that there is some dude standing outside a residential building at night.
Not just some dude, either, but a shady dude — one in an overcoat, and a hat … and carrying some sort of bag.
And, based on the shape of his body, probably an older shady dude, too.
So, what the hell is a suspicious-looking old man doing lurking around in a dark alley, or at least in the shadows, outside someone’s house?
Your guess is as good as mine, but it can’t be good.
At the very least, he seems to be peeping into the windows, albeit from a distance.
Worse, he may have plans to use whatever’s in that bag of his.
Worst of all?
There are real people out there like this guy, people who do this sort of crap everyday.
Of course, modern video technology makes it harder for the slimies to get away with all their sliminess, but it also slams home the point that bad guys really do exist.
And they really do prey on other real people.
So, who needs demons (or whatever) when you have nasty living guys to creep up your world?
Big Brother
Of course, if you spend a few more seconds staring at the poster, you might start to get some different ideas.
Like, I mean … sure … McCreepy is standing out there in the dark with his trench coat and hat and case full of ick, but he’s not exactly cowering in the shadows.
Maybe he was cowering in the shadows at some point, but not now. Not when we come upon him.
Instead, he’s standing there bathed in the light from some out-of-frame window, which begs the question … how did that happen?
Did the guy seek the light?
Seems unlikely given his get-up.
So … did the light seek the guy? Did it sense his presence and call him out on it?
That seems more likely. And more creepy.
And it seems fairly apropos of our new world reality, when everything we do is on video, on audio, on drone-io at all times.
Big Brother is watching, the old admonishment admonished.
And maybe he was. Maybe even in 1973.
But what if Big Brother wasn’t just a government official or agency, but was in fact an alien … or a demon … or something else.
You know, like AI born of our internet world.
Yeah, terrifying.
Shadows
Big Brother may be watching our hero/villain on the The Exorcist movie poster, and he may be standing in the spotlight, but most of the real estate is engulfed in shadows.
And, no matter how old you are or how much you deny it, you know that bad things live and happen in the dark.
They just do.
Where else are you going to find monsters or demons or mice or bats or bad dreams or bad guys or bad girls or creepy, furry, slimy things that you accidentally grab when all you were trying to do was pull out a pair of shoes from the corner of your closet?
Nowhere but in the dark.
And darkness abounds on the The Exorcist movie poster.
It’s all there in the shadows.
Ripper
And speaking of shadows (still), and the bad guys who lurk there, one dude sort of defined that whole genre.
Or one woman.
Depends on which theory you believe.
But the idea of a bogeyman lurking in dark city crawlways just waiting for his next victim, or seeking out his next victim?
Yeah, Jack the Ripper sort of has the market cornered on that one. Or, at least, he defined the corner.
Come on … think about the Ripper for a minute. What sorts of images come to mind?
A guy.
A guy with some sort of Victorian/stuffy clothing.
A guy with a bag, since there has been so much talk about his having medical expertise. House call!
Shadows, because we don’t know who he was.
Mist, because it’s London … so, fog.
Now, stitch it all together into an image in your mind.
What does that look like?
Maybe yours looks like Weekend at Bernie’s or The Empire Strikes Back, but you’re weird if it does. No judgement, though.
What mine looks like is the The Exorcist movie poster, only with some of the bright alien glare replaced by yellow-orange candle glow.
Memories
Now that we’ve gone through the exercise of figuring out how the The Exorcist movie poster can and should scare you even if you have never seen the movie, let’s get down to brass tacks here.
The mac daddy of all ways that this imagery still scares you and me and my dead great uncle Stanley is that it evokes memories of the actual movie.
Did I say memories? Nah, they’re freaking flashbacks …
Dumbass lady following a sound into the attic in the night.
Little girl pissing on the carpet during Mummy’s party.
Acne from hell.
Levitating bed.
Gyroscope head.
Pea soup, for the love of …
THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU.
Yeah, if you’ve ever seen The Exorcist, this movie poster is going to crank up that nightmare screen in your head like nothing else since you walked in on your mom chewing her toenails.
As they say, you can’t unsee some things, and the The Exorcist movie poster will make you re-see more than you ever wanted to bite into in the first place.
Over and over.
And night after night.
Forever … and ever … and ever.
(Sorry, wrong movie.)
(Like ‘The Exorcist’ Movie Poster? Then you might like our article on E.T. Movie Poster, click here.)
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