The One Hope. The Only Hope. The Exorcist

Rating: 10/10 (2 October 2001)

Th Exorcist is probably the only hope to keep Horror alive! Granted there are some great old horror flicks (Halloween, Nightmare On Elm Street) and some new ones (Scream), but the horror genre now a days is in a huge mess -there is nothing scary anymore. But then the Exorcist was re-released, and released for the first time in over 15 years, in the UK. I have read some comments on people who say that The Exorcist is long and boring and rubbish - but I say to them, either it scared the hell out of you and you are too scared to watch it again, or that you are too stupid to be able to understand possibly one of the best horror/drama flicks of the 20th and possibly 21st Century. The Film is all about a real city (George Town), in a real street, with real people living in the street, and in a house, is a real girl, who happens to be possessed. After playing which a Ouiji board, Regan (Outstandingly played by Linda Blair) begins to act strange and demonic. Finally, when an exorcism is granted, Father Lancaster Merrin (Max Von Sydow) is called to cast out the evil spirit. Granted, the film may start off with no real point - but if you look at it properly, you will see the magic and points it makes. Many people say "What's the Iraq sequence about?" My answer is the head that Merrin breaks and cleans away from a piece of rock from a small cave, is the head of Pazuzu and so is the statue which he goes to see - these happen because after seeing the head he realises that Pazuzu is back (you see more of this in Exorcist 2 The Heretic and the forthcoming prequel, Exorcist Dominion). Basically the whole Iraq prologue is to do with Merrin knowing that something will happen and he will be called to deal with the situation, hence, why he has to leave Iraq. The Iraq sequence is easily understood if you really bother to get into the film and listen to what the people say in it. As for people saying "Yeah but the whole film takes a long time to get into it's story" My answer is that there is a party and all of the film making stuff, etc, at the beginning because this film is not your average horror flick, people who don't like the lengthy bits at the beginning obviously don't have any sense of the real world and would much rather watch the worse horror movies like Friday The 13th, Talisman, etc. I love the lengthy beginning because it helps to show that these are REAL people and how REAL people deal with things like this. As for people saying "How the hell could she not remember?" the answer is that the real life events of which this film (and supreme novel) is based the boy remembers nothing of his possession. This film is probably the most realistic horror/drama movie I have ever seen. People who say it is unrealistic obviously don't know what it is like to be in the real world -they seriously need to get a life and to get out more. This film is one of the best movies ever made and did shock the world when it was first released - it is much more scary then The Blair Witch Project (which was crap) and other films like that. William Peter Blatty's novel is the bets novel I have ever read, William Friedkin directs this movie beautifully (even if he did use methods that not all actors would like) he has done a supreme job on this. All of the actors did a great job as well (especially Fr Tom Bermingham and Fr William O'Malley who were cast in the film because they were priests). Linda Blair give the best child actor performance ever, and Ellen Burstyn, Jason Miller (RIP), Max Von Sydow, Kitty Winn and the great Lee J. Cobb (RIP) all give great performances, as do the rest of the cast. Dick Smith and Marcel Vercoutere did brilliant jobs on SFX and Make-Up. I would also like to say that Mercede's McCambrige did beyond what any actress should do for a part - she was VERY committed to this project and if by far the most underrated actor in the whole movie (she did the demon voice), she is one of the best actresses ever! I also think that Eileen Dietz should have gotten more credit for her role. the Exorcist is a piece of art and will live on when Blair Witch, Friday 13th, etc, are all gone. Watch The Exorcist and you will know what a real movie is like!