Not Bad; Just Overhyped

Rating: 6/10 (6 March 2004)

It's hard to believe the furor that was apparently caused when this movie was first released. I was just 10 years old at the time and never saw it in the theatres, and, in fact, only just recently saw it for the first time. It struck me as a pretty standard horror movie about a young girl possessed by the devil. I didn't find it shocking or horrific, and have seen movies that were far more frightening than this.
The highlight of the movie, I would say, was the absolutely brilliant performance by young Linda Blair as the possessed Regan. She has apparently said over the years that this movie was the end of any real acting career for her, because she became so deeply associated with this character in the public imagination. That's the price, I guess, when your first movie performance is so brilliant and so controversial. With no body of work before to balance it, Linda Blair became Regan MacNeil. Jason Miller was effective as Father Damien, but was overshadowed by Blair. It was also, I thought, a good study of a priest who had become a psychologist more than a theologian (far too common in all Christian denominations, even today.) Max Von Sydow's performance as Father Merrin (called in by the Church to confront the demon) was quite good.
I got lost a bit in the beginning of this movie, which dealt with some of Merrin's background, and there was also no real explanation of how this girl got possessed (which, however, is probably making a point: evil can strike anywhere for no obvious reason.)
In the end, I just found this to be a decent horror movie, but I didn't think there was anything spectacular about it. 6/10