20 'Controversial' Movies Everyone Completely Over-Reacted To
2. The Exorcist
The Film:
One of cinema's most acclaimed scare-fests, The Exorcist is a legendary horror film focusing on the possession of a young girl and 2 priests trying to save her.
The Controversy:
The film's many disturbing and twisted moments (Crucifix masturbation and all the rest), alleged subliminal imagery and religious themes ensured that this was a huge controversy magnet. It was banned in the UK for a long time and only returned in 1999.
Why It Was Wrong:
Time has not been kind to The Exorcist. It rarely, if ever, lives up to its reputation when viewed now. Once again, the time period must be considered but even so, people overreacted to it with a vengeance.
The Exorcist is more of a slow-paced drama with only a few grotesque moments. Prior to this film there will have been plenty of other films or other works of fiction that will have been far nastier - just look at many of the plays written hundreds of years earlier - so it was silly to get so up in arms about a few possessed antics.
The controversy feels even more ridiculous nowadays. We've seen the stuff this movie offers in too many other films to count now. If viewing it, do not expect the scariest film of all time, as you'll only be disappointed. This remains a well-made and disturbing movie, but given how dated and slow-paced it often is, to call it the scariest film of all time is simply laughable.