The Exorcist (1973)

Directed by William Friedkin. Starring Ellen Burstyn, Jason Miller, Linda Blair, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty Winn, William O’Malley, Jack MacGowran, Peter Masterson, Robert Symonds, (voice) Mercedes McCambridge. [R]

William Peter Blatty’s bestseller serves as the basis for one of the scariest and most notorious horror films of all time, a box office smash that shook, stunned, and permanently scarred audiences around the world. Story of an innocent little girl (Blair) being possessed by a minion of the Devil shouldn’t work as presented—asking moviegoers to take religious hysteria seriously is always a hard sell—but Blatty, director Friedkin, and the top-notch cast treat it all with such serious conviction, it ought to sweep up even the most jaded and atheistic of viewers. Hits so many exposed nerves with tremendous skill (a mother’s trauma, the corruption of a child’s soul, shocking blasphemies, searches for comfort and meaning amid grief, sensory assaults of primal terror, etc.), it’s difficult to imagine anyone could watch it for the first time and not be disturbed, galvanized, and wrung out by the end. Unless, that is, you happen to be a bio-exorcist called Beetlejuice, who’s watched it “about 167 times, and it keeps getting funnier every single time” he sees it. Makes memorable use of Mike Oldfield’s “Tubular Bells” as ersatz theme music. Oscar winner for Sound and Blatty’s Adapted Screenplay. Followed by two sequels and two alternate versions of the same basic prequel idea, not to mention dozens and dozens of rip-offs.

92/100