The Exorcist was released in 1973. I was 11 at the time and way too young to see it. I knew what I knew about it because of pop culture references like the Mad Magazine parody and the Saturday Night Live sketch they did when Richard Pryor hosted in 1975. In 1979, it was re-released to a theatre where we would regularly go. My friends and I were eager to see it and made plans to go as soon as it was announced.
The reputation of the film was a strong as when it was released so the theatre was packed the night we went to see it. We had to sit close to back of the auditorium and our seats were next to the aisle. We were able to see anyone that was too scared to stay and we saw several people leave. Our group stayed with the film and had the typical reaction to it. This trip wouldn’t have been that much different from any other trip to see a scary movie but someone in the theatre crapped their pants. It wasn’t anyone in our group. But it was someone sitting near us. They were close enough that we could smell it but not close enough that we could begin to identify who it was. The people sitting more near the center of the theatre were closer to whoever it was. So, in addition to the horrific imagery of a possessed little girl, we had the added sensory assault of a turd in the theatre. It wouldn’t have been unreasonable for this to be one of the odors present in the possessed girl’s room, but we didn’t need that much realism.
So, when someone asks me about The Exorcist, I tell them its one of the scariest movies I’ve ever seen. When I first went to see it, it scared the shit out of someone in the audience.