The Quintessential Horror Film

Rating: 10/10 (17 February 2017)

The "scariest horror movie of all time?" Well, that really depends on what scares you. Some people think a horror movie needs a high body count and buckets of gore to be scary. Some people find vampires scarier than masked killers and vice-versa. So this may or may not be the "scariest" horror movie of all time, but to me it is certainly the most well-made horror movie of all time. It's not just a great horror flick, it's great cinema, period. Like many great horror films, The Exorcist uses horror as an excuse to examine aspects of the human condition. The film tackles issues of faith and family in a time when both were in a state of flux in our culture. It was one of the first films to frankly depict the aftermath of divorce, complete with the mother shouting obscenities about the absent father within earshot of the daughter. Early in the film it is implied, though never explicitly stated, that the emotional fallout of the divorce may have contributed to Regan's perceived mental illness. Then you have the priest who struggles with the loss of his faith, and guilt for not being able to care for his dying mother. In some ways the priest's crisis of faith can be seen as symbolizing religion's struggle to maintain its relevance in a quickly-changing modern world. But it's not just the ambitious thematic content that sets The Exorcist apart. It's the little details, the small interactions between characters as their lives intersect, that give the film an emotional depth that few, if any, other horror films possess. The gross-out effects and obscenity-spewing pre-teen girl may be the film's initial big draws, but it's the strength of the storytelling, the sympathetic characters, and the film's strong emotional core that remain with the viewer long after the shock value has worn off. All of this, to me, makes The Exorcist the quintessential horror film, because it doesn't just aim to scare you, it aims to move you, and it succeeds brilliantly.