Its the aftershocks that get you

Rating: Null/10 (13 December 1999)

When originally released I was too young and couldn't sneak in the local flea pit to see this (and admittedly a little too scared to try too hard), I was witness to the hysteria that surrounded it but had to settle for the book (which was scary enough in its own right). It wasnt until 1983 that I finally managed to see this on video (just before the ban) and I found it the most chilling cinematic experience of my life (there were awful coincidences happening in my house throughout the movie that scared the living bejeezus outta me). I moved to the States in 1997 and The Exorcist, along with Clockwork Orange, were the first two movies that I rented and whereas some of the impact has been reduced, proably due to an over exposure to gore in the preceeding years, the deeper tremors can still be felt..it still functions at the psycholgical level just as effectively..a view shared by my then 12year old daughter. The use of subliminal images (of a face painted Damien Karras) serve to highten the underlying fear that runs throughout this movie...somtimes its what you dont see, or what you think you see that delivers the real shocks