The powers of good and evil

Rating: 9/10 (8 December 2001)

I must admit I was frightened when I first saw this movie, as a teenager. Not just during it either. I had never seen a horror movie that had stuck with me much at all after I had left the theater. I saw it twice more not much longer afterward. By the third time, I was laughing at some of the scenes.
Nevertheless, I see "The Exorcist" as one of the all-time great horror flicks. A novel idea, filmed in modern America, based on a true story, if exaggerated. Max von Sydow was, of course, an excellent choice as initial exorcist Father Merrin. The gradual deterioration of Regan (Linda Blair) is dramatically effective. Jason Miller is superb as Father Karras.

The special effects work because they are not, well, really special effects but part of the story. People seeing today's special effects used in intergalactic sci-fi battles or ridiculous sped up action as in "Charlie's Angels" tend to be drawn more away from the film than to it. Absurdity is accompanied by tiresome exaggeration and repetition and disorientation of the viewer, who aside from finding the action hard to follow, gets diverted from the plot. In "The Exorcist," however, Director William Friedkin made sure to use special effects to convey what William Peter Blatty, and presumably others, picture demonic possession to be like. Legions of warships are not blown up, a bed is raised. Superhuman strength is displayed, but within the confines of a single room Body features are made grotesque, but for good reason. The swearing etc. might be cheap in another context, but here it is not really obnoxious but powerful, intense, hateful--demonic. I do not think of this film as sensationalistic, as some do.
"The Exorcist" is highly evocative in its portrayal of demonic possession along with the immense power and tradition that the Catholic Church can summon to combat it. Indeed, the imagery of the Church presented is dignified, majestic. Historical background of demonic possessions and exorcism is in but is understated and subtly effective for that reason. This allows us to focus on the situation at hand rather than Devil stories.

In sum, "The Exorcist" contains some of the most dynamic imagery of "good" and "evil" ever put on film. This is its most important legacy.