The Exorcist

• Directed by William Friedkin
• December 26, 1973
• Based on his 1971 novel The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty

With the help of two Catholic priests, a young mother attempts to save her daughter from demonic possession.

What makes The Exorcist stand out not only in the pantheon of film classics but in horror is that it is not about some monster doing monster things. It could have been just that and used the book as a broad framework. Instead it crafted a complex story of demonic possession mixed in with human issues using atmosphere to create something very engaging. And it lays out its resolution long before it ever gets there without being obvious. Not everything is directly answered in the end either but the viewer is given just enough to figure out what happened.

Our main priest of Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller) is as much a man of faith as he is a man of science. He is also a psychiatrist confronting a crisis of faith while dealing with the issues of his mother. He doubts he is on the right path.

His life intersects with actress Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) whose daughter Regan (Linda Blair) is suffering what appears to be emotional issues but if that were the case we would not have a movie. Nothing starts overtly. In fact much of what they encounter that are clearly initial signs of demonic influence are things that could happen to anybody.

I have read plenty on the supernatural and possession in my youth. I even still take it in to this day from time to time. It’s all very fascinating. But the point I am going for is that Friedkin and Blatty did not try to create their own rules but rather followed what had come before. Any set of rules is only as good as the person behind it. Too often the rules created from scratch for the supernatural are simplistic.

Other horror films, The Witch for example, have stitched together stories based on what they found in the real world and used those rules and those events as their guide. Those films have a level of authenticity and realism that can’t be achieved when an author and their imagination are the sole source.

The characters we get are normal people for lack of a better word. Admittedly the mom is an actress, but her day-to-day life is pretty normal. Karras has personal problems that are not out of the realm of possibility. And even Lieutenant Kinderman (Lee J. Cobb) who is drawn into it all has nothing out of the ordinary about him other than maybe a over developed cynicism.

This is a movie you actually have to watch. Not insanely close, but you must pay attention to what occurs and what characters do. It doesn’t hand you the rules of possession or what triggers this or that. For example, the death of the director isn’t just some random killing. He apparently put a cross under Regan’s pillow understanding what was going on and quite possibly became possessed.

I dare say this is as effective today as it was when it came out. It relies on acting and minimal effects which ultimately makes it all the more believable. It does not try to dazzle you but rather strives to tell a good story with a heavy dose of atmosphere. The backwards crabwalk. The vomit. The levitation. The cold and seeing the breath. All done in the day and age before CGI and all make you shiver.

The little touches help as well. The everyday bits and pieces as well as a credible display of Catholicism. They do not sensationalize or go over the top. There are no dark secrets or ulterior motives. It is a good versus evil story with no shades of gray.

Father Merrin (Max von Sydow) is an important element of the film but one of its more poorly defined characters. In this movie we get very little about him but he does introduce us to elements that we otherwise would not get from the main story. We learn about the evil and the audience gets an understanding this is not some one off incident but one in a longline of happenings.

The Exorcist is an amazing classic horror movie. This is a unique experience worthy of not only the horror connoisseur but movie fans in general. A must see!