A genre classic?

Rating: 7/10 (18 July 2008)

The Exorcist is set in Georgetown in Washington DC where famed actress Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) & her twelve year old daughter Regan (Linda Blair) live in a large house. Having recently moved there after separating from her husband Chris becomes increasingly worried by her daughter's odd behaviour, Regan spouts obscenities, masturbates with a crucifix & acts very violently towards people. After various tests Doctor's are at a loss to explain medically what is wrong with Regan & suggest Chris contacts a psychiatrist or even stage a exorcism. Things continue to get worse as is turns out Regan is responsible for the murder of film director Burke Dennings (Jack MacGowran), desperate Chris turns to Father Damian Karras (Jason Miller) for help who after his own investigation is convinced Regan is possessed by a demon & recommends to the Church that an exorcism be performed...
Directed by William Friedkin one probably has to say that The Exorcist is one of the most famous & widely regarded horror films ever made with reports of audience members vomiting, fainting & mass walk-outs in theatres the film has a definite controversy & legacy surrounding it. Originally released on Boxing Day 1973 in the US at around the two hour mark The Exorcist was re-released in 2000 with about twelve minutes of restored footage & some subtle CGI work under the title The Exorcist: The Version You've Never Seen & it is this longer cut that I will be basing my comments on. The script by William Peter Blatty which was based on his novel stands up pretty well when viewed today, there's real building of momentum as the film starts off with a very normal mother & daughter only for the film to show Regan get worse & worse & the effect it has on the people around her & as it all snowballs. At first Regan's mother tries to cure her daughter with modern medical science but when that fails more unorthodox methods are used. The film has lots of religious overtones which probably didn't go down to well at the time of it's release with some really foul language, scenes of defiled statues in Church, Regan masturbating with a crucifix & the eventual exorcism which the film ultimately builds up to. The character's are very good, the film certainly held my interest throughout even though I generally dislike long films & there are one or two iconic & memorable set-pieces like the head twisting scene & of course the green vomit the possessed Regan spews over Karras. My only real problem is that The Exorcist goes on for a bit too long, while I didn't get bored I did start to look at the clock, it's never explained what the mysterious noises in the attic were & I wasn't keen on the new ending with Kinderman & Dyer walking off to the 'this could be the start of a beautiful relationship' line.
With a filming schedule that was originally planned for 85 days yet went on for 224 the film has a certain intensity & a cold matter of fact style about it, the camera remains quite static & the shots are very long unlike films today where it looks like the cameraman is having a fit & the editing is so quick you can barely tell whats happening. There are some great moments & I especially love the unexpected jump scare in the attic when the candle bursts into flame, it's such a cheap scare effect yet so effective. The Exorcist isn't the goriest or most violent film ever made, there's only two dead bodies in it, some blood in a medical scene & that's about it, it's probably the disturbing nature of the things that happen that are so effective & memorable rather than because they are graphic. The special make-up effects by Oscar winner Dick Smith are superb as you would expect. Watching the extended version last night I was very aware of how little music there is in the film, in fact apart from the opening & closing credits I can't actually remember any during the film itself at all. There's a definite sense of unease & dread as the film builds up to it's climax & this is where I personally think the film fails to deliver, after such an excellent sustained build up the ending is nothing more than two guy's standing around a bed chanting silly sounding religious lines of dialogue.
With a supposed budget of about $10,000,000 The Exorcist is very well made & certainly looks good if a little basic by todays standards. The special effects are good & the new extended cut doesn't go overboard on the CGI. Filmed throughout New York, the Warner Bros. studios in California, Washington & Iraq in which an all British film crew were hired since the US had no diplomatic relations with Iraq back then, not that they do now of course either! The acting is very good from a strong cast, although Linda Blair played the possessed Regan & was nominated for an Oscar as best supporting actress for the role she was actually dubbed throughout.
The Exorcist is regarded as some sort of landmark classic in the horror genre which I suppose it is & while it's an undeniably great film all round I don't hold it in such high regard since it's just not that much fun to watch. Followed by the entertainingly awful Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), the average Exorcist III (1990) & the rather excellent prequel Exorcist: The Beginning (2004) which itself was re-cut & altered & re-released as Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2005).