Horror Movie That Celebrates The Best In Humanity

Rating: 10/10 (14 February 2010)

Like many people I watched The Exorcist decades after it was made. Like many I grew up on the hype that it was the scariest horror movie ever made and found it tame and disappointing. Unlike most, however, I didn't let this affect my enjoyment of the movie. When I watched it a second time and judged solely as a movie and not the ultimate cinematic experience in horror, I discovered I was watching one of the best and most beautiful movies ever made.
In an otherwise peaceful suburb, the young Regan becomes strange: first she starts talking with imaginary friends, then she becomes restless and violent. Her mother, Chris, takes her to the doctor but science can't explain her illness and strange phenomena surrounds daughter and mother: a nearby church is desecrated; the child starts talking in foreign languages, objects move without touch.
There is never any doubt that this movie is about a demon that has possessed a child. But one of the distinguishing marks of this movie is the logical progression of the plot. There are several rational explanations for Megan's behavior that must be demolished before the exorcism becomes the only possible solution and salvation.
We can say that the movie follows two different narratives for a while until they come together at the end: first Chris' struggle to find the cure for whatever is hurting her daughter. Seldom has a horror movie displayed such a loving and strong character as Chris McNeil, wonderfully played Ellen Burstyn. Her never-ending, tireless pursuit borders on obsession but also shows the love she has for Regan, the innocent victim.
The second story concerns Father Damien Karras, a priest struggling with his faith. Jason Miller, an unknown actor, became one of my favorite actors after I saw his performance here. Beginning with his melancholy and tired face, Miller is the perfect actor to play Karras, a man who seems to carry the world's problems on his shoulders. He not only doubts his vocation and the existence of God, but he's tormented by the guilt of having abandoned his mother at an institution in which she killed herself and died alone. Furthermore, he's a rational, skeptical man. When Chris comes to him to ask for an exorcism, he mocks the idea considering the advances in psychology that has debunked all talk of demonic possession. But kind as he is, he nevertheless interviews Regan and slowly he becomes convinced that she is indeed possessed.
Before these two stories begin, there is a prologue, a ten-minute sequence in Iraq, in which we're introduced to Father Merrin. This character is absent from most of the movie up until the moment of the exorcism, that some may think the prologue exists merely to introduce him. But the Iraq sequence pretty much explains the entire movie, not to mention it's one of the most beautiful sequences ever filmed.
It starts with Merrin digging at archaeological site. He discovers a statue's head representing a demon. This leads him to think an old enemy has returned (we later learn Merrin once came across the demon in Megan). Cocophony abounds in the sound of blacksmiths hitting iron, the voices of the market and dog growls. Sound will later become very important in the movie. Small events lead Merrin to fear the worst, like a clock that suddenly stops, showing that the natural order has stopped too. He travels to outside the city, where two dogs are fighting each other. He climbs some ruins and stands before a demonic statue. Mortal and demon stare at each other; never has the battle of good versus evil been depicted in such clarity. Then the dog growls intensify as the sun turns red and the growls turn into the sound of airplane jets, in one of best transitions I've ever ever seen in cinema, and we arrive at Chris' house.
The Exorcist, I said, is one of the best movies ever made. It has some of the best production values I've ever seen: the use of sound, for instance, is still unique. The cinematography is unforgettable too, capturing the world in shadows and dark tones. The actors are all good: Ellen Burstyn, Max Von Sydow, Jason Miller, Linda Blair, and also Lee J. Cobb as a kind police detective investigating a murder connected to Regan.
The intelligence of the script is also unique in the history of horror. There's never a false step, nothing that makes the viewer scratch his head in wonder or that requires suspension of mental faculties, like many horror movies today. The movie takes itself seriously and respects the viewer's ability to think for himself and make his own connections.
Finally, The Exorcist is just a great story about human goodness. For a movie about the Devil, it's amazing how much decency, altruism and heroism there is in the movie, how little nihilism it contains. I've already talked about Chris, the tireless mother, but credit must also go to Fathers Merrin and Karras, two of the best heroes cinema ever produced, as they selflessly confront evil beyond comprehension with nothing but their faith and goodness. If you ever need to watch a movie to restore your faith in humanity, The Exorcist is the movie to watch.