Force Fed Films: The Exorcist (1973)

This week is turning out to be a big week for horror classics. Of all the horror movies I could be seeing, Puneet wanted to make sure that I didn't miss this one. The Exorcist is one of those massively famous, pop-culture corner stones of horror films. So of course I've seen the possessed girl, and know about the pea soup projectile vomiting, and the spinning of the head, but I still didn't know the story. I've only seen screenshots and the shortest of clips, nothing more, so I was looking forward to learning more. Hit the jump and find out if this really got my head spinning!


The story here is about a famous movie star mother, Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), trying to take care of her only daughter while her father is away in Europe. One day, the daughter, Regan (Linda Blair), starts acting a bit out of the ordinary and complains her bed was shaking. Chris takes her to doctor after doctor, and even many psychologists, but it just gets worse and worse until they run out of ideas and suggest she seek a priest to perform an exorcism. She meets Father Dyer (William O'Malley), and eventually Father Merrin (Max von Sydow) who together attempt to save young Regan from the demon inside her.

Father Merrin performing the exorcism

The story took an incredibly long time to get moving, and I was actually wondering if I was even watching the right movie. It actually starts off showing Father Merrin in the desert on an archeological dig. Not much seemed to be explained here, so I have to admit I was a bit lost as to the specific significance of the things he found. Then it shows the mother, Chris, on a film shoot, and again I had no idea what was going on. We even get some time with Father Dyer too. Eventually the recognizable musical tune kicked in and I knew it was finally moving in the right direction. I think upon rewatching the movie, these scenes would work better as you would already know who these people are, and all the character development wouldn't seem so random like it did to me the first time through.

What's so funny?

The build-up showing Regan becoming more and more possessed was slow, but steady. Her appearance very slowly changed so that her transformation is almost seamless throughout the film. I have to say, I thought the make-up and special effects were really well done! Linda Blair doesn't even look like the same person by the end! Adding to the freakish transformation is the demonic voice(s) that come out of her. They're truly something not of this world and it was really freaky! The acts the demon preforms though her are also pretty horrifying, like a specific scene when she comes down the stairs in a less than usual manner. I think what freaked me out more was that she was just free to roam around the house!

What makes The Exorcist work so well seems to be the truly shocking scenes it has. Besides the demonic stunts, it's also extremely offensive. Seeing a little girl swear in a way that would shock a sailor certainly caught me off guard! Another cool thing was how they would show single frame flashes of the demon throughout the movie, like when lights are flickering around the house. The demon, who Regan calls "Captain Howdy" at one point, has a very pale white face with dark eyes and crooked teeth, and you'll see these nearly subliminal flashes several times. In fact it was almost fun looking for hidden images during the movie.

Whoa! I don't even...

I really liked The Exorcist even if the pacing at the start was really boring me. It still gave me some good character development on the side characters, which most horror movies never bother to get into. So I'll give it that. The entire film is really all about the possession of Regan, and the final exorcism. Other than that, there's not much else to talk about. The acting was OK, but kind of forgettable besides Regan's possession. The effects were great, even for today, and that's really what keeps this movie relevant I think. I really like a good exorcism movie, The Exorcism of Emily Rose comes to mind, and this is another great one. Check it out if you haven't seen it. One of the best horror movies I've seen all month!