A victim of its own reputation

Rating: 7/10 (8 May 2020)

There are only so many movies out there whose reputation towers over it. The Exorcist may be at the top of that short list. It looms over everyone that goes to watch. Everyone has heard of "the scariest movie ever made". Churches have told members to avoid this on the grounds of it being evil. Everyone knoes about the Exorcist, which is why it's so difficult to go into this with clean eyes. Try as I might to avoid hearing about this film, it was inevitable to hear or see some spoilers. The walking down the stairs backwards scene, the crucifix scene, and the priest jumping out the window are nearly impossible to avoid. Since this is such a victim of it's reputation, people not only want to prove it's worth but as many people want to discredit it. Like it or not this movie has stuck around and I think it's here to stay. One thing to mention out of the gate is the time period it was made in. The movie was released in 1973 so if you expect this to resemble modern horror, you're going to be disappointed. It's almost 50 years old now. That comes with some amount of date. Some of the effects aren't the best and the pacing is different then something more modern. Which are really my only issues here, despite me just not really getting into it. It's a bit dated now and at times feels tedious. Which is odd considering that the presentation here is quite stark and abrupt. The editing is quite harsh and there's a lot of hard cuts from one thing to the next. It feels like it doesn't have any time to waste and the progression of time is quick. It's quite the bizarre pacing/editing experience to say the least. I like the idea of the film showing the long painful process of getting the exorcism. The mother goes to the hospital, shrinks, and finally she turns to religion as a last ditch effort to save her daughter. On paper, I love that idea. In practice I think there is to much time spent on other things for it to work completely. Even though I didn't really get sucked into it, there are many moments that I loved. The entire sequence where Regan is getting examined by doctors is legitimately unsettling. I also loved almost everything to do with Father Karras. I liked his trials of faith, the scene when he visits his mother, and every time he talks with Regan. His arc from a man on the brink of leaving the church to coming face to face with pure evil and overcoming it is great. He's by far the most compelling and well rounded character here. The mother character being pushed to her wits end is nice but I didn't much care for the performance. Overall, it's still a really good movie. There's lots of great ideas at play, unsettling sequences, and great character work. It doesn't all come together completely but I think it's still rather effective.