Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/01/09/footage-of-traumatized-moviego.html
…
5 Likes
I remember TV ads for an (early 80s?) horror movie showing dimly-lit audiences curled defensively in their seats, hands held protectively over their faces, while a sombre voiceover informed us they were terrified because they were watching “The MCCLUNKEY”, where MCCLUNKEY is of course some other word that I have forgotten.
Anyone know what the hell that was? Probably one of Rob’s
?
ETA: You know what, I think it was Cronenberg’s The Brood:
6 Likes
This one is my favorite of the first three. The solemnity and sanctity of the first gets on my nerves, when it’s really just a jumped up exploitation film about the torture of a young girl. The second offers both genuine ideas and genuine laughs.
1 Like
Kind of reminds me of waiting for my parents outside Blade Runner as the audience exited. Never had I seen a more depressed group of people leaving a movie.
I’m also wondering if these folks had even heard of Pier Paolo Pasolini.
5 Likes
I used to wonder if some religious proselytizers missed an opportunity with movies like this. After watching The Exorcist and The Omen, I started reading the Bible like a kid who did not want to be possessed. 
11 Likes
Want to see footage of people leaving from seeing Cats the motion picture.
16 Likes
You know, this is one classic I have yet to watch as well. Shrug. Did not like horror back in the day, and even now I appreciate it, but not a huge fan. Still, I’d like to see it, though I am sure it will have lost most of its impact from back then. I have, of course, seen some clips.
Nice review of it:
2 Likes
The MAD image I was actually looking for was, I think, a spoof of Exorcist II (might’ve been The Omen or something else; hell it was like 42 years ago when I found that issue) – it had an illustration of the barf bag, but this time it was filled, taking the shape of Alfred E. Neuman.
8 Likes
I remember when I was maybe 16, seeing Videodrome, and the lot of us (all around the same age) were loitering afterwards just trying to figure out what the hell we just saw.
Coincidentally, I now have a similar reaction whenever James Woods decides he needs to say something. It’s the circle of life. 
9 Likes
I remember being a bit creeped out by it when it was on TV.
But not so much the barfing/head turning/etc as the in between.
Scary is waiting for the cat to jump out of the cupboard.
Much like the original Night Of The Living Dead when I finally saw it. The zombie scenes are mostly meh to full on funny but the bits where everyone is sitting trapped listening to the radio for news of the outside are done well and leave you feeling the tension in the air.
6 Likes
I was one of those people standing in line for hours in Westwood in 1973. Outside up on the tall side wall of the theater was a prop of an open window with long curtains blowing outward. I was looking forward to watching my very strict Catholic friend experience the movie. But, the expected reaction reversed and the joke was on me, with him trying not to let me see him laugh as I reacted throughout the movie.
7 Likes
I don’t understand horror movies. Is it some thrill like riding a roller coaster or something? I mostly feel depressed, or else just get bored. I’ll make an exception for comedy horror like Evil Dead or Parents, but even those aren’t my first choice when I want to watch a movie. The world is horrible enough as it is without fantasizing.
I guess how big of a deal The Exorcist was at the time has been somewhat lost to time, but it was a genuine phenomenon. James Brown even tried to milk some of the hype for a funk 45:
1 Like
there’s always a market for unironically pro-church anti-satan propaganda
2 Likes
You don’t really hear about “fainting” anymore.
3 Likes
Too true. It went the way of “quicksand”!
3 Likes
This. There is a lot of crap out there though.
1 Like
Goes well with this film containing audience reactions to Eraserhead 
B.L.A.T.C.
2 Likes
Hello to Jason Isaacs.
1 Like
1 Like
My dad bailed out of the The Exorcist too but my mom stayed behind 'cause she’s badass. Ah!
2 Likes
