Classic Horror Films Series.

Rating: 10/10 (26 October 2004)

The Exorcist (1973) was one of the greatest horror films ever made. It scared the nation and the people wanted more! The movie made a lot of money and it launched William Friedkin's career beyond the stratosphere (he was already a big name thanks to the French Connection). William Peter Blatty's novel was already a big seller when it was optioned for a silver screen adaptation. The conflicts between the two over how it would be presented as a film could make a movie by it's own right. There was as much action behind the scenes as there was in front of the camera.
The story is about a priest who's at an ancient Sumerian archaeological excavation site. Father Merrin has been following the presence of an ancient evil deity named Pazul. He confronted it some time ago and is still haunted by it. At the same time, a young adolescent Georgetown resident is communicating with someone named Captain Howdy. Is their a connection? Meanwhile a middle aged priest is having disturbing dreams and doubts about his chosen profession of living a life of poverty as a priest. Are all these stories in some way connected? One must find out when watching The Exorcist!
I am a fan of this classic. The behind the scenes tensions made this movie. The cast was excellent and William Friedkin was on the ball (Unlike most of his films after this one). The creepy "Tubular Bells" was an appropriate choice for the film's soundtrack. The Exorcist revived the career of Max Von Sydow and made a star out of Linda Blair. Watch it and you'll find out why it scared so many and stirred up a lot of emotions from the religious right and the moral majority. A true classic!
Highly recommended!
Like all successful films that came out of Hollywood, the Italians and a lot of lower tier American studios couldn't resist and cloned this movie to death. Some are good and others are pretty atrocious. The Italian film industry was saved by making knockoffs and parodies of this movie. I guess the so called "spaghetti westerns" were dead.