Still profoundly unsettling!

Rating: 9/10 (17 February 2020)

This film is ranked one of the greatest horror films of all time and for very good reason. It follows the MacNeil family, the mother Chris played by Ellen Burstyn and daughter Regan played by Linda Blair. Slowly something appears to be very wrong with Regan's behaviour, turning from a very sweet and good natured human being into something altogether more sinister. It becomes very apparent that this isn't a mental disorder and she is possessed by the devil himself. The story also follows Father Karras played by Jason Miller who is going through personal trauma and a massive test of faith. It's safe to say that the performances are all great (Miller does such a good job of portraying a fractured but good willed man) however I think the massive standout here is Linda Blair's truly incredible performance as Regan. Regan in her possessed form has become such an iconic horror character; I think what makes it all the more impactful is the fact that she's just a normal playful and sweet young girl as set up in the first act of the film and therefore there's a real sense of menace and threat from the demon inside of her. The shock factor of the film comes from the demons actions, forcing this young girls body to do such grizzly things and these scenes are still some of the most unbelievably twisted sights you are likely to see in cinema today. Just goes to show how controversial the film really was upon release in the early 70s and the amount of bans it had. After these sequences are always very low key and quiet scenes which seem to cement the impact of those already powerful sequences even more which is a very clever move from director William Friedkin. In that sense it is undeniably a classic for being such an influence on modern horror cinema and having such a massive impact. I think for my generation it may have less of an impact now as we are raised in a world that has a lot of 'video nasties' and we have exposed ourselves as film fans to a wide range of disturbing or just plain scary content. It is still essential viewing in particular for Linda Blair's performance and the last half an hour which is just excellent filmmaking