Solid, Albeit a bit Dated

Rating: 8/10 (12 May 2017)

Widely regarded as one of the best horror films in history, The Exorcist follows the story of a mother enlisting the help of two priests to try and get her daughter back from a demon who has possessed her. Right off the bat, I want to say that the acting in this film is amazing. The whole cast does a great job, but Linda Blair's performance as Regan, the possessed daughter, is phenomenal. Seeing her being able to act like an everyday girl and then begin to contort her body and shriek while the demon is possessing her was awesome. The special effects are also top notch and feel ahead of their time. Having the bed float was a highlight for me, and in the same scene the subtle flash where Regan is replaced by the actual demon was really cool. It's so quick that you can miss it easily so catching it makes it feel all the more satisfying, and simultaneously disturbing. The story, being as far fetched as it is, is completely believable, and it takes good writing and direction to pull that off. The characters are human and I really enjoyed seeing Father Karras' battle with his wavering faith. That all being said, some of the acts that Regan does while possessed come off as being more goofy than scary. I understand it's an older film, but it's hard to look past some of the things that happen. It just looks weird and over the top sometimes, and I don't think they were going for that vibe. It kind of ruins more serious scenes when you've got the two priests performing the exorcism and reciting prayers, and then you've got a child flicking her tongue everywhere and moaning. It took me out of it a couple times which was unfortunate because it usually happened when I was just really getting back into it. It's by no means a deal breaker, but it's worth noting. I found it interesting how much content in films had evolved since the fall of the Hays Code. In the span of only a couple years we went from isolating films that dared to include a word such as "shit;" effectively making it tank from lack of exposure, to having it be totally fine to depict a twelve-year-old dropping the f-bomb every other sentence. It's just mind boggling how quickly the industry made that transition. And that's not even mentioning how graphic this film is on a visual standpoint. In any case, I greatly enjoyed The Exorcist, despite occasionally noticing it's age. It's a solid film and I can see why everyone's trying to copy it nowadays. It's just too bad no one's achieved it's level of greatness yet.