Review of The Exorcist (1973) by Kkl10 A — 01 Apr 2014

This film is grounded, realistic, atmospheric, and unforgettable. I have never seen anything that compares to this. It deals with the essence of evil in a very profound way. The cast is steller, with great performances all around. Jason Miller as father Karris was the highlight for me. He is a very sad character who sees nothing but pain and suffering all around him. He drinks, he smokes. He is very human and is struggling with his faith, not even sure if he believes in God anymore. I loved the bond that is established between him and his ailing mother. Later on, when he tragically loses her, he is made to feel horribly guilty about it and that takes away his faith even more. In spite of this, he is a very good man who is ultimately prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice in spite of his own quite and controlled suffering. The little girl is played by Linda Blair, who gives the most extraordinary child performance I have ever seen. She goes from a sweet and innocent little girl in the beginning and slowly transforms into a disgusting and perverted demon by the end . Ellen Burstyn plays the girls mother and her performance can only be described as harrowing. Her frustration, anger, horror, and sorrow as she watches her little girl descending into the pit of madness is enough to make any parent cringe. Max Von Sydow as the Exorcist, although he is in the film only briefly, is unforgettable. From the moment he appears he radiates kindness and love. He is facing the greatest challenge of his life in the finale scene, and he does it with great bravery and courage. All of the supporting cast are great as well, from the detective investigating the events to the secretary who works for Regeans mother.

It is the power of the performances of this film that really bring the story to life.

These are all very good people with different levels of faith or no faith, who are human and doing everything they can to resolve this issue. It is harrowing to watch as Reagen is subjected to the equivalent of medical torture as an army of doctors try in vein to figure out what is wrong with her. Many people say that the spinal tap scenes are the most disturbing in the film and I totally agree!

Te film is stunning in its cinematography and shooting of the scenes. What I love the most is how a very intense and grueling moment of sheer terror is followed abruptly by a moment of complete science and stillness. Somehow, that makes it even more intense, because you are left some room to chew on it for a while, rather than being continuously bombarded by brutal imagery, which I think takes away a lot of the shock value by de-sensitizing the viewer.

The effects in the film are simple but very effective at bringing the supernatural elements of the demon to life. Who can ever forget the famous head spinning scene, or the part where Reagens body lifts off the bed and hovers as the house is shaking with supernatural power and the priests are chanting "the power of Christ compels you!" (my favorite scene by the way).

Psychologically this film is very disturbing in its portrayal of evil. This demon is sexually perverse, potty mouthed, and all together foul! It is basically ego.

Personified. Ultimately, it takes a man of faith, and a man who is questioning.

his faith to drive this evil force out of her. It leaves you to make up your own mind as the what it all means.

In conclusion, I consider this film to be a cinematic masterpiece. It is not a film for everyone, and is a very sad and horrifying film with very little joy. However the film is so well done and has such great performances that I cannot tear my eyes away. It is a must see for anybody who loves psychological, smart horror films!