Horror Classic

Rating: 9/10 (30 December 2013)

William Friedkin delivers a highly effective horror film that's still powerful after all this time. I just watched it for the first time in about ten years. While not as scary as it was the first time, I was able to appreciate the filmmaking behind it even more. Years of exorcism movies have followed and all borrow from this film. It's undoubtedly one of the most influential horror films of the last fifty years. Possibly second only to Night of the Living Dead. Regrettably, all of the imitators will dilute the original somewhat for a lot of viewers. Especially younger viewers.
The cast is great. Several were nominated for Academy Awards. Ellen Burstyn, Jason Miller, and Lee J. Cobb are all solid. Max Von Sydow gives a distinguished and understated performance. Linda Blair, in her career-defining role, is excellent. Unfortunately, she is seldom given much credit these days. This is due to the fact that her voice was dubbed during the possessed sequences. I don't feel this is particularly fair since her performance outside of the possession scenes is quite good and during those scenes she is still acting, despite the later dubbing of her lines.
Anyway, there's not much I can add that hasn't already been covered in great detail by other reviewers. It's a seminal horror film and I can't imagine anyone who is a fan of horror not seeing it. Taking it a step further, it's just a great film overall that I think transcends its genre.