Oh hell yeah! I finally got the Exorcist in my possession. This movie is one of my favorite horror movies of all time. What an excellent day for an exorcism.

Rating: 9/10 (29 October 2016)

Without a doubt, 'the Exorcist' is one of most terrifying movie ever made. With a minimum of special effects, director William Friedkin and his small crew, including make-up artist, Dick Smith, art director, Bill Malley, cinematographer Owen Roizman and others, has made the existence of demons and the reality of possession into a realistic scary watch. It absolutely terrified theatre audiences when it came out, as some people went into convulsions, fainting or shock. It was even report, that a movie goer attacked the screen in an attempt to kill the demon and others got possession by it. Mass hysteria led to paramedics being called to some theatres, and others were picketed in protest but for me, even years after I saw this movie, I still have nightmares of the imagery, it use. It remains unparalleled in its ability to make the most confirmed atheist horrified by its depiction of primeval, mystic evil. It's really that compelling. Loosely based on a true-story of the possession of Roland Doe, and Assyrian and Babylonian mythology culture. The film and the best-selling novel of the same name by author William Peter Blatty in which it was adapted from, tells the story of Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair), a young daughter of a movie actress, Christie MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) whom started to develop very odd symptoms of sickness and increasingly aggressive and violent behavior. After not finding a rational explanation of the cause of the illness, Chris seek the help of two priests, Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller) & Father Lankester Merrin (Max Von Sydow) to explore the possibility of an exorcism. Without spoiling the movie, too much, several versions of the film was released with different cuts, due to its controversial content. Some of them, were edited to cut out some of the more obscenely scenes like the notorious crucifix-masturbation scene, the spider-crawling moment and the bleeding Virgin Mary statue shot, others not. Instead, they added to it, inserting new or delete unused footage. Despite that, this film is still notable for being one of the biggest 'R' rating box-office successes of all time even with all the leftover controversial content, like depictions of desecrations, graphic gory self-mutilation, and crude harsh language. To get the best version, seek the 2010's 'The Exorcist' (Extended Director's Cut & Original Theatrical Edition) on Blu-ray version as it has everything to get through the film, including restored and remastered soundtrack, both with Mike Oldfield's unforgettable song 'Tubular Bells' and the three pieces from Lalo Schifrin's rejected score. Anyways, one thing, I didn't really like, how this movie is how much, Friedkin went to some extraordinary lengths to get realistic reactions. From what I heard, from the crew, he was a jerk to work with, often shooting guns and slapping his actors. He even went so far as to put Blair and Burstyn in harnesses and have crew members yank them violently, causing injuries like breaking Burstyn's coccyx, which led to permanent injury to her spine. Not cool! Not cool at all! Suspense was also heightened by tales of a cursed film set, whichexperienced mysterious fires, hospitalized, and even death. Even with that, I think the film deserve ever Oscar nomination, it got that year including Best Picture. All of the acting in it was great. Burstyn was amazing as the mother of Regan, showing not only a sense of fear, but her wiliness to take some real physical bumps. She really deserve the Best Actress nomination. For Blair, while she wasn't the one who did the voice of the demon as that was Mercedes McCambridge; she did help deliver the best performance with her body language. Her transformation to the evil demon, Pazuzu is stunning. The things, the filmmaker put her body, through were rough. Plus, due to death threats against Blair from religious zealots who believed the film "glorified Satan", Warner Bros. had bodyguards protecting her for six months after the film's release. That proves, that she deserve her nomination for Best Supporting Actress at the Oscars. Nevertheless, I still glad to hear that McCambridge got credit for her role as the demonic voice after not getting it, for a very long time. That legendary radio actress did a lot for this film. The way, she alter her vocalization by bounding herself, chain smoking and swallowing raw eggs, is crazy! Furthermore, the actress gave up sobriety as she knew alcohol would distort her voice even more, and create the crazed state of mind of the character. The extremes which the actress put herself through to gain authenticity—still haunts the director to this day. That legendary radio actress did a lot for this film. Miller's performance in this film is a little bit more, questionable since Friedkin really had to go extremes to get a required startled reaction from him. I really didn't think, he stood out, that much to be nominated for Best Supporting Actor. From what I heard, the actor seem hard to work with, as he felt too disgust, and depress, while filming this movie. It shows in the footages, they use. Don't get me wrong, Miller isn't bad actor, but he wasn't great. If anything, Sydow's character is more memorable. I'm surprised, he wasn't nominated. However, I really didn't think the movie need, all of those scenes in Africa with his character as it expose too much of the backstory. It really felt like time wasting. It really took the movie, forever to get to the possession with all the establishment shots in Georgetown. The movie has really bad pacing issues. Also, I didn't like how Reagan started to feel ill, after playing with an Ouija board. It felt too clichés even in the 1970s. Even with that, overall, it still hold the benchmark for being one of the best horror films ever. It's still a must-watch.