THE EXORCIST

THE EXORCIST (1973). Special Edition DVD with extra footage. Director: William Friedkin.

Although billed as “the scariest movie ever made,” I have never found The Exorcist to be especially chilling (although the novel did give me the creeps). There had been many movies of demonic possession made before The Exorcist, but William Peter Blatty's novel and Friedkin's film version took such stories out of haunted castles and ghostly manors and placed one in prosaic, sun-lit Washington D.C. -- and made the possessed person an innocent little girl who not only acts differently but looks different as well. [In fact, that is one major flaw in this movie among many. Even when we take into account that medical science is at a loss to explain what has happened to Regan (Linda Blair), I can not believe that any mother, seeing her child covered in suppurating sores and turning green and nasty, wouldn't insist she be placed in a hospital with around the clock care!] The reason why the novel worked better than the film is that the movie is simply too literal. It's one thing to read about what happens to Regan, quite another to actually see her ramming a crucifix you-know-where and all the rest. In fact, at times The Exorcist turns into a vulgar burlesque of a horror movie, just as silly as the endless imitations that followed in its wake (such as Abby). At the same time, the story remains fascinating (but only in an unbelievable 'horror' fashion) and some of it is quite well done and generally well-acted (although Jason Miller, who is otherwise fine in the movie, shows absolutely no reaction to Regan's appearance when he enters her bedroom!) The good performances of Ellen Burstyn, Lee J. Cobb, and others certainly help. Jack MacGowran is excellent in the small role of the drunken director, Burke Dennings, whom Regan/Pazuzu throws out her second story window. Kitty Winn, who plays Burstyn's assistant, co-starred with Al Pacino in The Panic in Needle Park (and was superb), but, sadly, faded out into small parts like this thereafter. Of the new footage included in this edition, Regan's walking down the stairs backward like a scuttling crab is effective but perhaps they thought it looked too comical. The opening sequence with Max von Sydow (rather wasted in this part) seems rather slow. Despite my many quibbles, I have to say that The Exorcist is a good, entertaining flick and was – for better or worse – highly influential. Friedkin continued his examination of the transferal of evil in – of all things -- his film version of Cruising with Al Pacino.

Verdict: A mixed bag but entertaining. ***.