Friday, October 30, 2020

My Review of The Exorcist (1973)

 

Written by William Peter Blatty
Directed by William Friedkin

Father Karras (to Chris): "There are no experts. You probably know as much about possession than most priests. Look, your daughter doesn't say she's a demon. She says she's the devil himself. And if you've seen as many psychotics as I have, you'd know it's like saying you're Napoleon Bonaparte."

One of the things I've always found extremely fascinating about this movie was the fact that it was so scary upon it's release that people somewhat passed out in the cinemas when seeing it. I've seen plenty of scary movies throughout my life (and I want to see so many more) but the question - is The Exorcist really that scary?

I think had I seen this as a child rather than an adult, I definitely would've been far more terrified of it but there's no doubt that this movie has had a lasting legacy on the horror front and it's easy enough to see why. It's all down to two incredible central performances, isn't it?

The first one being of course, Linda Blair. She had the unenviable task of playing a child possessed by the Devil or so she claims. It's never really stated but throughout the movie, Blair goes from playing an ordinary mild manner young girl named Regan into the entity possessing her and causing all manners of madness in her wake.

It's an incredible performance from a young actor with Regan alternating between a helpless child and an evil entity, attacking Regan's own mother, Chris (Ellen Burstyn) while revealing some scandalous stuff about the very priests trying to save her soul. Then there's the aftermath where Regan seems unaware of the damage that she's had a role in.

The second great performance of the movie would then be Jason Miller in the role of Fr Damien Karras, the very man determined to save Regan's soul and facing an uphill battle as a result with his own faith and morality torn asunder as he's forced to take the most extreme measure in order to save the day. It's a performance that's just as powerful as Blair's.

The movie itself effectively feels like a two hander between Blair and Miller towards the second half, even with the support of others. It's those two actors who anchor the whole things and it's Karras and the possessed Regan's battle of wits with the raised stakes that genuinely makes the movie a captivating piece of cinema. 

-  The director's cut has a slightly different ending between the characters of Kinderman and Dyer.
-  Some religious zealots took this movie so seriously, there were even threats against Linda Blair, which genuinely startled me to read about.
- I think the most shocking scenes were some of the more sexual references in the movie and they were toned down from the original book.
- Chronology: This movie begins with scenes in Iraq before the main setting of Georgetown, Washington. 

The Exorcist is a stone cold classic. Had I seen this as kid, I definitely would've been terrified but even as an adult, this movie certainly holds up on the scares, the possession scenes, the music and of course, the central performances from both Blair and Miller. Easily a perfect choice of movie to watch over the Halloween weekend.

Rating: 9 out of 10

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