10 More Bizarre Ways Directors Tricked Audiences
5. Buzzing Bee Sound Effects Were Included To Induce Anxiety - The Exorcist
In addition to genuinely terrorising his cast while shooting The Exorcist, director William Friedkin deployed some uniquely oddball tactics to keep audiences uncomfortable and on their toes.
Beyond flashing up subliminal images throughout the horror classic, he also toyed around with viscerally unnerving sound effects to unconsciously unnerve viewers.
Case in point, many of the movie's earlier scenes feature the sound of buzzing bees subtly layered into the soundscape, which activates a primal fear response in the audience's lizard brain.
Friedkin also included "disturbing industrial sounds" during the demon sequences to try and trigger a fight-or-flight response in those watching, by making them anticipate coming danger.
It's certainly inventive albeit very, very weird, and in 2023 it might be viewed as a step too far in the pursuit of audience manipulation.
All the same, if you came away from The Exorcist feeling uncommonly shook, this is why. This and it being an all-timer movie, of course.