MovieChat Forums > The Exorcist III (1990) Discussion > OK, so the buzz about "the hallway scene...

OK, so the buzz about "the hallway scene" brought me to this movie and then to this board.

posted 6 years ago by artguylarry (498)
6 replies | jump to latest

Given the impact of this scene, I guess in hindsight I would have preferred to be unaware of it, but that didn't make it any less effective. I loved it, and certainly understand why it's so talked about. I will say this, however:

Crucify me if you must, but the greater reason this scene was so effective had little (not nothing, but less) to do with what happened, and more to do with the already-present anticipation of something horrific, and an impeccably timed surge of terrifying music, catching the viewer completely off guard. One might say (well one might not, but I might) that the same thing was achieved in Stanley Kubrick's The Shining in a peaceful scene with a mother and son, followed by a crash of horrifying music and a blank screen that simply says "Tuesday". It had no relevance to the story, as the E3 scene did, but it was effective nonetheless.

[–] DevilYouKnow (8) 6 years ago

Everything you mention is part of the scene. The music, the tension - that shouldn't be discounted. It was scary for a reason - because it was scary.

[–] redban (5290) 5 years ago

Yes, great scene. I find it comparable to Leatherface's first appearance in the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the way the killer shows up out of the blue during a tense moment.

[–] TheArgentinian (6519) a year ago

doesn't live up to the hype.

[–] RoloTony (1183) 7 months ago

I went in not knowing about the hallway scene. I read about its impact long after the fact. When people were referencing it, I thought they were talking about when the nurse walks down the hallway and they cut to the flash of those yellow eyes and the growling.

I don’t think I understood it when I first saw it. I just remember that the music gave me a jolt, but I thought it was a nurse or someone going to strangle her. But I watched it again last night and zoomed in on it - and it’s someone who has those silver shears for chopping peoples heads off. I think if I could’ve made that connection when I first saw it would’ve scared me a lot more.

[–] thingmakersback (1240) 7 months ago

I was lucky enough to see this one first in the theater.
Your problem is one that is becoming more apparent all the time. Older films were made without much thought to viewers seeing them on a small screen... Sometimes people complain, even with recent films, about images being too dark; and that's because the film makers assume that viewers will, at least be using a 14-20 inch screen and not viewing on their phone or some other tiny screen.

I guess this isn't going to get better anytime soon.

[–] HarrySkywalker (520) a month ago

The hospital corridor aka nurse scene is so overrated.

I saw the movie and I liked it but I never found it particularly very scary.

Yet years later I keep reading on the internet about that scene being the scariest ever. I was genuinely confused because I wasn't remembering what people were talking about.

Therefore I rewatched the entire movie to understand if I missed anything. Then when I finally get to that scene I was like:

- "Wait... That's it? So was it this scene all along...?"