Effective

Rating: Null/10 (14 March 2001)

I had avoided "The Exorcist" for many years because I am not the kind of person who likes to be grossed out when watching a film. Some intriguing interviews with author William Peter Blatty on the subject that in the end the movie is an expression of faith finally compelled me to rent it and give it a shot.
On the whole, I was impressed. The movie is an eerily effective accomplishment by taking the subject seriously and by not forgetting the more important theological implications, which in a movie made today would be totally lost or mocked given Hollywood's current penchant for cheap, gross-out exploitation. The moments that repel in this movie are shocking but they do have a context for demonstrating that they are still shocking, and are tailored in fact to the sensitivities of those who still regard such scenes as horrifying, whereas the jaded minds of today think that the dialogue the demon possessed Regan utters is probably okay and normal.
There is one thing however that I have to get off my chest, and that is my total disgust with both Blatty and director William Friedkin for their shameful assertions on both commentary tracks of the DVD that Peter Falk's Columbo is a steal of the Lieutenant Kindermann character. For the record, the Columbo character was introduced by Richard Levinson and William Link in their original 1961 stage play "Prescription Murder" a full seven years before Blatty began writing his novel. Second, Peter Falk first played Columbo in a February 1968 television adaptation of "Prescription Murder" a full three years before the "Exorcist" novel was published and the show was already airing on television for two and a half years when the movie was released. The "theft" charge of Blatty and Friedkin is outrageous and a demeaning insult to both Levinson and Link, who didn't need Kindermann to make Columbo a classic character.
Having vented my anger on that point, I will still say "The Exorcist" is worth a look, especially in the expanded version that more clearly articulates the theological message Blatty wanted. It is not an explotitative slasher/horror film but a compelling drama that this Protestant found refreshing in contrast to what gets served up today.