I just watched “The Exorcist” again on Netflix and was astonished by just how powerfully frightening it remains over 40 years later. I can only image what audiences in 1973/74 were feeling when they saw it in theaters for the first time. There had been no other horror film quite like it, and as you can see in these videos unearthed by the A.V. Club (via the Playlist), some folks were so horrified they literally fainted upon exiting the theater.
Check out the videos below. Fascinating stuff.