The Exorcist tells a story of an actress, Chris, who starts to notice changes in the behavior of her daughter Regan. While the doctors try to find a medical explanation, it becomes clear that all of the occurrences, including levitation and a shaking bed, are of a paranormal nature. Chris finds a priest who also happens to be a psychiatrist, and, as the situation keeps getting worse, they decide to conduct exorcism.
Prior to seeing this movie, I'd heard at least two people say that The Exorcist is the scariest movie they've seen in their lives. Now I can't say the same thing about myself, but I can understand where they are coming from, especially since they got a chance to see it when it first came out. I saw a lot of 2000's movies that followed the same formula, so I had a pretty good idea of what might happen, and for this reason it didn't scare me too much (well may be just a little).
A little girl, with a screwed up face and abnormal strength, talking dirty and vomiting, what else is needed to scare the crap out of you? Unfortunately, this classic formula has been used so many times since then, that it became less frightening. Which, of course, doesn't make the original film bad, but in a way it distorted my perception of it. The flashes of the demon's face throughout the whole movie were great. I also like the idea that even the priests refuse to acknowledge that the girl is possessed. This is scary because they're supposed to know all about it, and if they're not sure, then there's probably nobody else who can help Regan?
I didn't understand what was going on in the subplot, the whole story about the archeologists finding a stone in Iraq and what it has to do with the main story. It felt like the two plots were supposed to be connected, but part of the movie got cut out, if I'm wrong or didn't understand something, let me know. Despite all the things I've mentioned here, that may make it seem like I didn't enjoy the film as much as I actually did, I think this movie really deserves it high rating because it defined the whole genre of "demonic child" movies.
Interesting fact: At one point the search for a young actress capable of playing Regan was so trying that William Friedkin claims he even considered auditioning adult dwarf actors.
Favorite quote: "If certain British doctors never asked "What is this fungus?" we wouldn't today have penicillin, correct?"
Three words: (A) Timeless Horror Classic! I have nothing negative to say about "The Exorcist". It's near perfect.
ReplyDeleteI liked the film, I think it still holds up well
ReplyDeleteas a scary experience. I don't watch a lot of horror, so maybe that makes it scarier. You're in luck! I just found my notes from when I watched the dvd extras a few years ago, so to answer your question:
Archeologists finding a stone in Iraq was really trying to build up the mood of evil to come later in the story. The idea is the family are not evil, but that the devil has chosen victims at random. The possesion of the girl is a testing of the priest's faith.
The point of the film (and book) was to create a creepy mood which was realistic, as it's based on a true story from 1949.
Not my favorite scary movie, but easily the most scary movie ever. If it came out today, it wouldn't have the same effect (in my opinion).
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