Actress Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) starts to notice some unusual changes in her daughter Regan (Linda Blair). She seeks help from Father Karras (Jason Miller), who is losing his faith. The top priest who can deal with an exorcism is the aging Father Merrin (Max von Sydow), who is called in to rid of the demon inside Regan.
I'll admit The Exorcist didn't scare me as much as it should have but damn, it's really fucked up. It'll screw up your mind, I can tell you that. Blair gives one of the best child performances in film history. I also admire the work from Burstyn and Miller. Friedkin is responsible for directing the most messed up horror movie in existence.
My Rating: *****
So, I gotta ask - did you happen to listen to my latest podcast when we discussed THE EXORCIST?
ReplyDeleteI watched about 15 minutes of this as a kid. I have never dared to try watching it again lol...
ReplyDeleteSo you were not underwhelmed by it in the end. It's good to hear that you ended up enjoying it.
ReplyDeleteFunny side story. When i was in my teens I borrowed a copy of the book from a friend. One day after school I could not find it and I asked my mam who nonchalantly informed me that she had put it in a saucepan and burned it out in the garden. She claims she started hearing scraping and scratching noises at night ever since I brought it into her home.
It was funny to see the superstitions that grew from this film play out in real life. It had such a huge impact at the time. People started claiming that it was bad luck to watch it, etc.
It was not funny when i had to explain to my friend that he would not be getting his book back.
i LOVED his movie. i thought i was kinda flawless actually. i think the whole correlation with religion and the devil was brilliant. he performances were amazing. just all around great movie.
ReplyDeleteIt's the scariest film I've ever seen. Friedkin's masterpiece and the best horror film ever made.
ReplyDeleteI can't even describe how much this movie scared me when I was 8. Now I just really appreciate how well made it is. I always say Linda Blair deserved that Oscar. Sure she didn't actually provide the demon's voice, but she still had to say all of those lines herself and do all of those messed up things.
ReplyDeleteJust don't even watch The Exorcist II. It's fucking horrible.