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7 comments
10 comments
Rank This Matchup or Comment/Reply Below
on 7/21/2010
The two scariest films of all time!
on 6/22/2011
The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is scarier and more nerve-wracking. The Exorcist is more messed up. I'd have to say that the part where Leatherface hangs the chick on a meat hook is one of the horror scenes most burned in my memory. The movie is so sweaty and dirty and raw that it feels real. The Exorcist doesn't give me that same sense of primitive terror. I'm surprised that they got away with putting some of the stuff in the movie, like the crucifix scene, but it's never truly scary.
on 6/27/2011
"The Exorcist" has a heart that "TCM" could never have. Granted, "TCM" makes no effort to have one, but "The Exorcist" keeps me coming back long after the film's lost its shock value because of Father Karras. That character's absolutely perfect and although it couldn't possibly have as moving an ending as in the book, it does a damn fine job ratcheting up the suspense until that great last scene. That being said, "TCM" has that jump scare in the woods and the dinner table scene that I'll never forget. They're both great films, but "The Exorcist" is in a class of its own.
on 8/10/2011
The Exorcist is a Hollywood horror film, but Texas is the real thing. I think that Exorcist is over rated but anyone who has seen Texas doesn't forget it in a hurry.
on 4/14/2012
This is the choice between better performances, better writing and direction, and better characters versus more blood and gore. It's that simple.
The Exorcist is probably more graphic with the bodily fluids than The Texas Chain Saw Massacre. There is hardly any blood or gore in TCM. Just saying.
on 6/25/2012
For me the scariest horror movie boils down to these two. The Exorcist is a powerful film that sends chills up my spine. After watching it I feel like I've been punched in the gut hard. Chainsaw is a brilliant, sweat-inducing crazy film that makes me feel like I've been slapped in the face multiple times. I'd go with Chainsaw.
Both horrifying films. I'll go with The Exorcist. It was a lot creepier.
on 7/12/2012
The Exorcist wins this. It's more horrifying. Linda Blair's performance still gives me nightmares. TCM was thrilling but not scary. Now if The Shining was in question, then it'd be a real contest.
on 12/9/2012
Texas is GREASY. It's like rubbing your face in an unwashed frying pan. It's so fucking elemental. Why isn't it my top 30? I should pay more attention to my chart.
on 1/2/2013
I prefer the thrills and blood pumping action of Texas.
on 1/14/2013
I'll have to watch TCM again, it didn't hold up too well the last time I watched it, but maybe I just wasn't in the mood or something because I used to love it. The Exorcist was fantastic and better than I thought when I watched it recently so it gets my vote here.
The Exorcist by a long way for me.
I haven't seen either film (beyond the usual clips that warn me to stay away) but there are many words in the English language applicable to horror films: gory, gross, brutal, cruel, terrifying, horrifying, revolting, repulsive (and sacreligious, too). If either of these films were the Ultimate Horror Film, wouldn't they have it all? (Sounds like The Evil Dead to me.) Tobe Hooper reportedly was trying for a PG, so he deliberately limited the gore. Why The Exorcist never got an X rating is something a lot of people wondered about. Hmm, for my part, between the two, The Exorcist is the film I'd want to see more, and yet also see less, as someone who shares the Catholic Faith, it is the more interesting to me and also the more frightening, but not necessarily the more repulsive or revolting of the pair.
"Why The Exorcist never got an X rating is something a lot of people wondered about." I think because it's a Hollywood film that's seen as having some degree of (airquotes) "artistic meaning", rather than some foreign exploitation movie.
It's The Exorcist for me and it's really easy. If I'm being honest, my reaction to TCM was a lukewarm one. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it either. I mean, I liked it, you guys...I just didn't like it-like it. The only thing I'll hold against The Exorcist is that Friedkin chose to put the focus on Chris and Regan and not Damien. The thing should have been a full-blown character study focused on Damien. Otherwise, pretty damn good. Texas Chainsaw's effective enough, I guess. I think I just wanted it to be "greasier".
I love the balls-to-the-wall, all out style of Texas Chain Saw. It became an art form.
BOOORING!!!
