The Exorcist (1973) Review

Tagline: Something beyond comprehension is happening to a girl on this street, in this house . . . a man has been sent for as a last resort. That man is The Exorcist.

 

The Exorcist (1973) Review

 

One of the few concepts that truly terrified me as a child was the idea of being possessed by evil. It has been done so many times over in mainly average-to-terrible horror films that you could compare it to the concept of a killer shark movie. The reason that’s such a good comparison? In the same way Jaws became the definitive killer shark movie when it came out in 1975 and has never been topped, The Exorcist (which came out two years earlier) became the definitive possession film, and while there have been other good ones since, none have achieved the same level of success or realism.

If you don’t know the story of The Exorcist, the actual summary of what it’s about might surprise you. It’s not a religious-driven tale, even, it’s just a family drama sewn into some of the most disturbing horror scenes and concepts ever to feature in a major motion picture. Chris MacNeil is an actress working and living in Georgetown, and for some inexplicable reason, her daughter Regan starts showing some worrying behavioral traits. These escalate and lead to many tests by doctors who cannot figure out what’s wrong with her, and Chris realizes there is something truly evil trying to take over her daughter’s body. In conjunction with this storyline is that of Father Karras, a psychiatrist whose faith is already on shaky ground, and the film opens with a different priest, Father Merrin, working at an archaeological site in Iraq, in what seems like a totally unrelated event. Merrin is the exorcist who eventually accompanies Karras in helping purge the demon from innocent Regan before it’s too late. 

The Exorcist was so popular when it came out that it actually almost became ruined by its own success. Nothing like it had ever been seen before, and the reactions were so dramatic they permeated popular culture and gave the film the reputation of being the scariest movie of all-time. Years ago, there was the TV miniseries The 100 Scariest Movie Moments on Bravo, and I was surprised to see them rank Exorcist at #3, behind only Alien and Jaws. I think this is a fair ranking myself, but I wouldn’t argue with anyone who thinks Exorcist deserves the number one slot, because despite its reputation, I know very, very few people who weren’t affected by watching it.

For myself, it was in grade eleven, after years of being told it was too scary for me to see, that I finally sat down one day after school and watched it from beginning to end. The core principle of what makes it so disturbing and haunting is the violation of innocence. This innocent, sweet child is subjected to forces completely out of her control and out of her mother’s control and all adults and all known powers in this world. It takes the power of faith to bring Regan back, and many of the characters don’t even seem that confident in it, which actually makes the stakes feel higher and the horror more real. There’s no specific reason Regan was chosen for possession, and every character has such clear motivation that you’re completely locked in by the time it gets to the actual exorcism. The night after I saw it I was plagued with nightmares of Regan’s blank white eyes and that inhuman growling voice spewing words from her mouth no child should ever say (not to mention the green puke, too), and I realized this was the scariest movie I had ever seen up to that point.

When I watch it now, after knowing all the behind-the-scenes tricks and crafty camera work (this seems like the best spot to note that the film is a technical masterpiece and the fact that every effect was done in-camera is truly staggering, since nearly every effects shot holds up under scrutiny), it doesn’t seem as scary as it used to, but it still has this timeless shock value and grim quality that I don’t think will ever go away. It isn’t full of gory effects, there aren’t many big jump scares, and there isn’t a high body count, but the psychological horror combined with some potent visuals really dig deep into your subconscious. It’s no wonder there were so many sequels, rip-offs, and spoofs to come in its wake: people had to poke fun just to shatter some of the illusion of it being “just a movie” because it really was that effective.

The Exorcist can be described with the phrase “one of the best…” and then have the blank at the end filled in with multiple things. One of the best horror movie makeup designs, created by Dick Smith, inspiring a whole generation of filmmakers, with the grotesque, haunting look for the possessed Regan. One of the best horror movie soundtracks, with the famous Tubular Bells (though there are many memorable scenes without any music at all). One of the best horror movies to be nominated for Academy Awards in all the major categories. One of the best child actor performances. The list goes on. 

This is one of those times when I can compare and comment on the novel upon which the film was based, and it’s yet another example like Jaws or The Silence of the Lambs where a really terrific bestseller served as the perfect source material for a horror film that achieved a level of success rarely seen in the genre. The novel by William Peter Blatty plays out very much the same as the movie, with scenes that are so close you almost can’t picture anything in your head other than scenes from the film if you watched the movie first and know it well. That being said, the novel is still its own thing from the movie, and both are classic in their own ways, but the movie is just so viscerally upsetting that it’s hard to say one is more effective than the other. William Peter Blatty wrote the screenplay, too, and even though he went on to do other things (including write and direct The Exorcist III, the best of the sequels) he would never top this uniquely terrifying story.  

The Exorcist is a tough movie to review these days, because of its resolute place in pop culture and everything that could be said about it pretty much already has been said. If you haven’t seen it, I do recommend it, but only if you really love horror movies. Even though it’s one of those mainstream successes that was seen by everyone, not just the horror crowd, if you don’t like being scared, then you shouldn’t feel like you need to see it to be part of the public consciousness about it. It is scary, plain and simple.