UHM - Review - The Exorcist

Yes, this is the film that's in every critics top 10 list of the scariest movies of all time. Based on the novel by William Peter Blatty, with a story that was supposedly based on actual events, many may remember seeing this in theaters and witnessing the audience vomiting, fainting, screaming, and even leaving. It was apparently so bad that paramedics were on call, and all this hysteria caused the film to be considered one of the most "controversial" movies of all time. Of course back then audiences hadn't seen much, and obviously today's audience wouldn't necessarily react the same way. After three decades the movie still manages to scare and creep out today's audience, and remains as popular as it was before, especially with the recently released "version you've never seen", which gave it another big screen release. It’s been reported that the studio originally eyed director Stanley Kubrick to take the helm, but he declined the position and it was then given to William Friedkin.

In this newly restored version, we get an additional 6 minutes of footage that offers more character development and "scary" scenes. We also get to see some cool, but brief, glimpses of the eerie white face in various scenes, and the much talked about "spider-walk" sequence, which I personally found very effective. Sadly, I must confess that before seeing this recently, I had never actually viewed the film in its entirety. I never saw it growing up, nor pursued it in the video stores. I ended up seeing all the main scenes on TV, and eventually lost interest. Then with the new release of the prequel, my interest was once again sparked and now here I am typing this review after finally seeing the whole movie. Yay for me!

So let’s go over the story (like you don't already know), we follow a mother/actress and her 12-year-old daughter as they struggle to find the reasoning behind the young girl’s sudden madness. At first her illness is brushed off by doctors as just some sort of mental disorder, but then a priest by the name of Damien Karras is then brought into the mix when the men of medicine decide that the disorder may be caused by more supernatural means. The conflicted priest investigates and discovers that the talk of the girl being possessed may be true, and after the failed attempt at exorcising the demon himself, he receives the aid from an older experienced priest named Father Merrin. The duo work together as they try to relieve the girl from the demon's grasp.

When I first viewed some of this movie I was younger and uninterested in slow-movie horror flicks, so naturally The Exorcist didn't appeal to me much. Now when I finally view the film in its entirety I can appreciate and enjoy it more than I could have as a young horror fan growing up in the slasher craze in the 80's. This movie is near excellence in my opinion. The directing, cinematography, story, and effects were all ahead of its time. Originally I had the movie set for a 9-rating, but the more I thought about it the more I appreciated it and I decided that if I was going to finally give a movie a 10-rating it'd be for The Exorcist, right? You may wonder that since this was my first viewing of the entire film whether or not I got scared. The answer is no. There are a couple somewhat creepy scenes, but I found all the lead sequences to be rather tame. You still have to admire the movie for successfully creeping out an audience after so many years.

OVERALL

A good movie that still manages to scare. With excellent directing and sweet effects, this movie is a MUST for any horror fan.

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Don Ry

Posted 107 days ago

People are going to have differant opinions on this movie for differant reasons, depending on how you like your horror.
Just look at the Hostel movies, i think they're sh*te because there's no depth in character or story, it's just in your face 'torture porn' which achieved success by gaining a reputation for it's sicko scene. Then again my mate John who also grew up on horror movies absolutely loves Hostel so like I said i reckon it's each to their own.
As a young-un I watched the Exorcist with my Dad on VHS (when it was still banned over here in the U.K) an I didn't really think much of it...despite my dad telling me all the tales of what happened back when it was released in cinemas decades ago an how scary it was, catholic protests, dogs dying, curtains catching fire in theatres, blah blah blah, Ragen certainly didn't scare me like Chucky did and The Exorcist as a movie never impressed me like Elm Street did...however...
Years later watching it as a 21yr old Man, in all it's original uncut glory I have to say that I hold The Exorcist as one of the greatest movies of all time, let alone horror movies...The main character is a priest who is losing his faith for f**ks sake...Damien Carrass has got to be by far one of the best written characters in history.
I'd really like to get my hands on the Novel - Ry

Daniel

Posted 126 days ago

and Bill your a Dumbass =p

Michael

Posted 183 days ago

I confess I do not know how to rate this movie. It ia a very well done and thoughtful horror film. Child demon moves don't seem to hold much fear for me - especially big budget ones. I saw it first when I was 15 years old at a sold out second run theatre. No one believes me when I tell them that it did not scare me. Furthermore, no one believes me that most all of the audience, and I, were laughing loudly at all of the so called scary and grossout scenes. Maybe I laughed because laughter is infectious. I grew up on horror films, so save for the make-up on Linda Blair the much touted FX, furniture moving and levitation, did not seenm that 'special'. So, it is a good film... but not all that scary.
.

bill

Posted 193 days ago

daniel, you are a retard.

