Release Date: December 25, 1973
Starring: Jason Miller, Max von Sydow, Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair
Directed by: William Friedkin
Distributed by: Warner Brothers
MPAA Rating: R
Even now, more than twenty-five years since its release, The Exorcist is regarded as one of the scariest films ever produced by Hollywood. Most recently, The Blair Witch Project has drawn a number of comparisons to this film from publicists and critics. But in retrospect, The Exorcist walks a fine line of frightening filmmaking, and for the majority of its running time, it falls off that tightrope into the abysses of the chaotic, the weird, and the obscene. Fortunately, director William Friedkin is able to combine these moods to make his film something more flattering: intense. This is a movie that shocks more than it scares.
Some award this film the distinction of being a very weighty drama. While it does have more depth than today's average slasher thriller, it doesn't evoke a great deal of emotion toward the subplots or the characters' backgrounds. From the midway point through the end, the audience is concerned simply with the process of exorcising the unclean spirits from the body of an innocent girl.
The men for this job are Fathers Karras (Jason Miller) and Merrin (Max von Sydow), although it's awhile before we meet them. The Exorcist begins with a miniature prologue in Iraq, where an unholy object is unearthed in an archaeological dig. Fr. Merrin is on the scene, and although we're unsure what his role is, we know this is not the last we'll see of him. A good deal of time later, in Washington, DC, we're introduced to Hollywood actress Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) and her twelve-year-old daughter Regan (Linda Blair). It's not long before Regan becomes possessed, and after being run by armies of doctors, Chris is finally advised to consider exorcism. Fr. Karras is the first to see the child demon, and he, too, recommends that exorcism be approved by the Church. It's then that Fr. Merrin is brought in, and we learn that this is the same demon from Iraq that he exorcised many years ago from another person.
The story can most generally be divided into two parts, the first of which contains all of the rising action to the point that Karras meets the possessed Regan for the first time. This section of the film holds great potential, and Friedkin has the opportunity to build up a very tense atmosphere. Most viewers, whether they've heard anything about the film or not, will be expecting a very intense payoff, and this is Friedkin's chance to put them on edge. Unfortunately, other than a few bed-shakings and a creepy journey into the attic, William Peter Blatty's script (based on his own novel) does not call for anything special.
The second section of the film delivers the intensity much better than the first. It's a long wait to get this far, however, which increases the stakes. But Friedkin does not disappoint now, calling for a very graphic demonic performance from child actress Linda Blair and focused turns from priest actors Miller and von Sydow. The exorcism ritual is the movie's most poignant moment, and the deathbed confession that caps this sequence off is strangely moving.
Through it all, there's not a bit of extremely outstanding footage. Perhaps to horror buffs this holds the same sentimental value as Psycho did, but like that film, the true greatness is doubtful in retrospect. There is a lot of eye candy in The Exorcist, and this contributes to the movie's intensity, but certainly no heavyweight drama and no award-winning performances are to be found.
Given its status as a pop culture icon of horror, however, The Exorcist has succeeded in being a crowd favorite, and this is one honor it does deserve. Still popular more than twenty-five years after its release, it is a classic. A rather strange one at that, but maybe that's all that counts.
all contents © 1999 Craig Roush