The Exorcist (1973)
I won’t tell you anything about The Exorcist, in part because you probably already know its key story beats (and probably a few of its classic lines), but also because the story I will tell you will sell it for you.
My high school soccer coach was quite the orator, and every year when it got close to Halloween he would tell us scary stories at the end of practice, in a corner of the pitch where the field lights didn’t reach. One year, he told us about the night he had gone to see The Exorcist when he was a kid, and walked home alone in the dark, absolutely petrified the entire way. When he finally arrived home, his father was waiting in the bushes for him, and jumped out just as he reached the front door. My coach screamed and did a near-perfect back flip off of the front porch, to which his dad replied, “Wow, guess it was a scary movie, huh?” — Alyssa Mercante
