![Max von Sydow begins his struggle to drive out a demon in William Friedkin's \"The Exorcist.\"
The Exorcist](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,x_0,y_251,w_1915,h_1077/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/370/01kwa123bkq71b8qm3q0.jpg "Max von Sydow begins his struggle to drive out a demon in William Friedkin's \\"The Exorcist.\\"
The Exorcist")
“I love horror movies. And I was really scared the first time I saw…”
Science fiction and horror have been inextricably linked since the earliest days of cinema, dating all the way back to the Silent Era adaptations of Frankenstein and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde even before the invent of talkies. So, should it come as a surprise that a Star Trek luminary of the small and big screens, Brent Spiner, found the original Exorcist “genuinely frightening?”
Spiner and his Star Trek: The Next Generation co-star, Jonathan Frakes, were hosting a live stream of their must-listen podcast Dropping Names (and other things) when a member asked about Spiner’s love of macabre movies. “I love horror movies,” Spiner said via the podcast’s YouTube channel. “But being scared, and I was really scared the first time I saw The Exorcist.”
“Yes, I was, too,” Frakes added.
“I was not prepared for that, and it was genuinely frightening,” Spiner continued. “I mean, if you watch it at home, turn the lights out. Pretend you’re in a movie theater, it’s like a really, really — Exorcist: another excellent movie […] very good movie.”
“I was shocked the first time I saw the first Cape Fear,” Frakes said.
“Oh, yeah,” Spiner agreed as the two hosts began discussing the new Cape Fear starring Javier Bardem. Circling back to The Exorcist, though, I, too, am a huge horror movie fan. And, for those Star Trek followers who’ve never seen a scary movie, for whatever reason, I can’t recommend the 1973 classic enough.
Plus, for those new to the fandom, Spiner portrayed the android Data first in The Next Generation, later in its four subsequent films, and then on the Star Trek: Picard streaming series. And I bring this up because Data’s overarching story itself exhibits Frankenstein-esque themes and parallels.
Most notably, Dr. Noonien Soong is clearly a science fiction iteration of horror's Dr. Frankenstein, who used his genius to create The Monster, which in Star Trek is represented by Data. However, Soong’s creation, while he does possess superior strength, is light years more intelligent than the creature portrayed by Boris Karloff in the classic Universal Monster movies.
Have you seen The Exorcist? If not, do you plan on watching it now that Spiner has said it’s “genuinely frightening?” Share your thoughts and comments with us on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages. And be sure to check out Universal’s Frankenstein (1931), too, if you’d like to examine the parallels between Data/Dr. Soong and The Monster/Dr. Frankenstein personally.
At the time of this writing, The Exorcist is free to stream on Fandango at Home, while Frankenstein (1931) is available to buy or rent on the usual VOD platforms. And catch new episodes of Frakes and Spiner’s Dropping Names podcast on their YouTube channel.
Live long and prosper, Trekkies!
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