Still scary after all this time.....

Rating: Null/10 (13 December 2011)

Like the title says, this film still possesses the innate ability to scare me half to death. That is saying something considering I am a grown man that has been to war, twice. Everything about the film is designed to make the viewer feel uneasy. Even the opening,which granted the film was made in 1973 and war with the middle east was unforeseeable, makes viewers uneasy with the call to prayer blaring in Arabic. The whole film is superbly shot and choreographed, with special kudo's going to the lighting directors and cinematographers for their excellent use of contrasting shadows to both hide and reveal things. The performances in the film are obviously among the best there have ever been and little needs to be said about them that has nor been said by critics in the past. Ellen Burstyn's performance as the socialite mother with a problem that can not be solved by throwing money at it rings true to what I would imagine any parent would do if faced with a similar situation. Likewise, Max Von Sydow is nothing short of the best in his role as Father Merrin. I mean, I was fraked out just watching the film at home, I would imagine that being in the room with all that stuff going on ( its a movie, I know) would still be very disconcerting. I think the reason that this film has stood the test of time the way it has is because, deep down, we are all afraid of something terrible happening to us that is completely and utterly out the realm of our control. There is nothing more frightening than that to me. I said all that to say this, this film is excellent, it scared me like I have not been scared in a long time, and if you have not seen it, you are doing a true disservice to yourself.