The Exorcist (1973)
 This
classic tale of a girl possessed by a demon was the first, and
still is the best, of its genre - a real, psychological terror
movie.
This is the one film that, no matter what your religious
persuasion, getting to sleep after viewing may be something of a
problem!
It all began on the day after Christmas 1973 . . . An unearthly
screeching followed by the sound of the Islamic call to prayer
pitched America headlong into the first screening of William
Friedkin's film: The Exorcist.
During an atmospheric prologue a Jesuit priest and
archaeologist, Lankaster Merrin, digging in northern Iraq,
uncovers the carved head of a demon, made to ward off the forces
of darkness as "evil against evil". But Merrin is
troubled by a premonition of horror.
The scene switches to Georgetown in Washington DC, where a
twelve-year-old girl, Regan, the daughter of an actress, Chris
MacNeil, is wracked by bizarre convulsions. One night, Chris hears
noises from the attic and instructs her servant to set up traps to
catch the rats she believes she’s hearing. The noises grow worse
and no rats can be found in the traps.
Then, one night Regan changes into a vile being, spitting foul
language and using telekinetic powers to hurt others. Countless
doctors and psychiatrists examine Regan, who is seemingly getting
weaker and weaker during the day and turning into an unspeakable
creature at night. They are powerless to treat her, and speculate
that she may be demonically possessed.
After Regan has apparently committed murder, a Jesuit priest,
Damien Karras, is summoned to help. Convinced that he is facing an
authentic demonic possession, he asks the Church to arrange an
exorcism.
The Church sends Merrin to officiate and together the two
priests struggle to free the child. Merrin ultimately dies of
heart failure during the struggle. Karras prevails, but only by
forcing the demon into his own body and throwing himself to his
death from the girl's bedroom window.
 The
manifestations of the demon hit movie audiences extremely hard. In
a guttural voice the girl barked a stream of obscenity such as had
never before been heard in a Hollywood film . . .
She vomited pea-soup;
she levitated; she twisted her head through a hundred and eighty
degrees and she masturbated with a crucifix - and this was a 12
year old girl, don't forget!
Critics were appalled but audiences were overwhelmed by the
result.
As newspapers reported viewers fainting, Americans lined up to
see what all the fuss was about, and then queued to see it all
again.
In San Francisco a deranged patron charged the screen in an
attempt to kill the demon; in Harlem a priest attempted to
exorcise drugs from his neighbourhood; in Boston a woman was
carried from the theatre murmuring: "it cost me four dollars
but I only lasted twenty minutes".
By March 1974, the film had sold 6 million tickets in the
United States and was poised to sweep the world. Warner Brothers
were quick to remind the world that The Exorcist was based
on a historical case.
In August 1949, the Washington newspapers reported that a boy
in Mount Rainier, Maryland, had been freed from demonic possession
by the rite of exorcism. It was an unusual step. The rite, as
codified in 1614, was usually regarded as a relic of the dark ages
before a modern understanding of mental illness. But this was also
an unusual case. The tormented boy had spoken in languages he had
never studied, and strange symbols and letters had appeared
spontaneously on his body.
 The Exorcist retains cult status. To many, this is still
the scariest film ever made and it never fails to raise the hair
on the back of the neck.
It works on so many levels - Religion,
fear of the dark, mortality, fear of churches, small children
staring at you - you name it and it'll trace back to this tale of
demonic possession - and worst of all, your subconscious, thanks
to a nice bit of subliminal editing in the film.
Warner's marked its twenty-fifth anniversary in 1998 by
releasing a new version with a digitally re-mastered sound track.
It’s hard to overstate just how good or how important The
Exorcist really is. The years, and its legions of imitators,
might have deadened its impact, but few films still have the
ability to generate such raw visceral emotion. Utterly unmissable.
Linda Blair became famous overnight as the possessed Regan,
even though Mercedes McCambridge (voice) and Eileen Smith (body)
deputised during the possession scenes. Both actresses had to sue
to get screen credit.
Christian evangelist Billy Graham once claimed an actual demon
was living in the celluloid reels of this movie.
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