The Exorcist

The Exorcist (1973)
Director: William Friedkin
Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Max Von Sydow, Jason Miller
Memorable Line(s): "Especially important is the warning to avoid conversations with the demon. We may ask what is relevant but anything beyond that is dangerous. He is a liar. The demon is a liar."

To say this movie was shocking when it was released is an understatement. Many viewers found it to be the scariest film they had ever seen and reported having nightmares for weeks after seeing it. This is still a film that is very powerful and quite effective.

Adapted from the William Peter Blatty novel, the story follows a famous film actress, Chris, (Burstyn) and her daughter, Regan, (Blair) as the actress is on location shooting a movie in Washington, D.C. The young daughter begins to exhibit strange symptoms and nightmares. As the mother seeks all the remedies that medical science can bring to bear, she is faced with looking for a spiritual diagnoses and brings in a city priest who also is a psychiatrist, Father Miller (Miller). The priest is suffering his own crisis of conscious as he faces this frightening dilemma.

The strange symptoms escalate to such a scale that Father Miller brings in a priest, Father Merrin, experienced in exorcism. A battle insues for the body and spirit of the young girl and an ultimate price is paid to rescue her.

What helps makes this movie so effective is that Friedkin sets this extraordinary tale against such a normal background. The characters are real and the setting seems so authentic that we could envision this actually happening. Burstyn conveys all the emotions of the concerned mother, frustrated and frightened by what is happening to the daughter. Miller is quite convincing as the priest who is examining his own faith and Sydow seems have been born to play the warrior priest, Father Merrin.

Yes, some of the scenes are quite shocking, but they aren't sensational -- even if there effect is supernatural. This is a scary movie with what feels like could be real frights and one that viewers will have a hard time forgetting.

It's worth it to note that a new special edition release of the movie is available on DVD. Several scenes cut from the original movie have been added both to the detriment and the benefit of the movie.