Welcome to the Weekly Movie Thread, your place on the Avocado to discuss films with your fellow commenters. Want to make a recommendation? Looking for recommendations? Want to share your opinions of movies, both new and classic?

This year we celebrate the 50th anniversary of The Exorcist. Directed by William Freidkin and written by William Blatty, The Exorcist has a unique, almost documentary feel that makes it unique among the 70’s prestige drama horror films like Rosemary’s Baby and the trashy Texas Chainsaw Massacre types.

It’s scary because it feels real.

The reason those Georgetown stairs became so iconic because you’ve seen stairs like that, and you can feel the impact when someone falls down those stairs in a very matter-of-fact shot.

This led to, for years, horror aficionados declaring The Exorcist as the scariest movies of all time. It’s rep may have been its biggest detriment, as inevitably new viewers would walk alway disappointed in a film that they were familiar with through cultural osmosis.

But much of its power still remains, and its place inn pop culture is secure. A new sequel, The Excorist: Believer, comes out this week.

Bonus prompt: what is the scariest movie you’ve ever seen?