The Exorcist

The Exorcist is one of those films where, whether you have seen it or not, you know what it is about and you know the tropes. I’m not Catholic, but growing up, I had been told by my parents and various other members of my chosen faith that this film was evil and that I should never see it lest I invite that evil spirit into my life. Naturally, such a pronouncement left me curious as to what exactly I was in for. 

I finally did get around to watching the film, long after I had grown up and knew how films were made. That last bit is crucial here because I have family that still hasn’t fully grasped it and will go into a movie and be profoundly frightened by what amounts to makeup and visual effects, whereas none of that affects me in the slightest. By the time I saw The Exorcist, it was nearly thirty years old and, for me anyway, lost any chance of scaring me. I have since gone back and read the wonderfully written novel by William Peter Blatty, too, although I found the book didn’t enlighten me on anything from the film like I thought it would. Both experiences have helped me see the influences this novel and film have had on horror movies in general, and much of it has entered into the pop culture lexicon. They’ve also been parodied to death in everything from Repossessed to the Scary Movie franchise. 

As the title suggests, the film is about an exorcism, the Catholic ritual used to cast a demon out of someone. This ritual can be traced all the way back to the Biblical era when Jesus cast the many demons out of a man and into a herd of pigs. The hapless victim in this film is twelve-year-old Regan (Linda Blair), the daughter of actress Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn). Chris is in Washington DC filming a movie while the two of them rent a home in downtown. Regan begins to show signs that something isn’t quite right, though. She starts using harsh language, has a distinct lack of concentration, and complains of her bed shaking at night. One evening, during a party her mother is throwing for some friends from work, Regan comes downstairs, tells everyone there that they are all going to die, then urinates on the floor in front of everyone. 

Chris takes her to the hospital where they run some tests and prescribe Ritalin. It doesn’t help, and now she is having violent convulsions and has grown more profane, lashing out at people. More tests are done, but the doctors can find nothing definitive. One evening, Chris returns home to find that Dennings (Jack MacGowran), her director and friend, has been violently thrown out the upstairs  window and died, crashing down a set of public stairs beneath Regan’s window. Regan appears to be too slight to have done it, but with what is going on with her, they cannot be sure. It is suggested to Chris that she consult a priest to perform the rite of exorcism. As Chris is not religious, she at first scoffs at the idea. Once she witnesses furniture and other items in Regan’s room moving seemingly of their own accord, she changes her mind and contacts Father Karras (Jason Miller), a local minister whose mother just died and is having a crisis of faith, to come and visit Regan. Based on his recommendation, the Catholic Church authorizes the exorcism and calls upon Father Marrin (Max von Sydow), an aged priest who has experience with exorcisms but nearly died the last time he performed one. 

For those who have never seen The Exorcist, most of what they know about the plot happens in the final thirty minutes. This is where Regan’s transformation really takes a turn for the worst, and Father Marrin and Karras perform the rite of exorcism. Most of the film leading up to this can be described as a slow burn. We start the film with a rather lengthy scene involving Father Marrin on an archaeological dig in Iraq. Here, Marrin sees in vision a demonic figure that matches the one carved in stone that he found on his dig earlier. This figure stands before him, confronting him silently. 

From there, the story transitions to Washington DC where we meet Chris and Regan. At first, nothing appears to be wrong with this broken family. We learn that Regan’s father is away from the in Europe, and that Chris is raising her alone, but Regan seems to be a regular, happy young woman. Things don’t start changing until after Regan finds an old Ouija board in the house they are renting and starts to play around with it, asking it mundane questions and getting answers back. When Chris tries to play along with it, the planchette jerks violently out of her hand. 

Things slowly ramp up as Regan becomes distant, distracted, and prone to outbursts. There is scene after scene of medical tests being conducted on her, including a particularly gruesome one involving inserting a tube into her carotid artery, where the arterial blood starts pumping out through the tube. These scenes establish that the medical personnel can’t figure out what is wrong with her, but they also go on for far too long. They prescribe her Ritalin, which, having experience using it as a child, I sympathized with. Of course, the drug does nothing, and soon the doctor is called to the house while Regan is violently thrashing on her bed, seemingly beyond her body’s abilities. 

Further slowing the story down is the extended sequences of Father Karras dealing with his dying mother and his growing crisis of faith. It establishes his character and gives him something to fight against as he is confronting Regan, but it also is drawn out too long. I am not the type who feels like a movie needs to be pedal-to-the-metal from beginning to end, but I also prefer the story not taking too much time getting to the point. What eases some of this dry spell is the earnest performance by Linda Blair, who is practically perfect in the role of Regan. She handles the sweet young girl well but also sells the possession. Some of the things the demon has her do are shocking and even sacrilegious, but then again, that’s exactly what a demon would do. If you are very sensitive to this kind of thing, then The Exorcist is not the movie for you. I can see why some of the adults I grew up around were so adamant that I never see it.  

Max von Sydow is the actor everyone remembers in this movie, yet he is barely in it. He opens the film with his dig in Iraq, and then we don’t see him again until the final half hour when he is charged with leading Regan’s exorcism. His is a very serious task, but he has a sense of humor about him when he is not in the room with Regan. We see him taking nitroglycerin tablets, which tells us he has a bad heart and also hints at what we can expect to happen to him in the end. When the expected finally does happen, it is off-screen, magnifying the effectiveness of it. It leaves Father Karras to deal with the demon the only way he knows how: to put the ritual aside and tackle it head-on. The final result is both gruesome and shocking. 

The Exorcist is the first horror film to ever be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. It set the bar for horror films going forward and inspired many sequels over the decades since, none of which were nearly as successful. It also was the subject of many lawsuits brought against the studio by both the director and the author/screenwriter. More recently, an extended cut of the film was released; the only version I had available to watch for this review. William Friedkin stands by this director’s cut and talks enthusiastically about it on his director’s commentary. 

This film is not as scary as I had expected it to be when I originally saw it. It was made in the early 70s, and thus effects don’t hold up as well as they would have back when it was new. When Regan is hovering above the bed, I couldn’t help but notice the wires in full view thanks to the Blu-ray resolution. But cheesy effects aside, there is a level of discomfort to be had watching this. Regan masturbating with a crucifix, the desecration of the statue of the virgin Mary, and a few other scenes bring with it a sense of discomfort, even if you aren’t a practicing Christian. This film isn’t particularly scary, but it is effective nevertheless at being unsettling. After over fifty years, it’s still very much effective at doing that. 

Academy Award Nominations:

Best Picture: William Peter Blatty

Best Director: William Friedkin

Best Actress: Ellen Burstyn

Best Supporting Actor: Jason Miller

Best Supporting Actress: Linda Blair 

Best Screenplay - Based on Material from Another Source: William Peter Blatty (won)

Best Art Direction: Bill Malley and Jerry Wunderlich

Best Cinematography: Owen Roizman

Best Film Editing: Jordan Leondopoulos, Bud Smith, Evan A. Lottman, and Norman Gay

Best Sound: Robert Knudson and Chris Newman (won)

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Release Date: December 26, 1973

Running Time: 132 minutes

Rated R

Starring: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty Winn, Jack MacGowran, Jason Miller, and Linda Blair

Directed By: William Friedkin