The Exorcist

The Exorcist is a classic horror film, and seems to be the one that most people ‘break their horror duck’ with. It was hugely controversial when it was released, and continues to be very scary to this day. Although the parts of the film which provide the background and set the scene are beyond dull in my eyes, the actual action of the film is wonderfully chilling, scary, uncomfortable and imposing.

The Exorcist was the first horror film to be nominated for the Best Picture award at the Academy Awards. This is unsurprising when you consider that in the context of 1973, this film would have been absolutely groundbreaking. There’s quite a lot of backstory to the movie, but it basically focuses on a little girl who has been possessed by a demon and the attempts to exorcise her of this demon. There are some unforgettable scenes, some chilling moments, and some amazing special effects (for the time) which all add up to create the film which arguably first brought horror into the consciousness of the general public.

Ellen Burstyn plays the mother who is the focus of the initial part of the film. She is an actress and doesn’t believe in God. I have a feeling this might have changed somewhat by the end of the film though. Her character is fairly mundane to be honest. One day she notices her daughter is behaving oddly and so she tries to find some answers from neurosurgeons, psychiatrists and then, when all else seems to provide no solution, an exorcist. She does manage to convey the terror that a mother, or anyone, would experience in the situations she finds herself in perfectly, and this is to her credit. The exorcist she calls is played by Jason Miller. Miller does very well, and considering that Jack Nicholson was the original choice for the role, I think Miller brings something to the role that Nicholson wouldn’t. If Nicholson was cast I fear the film would have focussed too much on him and would be less of a classic. As it stands, all the cast perform on a level playing field, and this contributes to the overall success of the movie, at least in my eyes.

Max von Sydow plays the other priest at the exorcism, and does so marvellously. His character is depicted in a manner very faithful to the novel by William Blatty. His character, Lankester Merrin, had previously encountered the demon featured in the film many years ago. This means that naturally, he is the only one who knows enough to defeat the demon. However, during the exorcism Merrin dies, and so it is up to Miller’s character to complete the exorcism himself. Von Sydow is a fantastic actor and his casting in The Exorcist can only have been a good move. The little girl in this film, Regan, is played by a young Linda Blair, who is phenomenal. I’m not sure how much of her performance was actually her, but she is incredible throughout the film and is genuinely terrifying in the scenes where the demon has a stronger hold on her.

As with any popular horror film though, there is always a series of ill-advised sequels, and The Exorcist is no exception. Now I haven’t seen these sequels, but a quick search on IMDb tells me that The Exorcist sequels were a bad idea as well. The original film has a rating of 8.0, and Exorcist II: The Heretic has a rating of 3.6. One to steer clear of I think. The Exorcist III is rated at 6.0, and Exorcist: The Beginning is a 5.0. Personally, I’m not going to make any great effort to watch the sequels.

There are so many aspects of The Exorcist that make it an absolutely classic film, and the music is definitely one of them. The Tubular Bells score is so chilling and the film was so iconic that it took what was a piece of music by Mike Oldfield and turned it into one of the most recognisable pieces of music in cinema history. For me, it is the horror equivalent of the James Bond theme. Anyone who has seen The Exorcist will know how chilling the score is, and this contributes massively to the general atmosphere and experience of watching the film. I've searched for it on YouTube in an attempt to link it here and within seconds of the piece starting I have chills, it’s that imposing!

Another reason why The Exorcist is so popular is the number of ghost stories and legends around the film. The author of the original book has said that there were a number of ‘strange occurrences’ during the filming. There was a fire in the studio, and on several occasions a priest was reportedly brought in to bless the set. On one occasion the crew was blessed. There were a number of accidents around the harness used to film some of the ‘hovering’ scenes, and shortly after one actor has finished filming he died of the flu. While these are probably simple coincidences that can occur on any film set, the nature of the film in question is such that everyone is looking for an extra chill to make The Exorcist a little bit more terrifying.

The Exorcist is an absolutely classic film, and one that any horror fan simply has to see. It’s success is not only measured in terms of its reputation, but also on its box office takings. It had a budget of around 10.5 million dollars and since its release in 1973 it is estimated to have made 441 million dollars! Now that’s not bad for a horror film. If you do watch this, and I can only recommend it, make sure you have someone there with you, because there are scenes where you will be horrified.