Intelligent, frightening, and sadly, often butchered. Respecting it increases the likelihood of enjoying it.

Rating: Null/10 (16 October 2000)

Spoilers, etc.
I saw this movie for the first time in 1997, when I was 15. I guess since I'd heard so much about it, and seen so many parodies, I didn't fully appreciate or understand it. For instance, since I already knew about the head-spinning, when the homicide detective showed up at the MacNeil's townhouse after Burke's death and told Mrs. MacNeil that Burke's head had been turned completely around, it came as no surprise to me. Had I not known about the content in the movie beforehand, I would have been perplexed about Burke's broken neck, and then shocked to see the possessed Raegan do the same thing in the very next scene. That's just one example - I could cite many others that presented the same problem. Also, I watched it on TNT, hosted by Joe Bob Briggs nonetheless, so it was heavily edited and had frequent commercial breaks peppered with Joe Bob's humor (and Joe Bob is great - I definitely would have appreciated his presence more were it not the first time I was watching The Exorcist).
Yesterday, however, my friend and I rented the movie (VHS) and watched it straight through. It was upon this second viewing that I realized the network television version of The Exorcist does not do justice to the original. It was only after renting it, and being able to truly concentrate on the characters and plot without frequent interruptions that I felt truly impressed with the movie. I guess I need to catch up with everyone else and watch it on DVD as well as in the theater, but my friend and I didn't have time to go to the movies, and neither of us own DVD players :).
Growing up in the 80's and 90's has, as can be expected, exposed me to plenty of dumb, gory movies. The Exorcist is in a dying breed of subtle, intelligent horror. People seem to like mentioning the particularly memorable sequences: the vomiting, crucifix "masturbation" (looked to me like she was stabbing herself in the crotch), etc. Those definitely add to the movie's impact on the audience, but at the same time, there were greater complexities that transcend mere gore and actually require multiple viewings to catch. I certainly didn't understand the beginning scene set in Iraq the first time I saw the movie; the second time, it made more sense (pay attention to the background noise, and the clock, and not the specific incidents but what they may have elicited or what might have caused them). Unlike most current movies, The Exorcist does not spoonfeed the audience and explain every little glitch and mystery - and in The Exorcist, there are plenty of these. From what I can tell, most modern films either have them but explain them, or don't have them at all. My generation may ridicule The Exorcist for its subtlety, because we're used to being fed information in movies and not having to come up with it ourselves (I don't mean to sound condescending toward my peers - I do the same thing).
It's a lot easier to make a "horror" movie these days. All you need are computer-generated effects to plug into the same basic plot format. While some of the special effects in The Exorcist look cheesy now, they were a hell of a lot harder to pull off back then. And the movie itself did not follow the horror movie formula we're all so used to now. It plays with the viewer's mind, leaving much to the imagination. I thought it was visually and psychologically haunting. I was frightened when the director wanted his audience to be, 27 years after the fact. I believe that, despite the very non-technical special effects, The Exorcist has withstood the test of time (though I'm not sure I'll be able to say that ten or twenty years from now). It's success lies in the ingenuity, the nonfictional basis of the story, and the incorporation of what is for many the most evil and fearsome entity of them all.
Some bad points: poor editing! The scene changes are so abrupt, and in the version I saw, Raegan went from being a healthy, normal child to having been ill for some time with no transition in between (I hear this is fixed in the version in the theaters). I would have liked the soundtrack to have had a more significant presence, and for the character in the title role to have been more developed. On the whole, however, The Exorcist delivers. I'm looking forward to watching it again, and possibly getting more out of it each time.
Obviously, some hate this movie and some love it, and there are others with feelings of varying intensities between the two extremes. I recommend at least watching it since it has had such a big impact on society. Trying to take it seriously may help. Watch it alone, or in a small group - not in a large, raucous group. Ultimately, it's not my place to say whether or not you'll enjoy it. I, personally, did. 9/10.