Reputation meets film reality

Rating: 7/10 (4 July 2013)

Having just purchased the DVD and watching at home for the first time 40 years after its' initial release, my expectations were of infamous bedroom scenes high above M Street where I have traversed since 1978 once I was old enough to regularly drive down to Georgetown. And, yes, I've always looked upon "Exorcist Steps" and been shaken without ever knowing the specifics. So now I know this movie goes beyond spinning heads, bloody crucifixes and projectile pea soup.
Now the film opens flat (and in Iraq of all places) and the mythology which should have been teased, was more hinted and poorly executed. In the Omen,. that is the core of the movie. How can you have a movie about demonic possession without knowing the who, what, when, where and why scenarios?
We meet a Mother and Daughter who slowly become to realize that something is seriously wrong. Along with the troubled past and present of our Priest psychiatrist, two-thirds of our story seems to be on track.
We morph into a terrifying movie that shows our medical gods as unknowing witch doctors practicing medicine as if they were willing gamblers who know no odds. The brain scan scenes were absolutely horrifying! As we approach the exorcism, the scariest part is not knowing what well find every time we open the 12 year odds bedroom door.
That's great storytelling!
The actual 9 minute exorcism is our reward and final fireworks creep show at which end I was relieved the demon was gone as it had found a place in my home (in my fearful mind) ever since little Regan started mouthing off and cursing at the doctors.
That was no coincidence that the possession took place as a girl was becoming a teenager. "What's going on with my kid?" is a typical parental thought leading to more horrific ones at times.
Overall, I will wonder why I waited so long, where will those previously mentioned thoughts re-occur in my life, when will I see this again, who will watch with me and how did such an eerie tune as "Tubular Bells" no be more prominent in the movie itself? 60 seconds at best... That song is more mythology inducing than the first 20 minutes, but the rest froze me on the couch in absolute terror f what was coming next.