Review of The Exorcist (1973) by Luisa L — 22 May 2013

The Exorcist is one of those one in a kind films that has people have tried to duplicate, and have failed to succeed either because they went to far with it or because they just couldn't do it the way that it was originally done. When this film came out it was the scariest movie of all time. But what made it so good was that not only was it a really freaky movie, but it was also a really good quality movie. Unlike most films in this genre the acting is great, and there is more of a story that isn't just about the possession. The film is slow so it can develop the story and its background more, which most films over thirty-five years old tend to do.

The film is also extremely well done for a film from its time. For a film that is almost forty years old it has amazing special effects. I will admit that certain things look fake, like when her head spins it is really fake now, but almost everything looks real. What is good about it is that it is more reliant on things like lighting, then computer effects. Because of that they are able to make things seem more real.

The film is just as much of a drama as it is a horror film. It is slow like a lot of dramas, and more reliant on acting, which most horror films aren't. The acting from Linda Blair is amazing. Her character before she got possessed was just the sweetest little girl. She was actually to sweet, and that worked because it made you feel even worse as she got possessed because it was such a change from what you saw at the beginning of the film. Linda Blair's performance must have been extremely hard to pull off, and the fact that she did it when she was so young was amazing.

The stuff with her getting possessed was the main focus of the film, but there were other backstories. Like the story of Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller) who would help other's that were losing their faith in God get it back again. He lost his faith after his mother died, and he wasn't there to see it. Part of the story is building up suspense for when he must regain his faith in the end and try to save Regan (Linda Blair). You know that he will in the end have to help save her, but a big part of the films suspense is building up to when it will happen.

While the audience knows that she is possessed the people in the film can't figure it out. At first they thing it is a behavior thing. Her mother Chris (Ellen Burstyn) is a single parent, and she is worried sick about her daughter. Nobody is helping her, because they don't know that she has been possessed for a while. I found that part dumb, because eventually it got to the point where it was really obvious that she had been possessed, and they still that it was a psychological thing. That part was a little overdeveloped, and they should have realized faster that she was possessed. Everything else in the story was perfect.

This is one of the greatest horror films of all time. It is one of the greatest because of how scary it was, how it inspired a new horror subgenre, and because it was also a great drama and suspense film. It scared the hell out of me the first time I saw it, and I loved it. I saw it twice, and it freaked me out just as much the second time, and that shows you how good it was. However some people in my generation tell me they thought it was funny. About three or four of my friends say they laughed at it, which I don't really get. I am talking to who ever is reading this. Let me know what you think of the fact that some people laughed at this. This is a great movie that should be taken completely serious.