A classic should not age with time... this one did.. .in a bad way, not like wine.

Rating: 5/10 (28 August 2014)

In all honesty, this movie probably deserves something lower than a generous 5 but I do not want to completely ridicule it and label it as a nonentity in my forthcoming polemic. After all, this movie must have been horrifying and excellent with its effects for its TIME... A true classic e.g. like The Shawshank Redemption ( albeit a non-horror movie) still maintains a place amongst the greats and is able to rival movies even in modern times. The Exorcist fails to do this. It is a spurious classic in the sense that people seem to appreciate it (only) in the context of its time but do not dare to compare it to modern horror movies because the very elements that it depends on can not possibly compete with contemporary rivals such as e.g. Korean film "A tale of two sisters".
So why is this movie so bad?
The movie is about a young girl who gets possessed by a demon. She starts throwing tantrums and uses vulgar language as a result of her takeover. Furthermore, her body is able to undergo contortions that should leave her for dead after the demon leaves her body - assuming the demon provided her with vitality to cope with the neck breaking contortions. Apart from breaching the laws of human anatomy which can be forgiven in these types of movies, the vulgar language fails to add to a genuine sense of horror. Sure, a little girl spouting obscene language is shocking but... BUT.... the movie fails to develop the girl's character and likability before her possession. In a twisted way, her foul language becomes somewhat amusing and laughable because A) we can hardly relate or care for her apart from pity her state and B) her putting on a silly grimace and vomiting green pea soup hardly qualifies as authentic horror. Sadly, this movie would have made a decent comedy.
Having said this, some religious people may be horrified at the concept of demonic possession. I am a theist but I am not sure about the existence of demons and even if demons did exist, I doubt it would have changed my views about this movie. This movie attempts to "frighten" the audience with cheap shock thrills.
The crucifix mas********* scene was uncalled for but it did develop a sickening atmosphere. I can only think of one scene that was scary in some respect. It was the scene where they flashed the pale face of a demon. However, even this momentary flash which is verging on subliminal priming fails to qualify as genuine horror because it plays on our visual (conscious) deficiency to process a quick image - the fear of the unknown.
Perhaps, Scary movie's parody of The Exorcist has warped my perception of this movie but if you think about it logically, this movie is simply not scary - I said it folks. It is just a vulgar movie, riddled with obscene language and logic-defying contortions and green vomit... erghh...
I only liked the priests who were called to perform the exorcism. I did not care for the daughter ONE BIT. She was dislikeable pre, current and post possession. If the daughter-mother relationship was developed properly and presented as heart warming and affectionate, the possession would have robbed the character and we would have cursed the demon and empathised with the family.
If you still find this movie terrifying after having watched it and reading my argument, it means that you have been sheltered from great horror movies and/or just riding the hype bandwagon that has propelled this movie to undeserved acclaim. There is a reason why this movie is slipping down the charts because it is not that good. Use your intellect before trying to preserve the status of a "classic". This movie has become obsolete and fails to deliver genuine horror. Obscene language in my dictionary does not qualify as horror. Not in a single scene did I feel like "holy cow... what is going to happen? I don't want to look." Enough said. You can rate this review as terrible but I am glad that I am not delusional and impressionable by critics with faulty reasoning.
On a good note, the girl-demon-spider-walk scene was fairly cool although, again, what was the point?
Watch this movie for cultural purposes to learn and appreciate landmark cinema. A true classic should not lose value with time. Effect dependent movies that lack good characters usually fade from our memory in time. If only they had got the characters right... it would have saved them from this unfortunate verbal onslaught. This movie was conducive to this response. I am sorry fans. Haters gonna Hate.