Daniel

Posted 260 days ago

i didnt find nothing so scary about it. lol. yea some scenes were real creepy. but c mon it wasnt that good. it was to slow. i give 6/10. pshh Abominable and Midnight Meat Train and The Descent are way better than thisss lol.

ravin

Posted 319 days ago

So how long will it take the assholes of hollywood to remake this one too.After all the whole horror movie thing anymore is totally pointless because of all the *** ing remakes and crap.

Joshua

Posted 347 days ago

When I think of horror movies, The Exorcist is the first movie that comes to mind. I can't think of another movie as disturbing and shocking at the level of this film. It is the ultimate battle between good triumphing over the ultimate evil. I recommend see "The Version You Never Seen Before" for add scenes that were left out of the theatricall release.

thedude

Posted 353 days ago

black xmas was the first slasher movie reaper, it came out i believe 4 years before halloween making it the first one, no its not as good as halloween or the exorcist but i just posted to say your wrong
watch going to pieces and catch up on your horror movie knowledge

cory

Posted 358 days ago

This movie sucks balls. It is the worst movie ever.

ryno

Posted 406 days ago

I love this movie! I could really careless for the horror aspect of it all... The concept of the book and movie are creepy to begin with... As much as I am against religion in general... I still love this movie for it's creativity and its attention to detail... For me the movie scares me only because of literally how creepy Regan is... But the movie has other key elements than her... The priests mother dying... The Iraq digging sight... Overall a fantastic movie... One of my favorites!

cannibal corpse5

Posted 419 days ago

i agree with reaper and zombie killer i also dabble in paranormal studies i had a teacher who was a catholic nun who had told us as a class that the story of the exorcist was true that it happend to a lil boy now when you take that into consideration i think it adds more credibility

The Reaper

Posted 461 days ago

like i said its not my favorite either but its still made the top 3 scariest movies of all time. no debait. theres also way better scenes than that, have you seen the movie? as far as setting the standards you're missing a few-texas chainsaw massacre, i spit on your grave, last house on the left, suspiria, jaws, alien, when a stranger calls, night of the living dead, halloween (started the slasher craze not black x-mas)
phycho and black x-mas cant cover most of the genre especially black x-mas which is purely a great slasher where as psycho is a multidimensional horror slasher film but still cant cover a whole genre just merely a sub-genre

Punishment From Below

Posted 461 days ago

Did you bother to ask them if they had any respect for it? To be honest, the only good parts I liked were the green vomit and the crucifix masturbation. Furthermore, I dont really like anything else about the movie. Do I see it as setting a cornerstone for other horror movies? Yes. But IMO, Psycho and Black X-mas set the standard for what seems to cover most of the horror genre.

The Reaper

Posted 463 days ago

please man i like other opinions but have some *** ing respect for the films that boldly stood apart and built the horror foundation
what those people said wasnt "opinions" it was pure ignorance
dude im not even that big of a fan of the *** ing exorcist but i appreciate and respect original film
understand

Punishment From Below

Posted 463 days ago

Dude, some people have their opinion of this movie and hell, if they think it's a bad movie, then to them it is. Some people don't House of 1000 Corpses or the Chuckie movies, you gonna try and convert them too? Don't like people bashing your movie here? Go somewhere else. I hear there's forums out there for diehard Exorcist fans

The Reaper

Posted 467 days ago

simply, this movie is a horror masterpiece
yes a HORROR masterpiece- for all you people claiming this movie is not a horror film your all *** ed in the head, find another site
this is clearly the definition of horror with a spiritual PERSPECTIVE
people actually passed out from this film
BESHEM- YOUR A *** IN IDIOT- "Passion of the Christ for the 70's" ? THAT DOESNT EVEN MAKE SENSE LAMO AND YOUR DEFINITLY NOT AWARE OF THE TIME IT WAS RELEASED-"everybody was doing some form of drugs and protesting Vietnam"
READ A *** IN BOOK THIS MOVIE WAS RELEASED IN 74 NOT THE 60'S VIET NAM WAS LONG OVER *** FACE
TIFFANY- LISTEN YOU HAVE TO WATCH THIS FILM IN THE RIGHT ATMOSPHERE AND IN THE RIGHT SITUATION
YOU PROBABLY WATCHED IT WITH THE LIGHTS ON WITH 20 PEOPLE OF COURSE IT WOULD BE FUNNY LIKE ANY FILM WOULD BE IN THAT SITUATION YOUR AN IDIOT ALSO
I CANT BELIEVE IM EVEN DEFENDING A FILM THAT I BARELY LIKE LOL
SAVE ME FROM THE IGNORANCE ON THIS SITE

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