May 06, 2001 02:35 AM
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Released to a storm of protest back in 1973, The Exorcist provoked heated debate amongst religious and community leaders, with the subsequent ban from general release - naturally spurring the public to make it a massive hit. Based on a reported exorcism in 1949, William Blatty's movie is a deeply disturbing suffering from demonic possession. At first her parents were unsure of the problems as she began exhibiting strange behavious, spasms etc. and medical experts could find no answer to the problem. Later hideous facial disfigurement, hatred of Christian imagery and speaking in another voice cause them to call upon their priest as a last resort. Realising that his own faith isn't strong enough to deal with the expected demonic possession he himself contacts Father Merrin(Max Von Sydow)to come and sort things out...
Baring in mind that this movie is now close to 30 years old, it is easy to imagine that it would have lost a lot of its shock value. The special effects wouldn't be very good, the sets and camera work dated and the whole thing very tame by today's standards. Well you would be completely wrong. The special effects still look good today, and whilst it is not as scary as it has been portrayed(now at least) it is certainly one of the most disturbing and unsettling movies ever made. Linda Blair as the possessed child does look positively evil and one scene involving her and a cross is a particularly revolting and enduring image. That crosses the line even now - back then it must have been an enormous leap to the other side. The Exorcist is more a psychological horror movie than a visual one. It is the suspense and the fears of the parents which set the nerves jangling, whilst the visuals merely complement this. It is just such a shame that the director did not develop the characters a little more, because then this movie would have really stood up for itself and been counted.
As it stands, it is still a superb movie, and certainly fascinating by its history alone, but it couldhave been so much better. The sequels made to cash in on its success have all be abysmal by comparison...no abysmal, even as standalone movies, but this is well worth watching. Just don't expect to be frightened out of your wits, because this is no longer 1973 and we are all a little more desensitised now.
