There's something new to be discovered in every viewing of The Exorcist.

Rating: Null/10 (22 November 2011)

This decade's horror films have it all wrong. A person suddenly jumping out of a closet with a knife is not scary. Here is where any film seeking to chill its audience should take its cue. The Exorcist is genuinely frightening. It works so well because a) the atmosphere director William Friedkin sets up is pitch-perfect and b) we believe that these are real people being ravaged by these horrors. The special effects in this movie aren't particularly impressive but it doesn't matter. Regan's transformation from angel-faced little girl to mutilated, violent devil incarnate is done so well that we don't have time to notice any defect in the film's technical aspects. Mercedes McCambridge, who provides Regan's voice once she is completely inhabited is The Exorcist's unsung hero â€” her behind-the-scenes work provides some of the most chilling material found here.