If you had to choose between the two
I like both, but I'm going to have to go with The Exorcist. It's an absolute classic within the genre. There's also a couple scenes in it that are some of the most iconic in all of movie making history, and are deeply disturbing, even for today's standards.
It's interesting to watch reaction videos of younger people watching it for the first time to see just how shocked and disturbed many of them are during certain parts of the movie. It's still as relevant today as it was 51 years ago, which says a lot. It still holds up to today's standards and you'll rarely hear anyone have a bad thing to say about it. One comment I hear most often is how people appreciate the movie's pace, dialogue, character development and quality of the acting, which really builds tension and a sense of unease that adds to the realism of it. Oftentimes, they'll mention those are elements that are missing in today's horror movies.
Ultimately, The Exorcist is just more iconic than The Shining, and that's my pick.
I went with The Shining.
The Exorcist never did much for me, maybe because we lacked much in the way of the cultural influence of Catholicism growing up in Japan when I watched it. It always a seemed a bit over-the-top to me in ways that came off a bit more absurd than scary to my eyes.
The Shining always seemed a bit more subdued and had some genuinely creepy moments for me.
The exorcist is the only movie that scared me.
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2Opinion
u The Exorcist
but... I have not seen the other one yet
The Shining is boring. The Simpsons told the same story in 10 minutes.
The Exorcist.
The exorcist
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