Put that crucifix down right now young lady!!!

Rating: 10/10 (8 October 2000)

Why is THE EXORCIST still effective almost thirty years after it was made? Because possessed Regan is both classic horror chic and disturbingly freakish. Because there's so many shocking scenes co-existing with the sophisticated, long attention-spanned "hey we actually have a story here" portion of the film. Because its antagonist is the evil our American Puritan society fears most. Because it's the granddaddy, the original, that's been duplicated again and again many decades after. Because it plays like a documentary, dragging the audience into a bedroom it doesn't want to walk into. Because it holds so many realistic performances, including the treasured scene-stealing by preteen Linda Blair, and Ellen Burstyn doing a great Shirley MacLaine impression before even Shirley herself could master it... not to mention real-life priests in bit parts, a playwright showing marvelous vulnerability, and a legendary Swedish actor who can't stop playing old men (no matter what his age is). Because this is the last great film directed by promising William Friedkin. Because so many squares out there hate it. Because these reasons, and perhaps more (or maybe less), THE EXORCIST, in all it's glory, will not be forgotten any time soon.

P.S. The original cut by William Friedkin is the best cut no matter how many times you've seen it!