The Exorcist (9/10)

[Michael_myers]

The Exorcist
1973
Directed by: William Friedkin
Starring: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Jason Miller, Lee J Cobb
****1/2/*****

Plot crunch:
A Little girl named Regan is posessed by a demon, at first her mother think she has a mental illness but after many doctor's opinions, and the aid of the murder of a friend, Regan's mother turns to the church for help. She convinced a skeptic priest and eventually an exorcism is pushed through. No everyone slurp their pea soup...

Critique:
The Exorcist is creepy film making at it's best. I don't care who laughs at this (and you're sick if you did), I love the creepy atmosphere and even now, amazing hand-made special effects. A landmark film that spawned endless sequels and spin-offs. Blair, Burstyn, Miller, Sydow and Cobb all do perfect jons. It helped I read the novel, and it was magnificent. The only beef I have with this compared to the book is the unfolding of the characters. Kinderman, Sharon, Dennings and Karl (the servant) in particular. Oh well. The movie wraps it's self up nicely enough. Some scenes such as "help me" on her stomach, the vomit and the masturbation/crusifix scene were strainous and gave me the beebie-jeebies. Some may call me old fashioned, but I found 'Exorcist" to be one frightening horror fest.

[Hannibal21]

Arguably one of the scariest if not the scariest movie ever made. A big influence in the horror genre and deservely so. It's a film that I can't watch but yet, can't keep my eyes off the screen; horror movies that have to deal with the supernatural have always been the scariest for me, but this one is something so realistic and frightening it can definitely be called a true horror film. It holds up on repeated viewings and each time, it just gets more disturbing and horrific, especially in the scenes where we see Reagan MacNeil possessed by the devil who is doing terrible things. It's sick but with the special effects, it seems incredibly real and the story is told in a frightening manner, that is unforgettable. Everyone in the cast did a great job, with Linda Blair stealing the show (she deserved a fuckin' oscar for her performance in this), Ellen Burstyn very sympathetic as the mom, Jason Miller and Max von Sydrow are both believable as the priests to perform the exorcism. For any true horror movie fans, this is the film to check out. 9.5/10

[ScaryFreak1827]

This is definetly one of the scariest and best horror movies of all time. The performances, especially by Ellen Burstyn, Jason Miller and the young Linda Blair, helped make the movie more realistic as it depicts the slow demonic possession of the little girl from noises in the attic/bed shaking, to head twisting and pea-soup vomiting. To me this movie is just as shocking as when it was released in 1973 (just take a look at the crucifix scene) and I wish more horror movies today could be like this (this is not a film easily duplicated.)
10/10