My previous Horrors from Beyond the Netflix! review examined Batman: Under the Red Hood, a recent animated movie from DC Comics and Warner Bros. Now it’s time for a film scarier than the Joker fresh out of Arkham: The Exorcist. The first one.

Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments or suggest a Netflix instant streaming film that you’re curious about but would never, ever watch. (I’ll do that for you.)

The Exorcist is one of those few movies I actually consider scary—the go-to-bed-with-the-lights-on kind of horror film. Made in 1973 by William Friedkin, the movie takes awhile to get going and bring everyone together for the actual exorcism part. Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), an actress living in Washington, struggles to keep her daughter Regan (Linda Blair) alive after she undergoes a dramatic personality change. The dozens of doctors Chris consults are convinced that Regan is suffering from a brain abnormality, but when the evidence doesn’t show and Regan’s behavior turns more bizarre and unexplainable, possession becomes a possibility.

The movie’s frights work on two levels: the obvious, Regan under the influence of the devil, and the not so obvious, all the weird shots and camera zooms in between—not to mention Captain Howdy. (Go ahead, Google it. You’ve been warned.) Sure, Linda Blair spewing backwards English and pea soup vomit all over priests (Jason Miller as Father Karras and Max von Sydow as Father Merrin) does constitute most of the very gross appeal. Some moments are downright offensive, like the scene with the crucifix and the vandalized Virgin Mary statue. The director doesn’t hesitate to make a monster out of little girl.

The not so obvious, though, is much more unsettling. Father Karras’ dream of his mother and Regan’s prediction that Burke is “going to die up there” just skim the surface of what The Exorcist does so well: It takes the ordinary and elevates it to the surreal. The roaring sound of plane while Chris stares at the priests and the Virgin Mary statue behind them, the shawl resembling a face before she turns toward Regan’s doctors, and even the trippy camera zooms as characters walk side by side or sit together at the kitchen table. The Exorcist prepares you for mind games before demons even enter the picture.

If you haven’t seen The Exorcist, add it to your queue. If you have, give it another watch. Preferably in daytime.