The Exorcist movie review

The Exorcist released in 1973 is considered one of the greatest movies of all time, and is one of the highest grossing horror movies of all time, winning a lot of awards. William Peter Blatty wrote both the novel and the movie, and the novel is inspired by a true story about a young boy who had underwent an exorcism. Linda Blair being cast as Regan a 12 year old girl who was possessed by a demon, who she encountered through a Ouija board. After multiple medical examinations they could not find the cause of her issues, and finally a priest examines her and it is determined that she is possessed, and she undergoes an exorcism. I know I really just quickly summed up the story with no detail, but I want to instead talk more about the movie and not focus on the plot, which most people are very familiar with at this point. So I watched this film when I was five with my mother, and two things really stuck with me, the first is at five I developed a huge crush on Linda Blair, and second, because my mom had explained to me that this was inspired by a true story, this is the first movie to actually terrify me. To this day this is one of very few movies that actually really scared me. At the time that this movie was released it was considered one of the scariest movies of all time, and to this day still holds up to that. The cast that was chosen for this movie, even though none of them were big stars, played their roles so perfectly and believable, especially young Linda Blair. This movie was so terrifying and because of some of the obscenities uttered by the demon came close to receiving an X rating, though Warner Bros pushed really hard for it to receive only an R rating, which it only received because of it being such a big budget film released by a major American film company, if it had been foreign or had a lower budget it would most likely have been given that X rating. Still even with the R rating, it was banned in some countries as well as a few US cities, because of its controversial religious themes and blasphemous aspects. I mean we are talking about a movie where a 12 year girl masturbates with a crucifix, where the same little girl says the famous line "Your mother sucks cocks in Hell". This isn't a movie for those sensitive religious folks who are easily offended because this one will ruffle some feathers, this is also not a movie for the faint of heart as we see some serious shit go down as Regan becomes possessed by the demon, and her transform from a cute 12 year old little girl to a demonic creature. We see her head spin completely around, we see her puke up green goo into two priests' faces, we see her stabbing herself in the crotch with a crucifix splattering blood, the filmmakers held nothing back, and I'm glad they didn't because it helped to create one of the greatest films of all-time, and definitely one of the greatest horror films of all time. Honestly because of amazing performance, I am kind of shocked that this movie didn't launch Linda Blair into Hollywood stardom, because she never appeared in another movie quite as successful for the rest of her career, and to this date is mostly only known for this role. Everything about this movie works so effectively, from the dark settings of Washington DC, the location of the house where the possession occurs, with its memorable set of stairs leading up the hill, and the run down shitty streets of New York City, where the main priest, Father Merrin lives with his dying mother. The line "Your mother sucks cocks in hell" is actually directed at Father Merrin whose mother died earlier in the film, and the loss of his mother was contributing to the loss of his faith, which is a whole other subplot of the film that is going one. I also like that in this movie, Regan and her mother are atheists, who don't believe in Gods and Demons, I think that adds to a bit of realism to the story, because not everyone are good Catholics that believe in God and the Devil, but just because we don't believe in the spiritual world, doesn't mean that the spiritual world may not effect us. I feel that that adds an element to the movie that makes it a bit more real, and honestly a bit more terrifying. It is easy to dismiss things like demonic possession if you don't believe in Gods and Demons, it is a bit harder to dismiss when it happens to an atheist who doesn't hold those beliefs. This movie has a darkness around it, and the settings and the characters all help to create that darkness. This movie also doesn't fill the viewer with this false sense of hope that everything will be okay in the end, no it puts the characters in real danger and doesn't give them a happy easy way out of it. Also I think the impact that this movie has made on the film industry needs to be mentioned. I know these days you can't walk through a video store, or flip through a streaming service and not stumble over a dozen or more movies about exorcism, and some vary in degree of quality. That was not the case in 1973, The Exorcist is really the movie that started it all as far as exorcism movies go, and to this date it is still the best, and the standard that all others are measured against. This is a theme that has launched so many films and franchises, from the Conjuring, to Stigmata, to The Exorcism of Emily Rose, and the countless others, they all originated in and pay homage to The Exorcist, and they all pale in comparison to this legendary film. The Exorcist did launch a franchise of films, including a few more starring Linda Blair as she got older, but none of them achieved any real success or could ever come close to what was created in the Exorcist. This is a film whose impact that we will see for generations to come, as the idea of demonic possession and exorcism is an idea that may always scare and intrigue film goers. The reason that these kinds of films are so terrifying, is the idea that an unwelcome entity has taken over the possession of your body, and you lose control as it uses you like an empty vessel, pushing you out of your own body in a way. That idea of losing control, of having your body taken over, is one that seems to universally scare people, and that is a formula that has been created to create a truly terrifying movie. This is a movie that doesn't need heavy gore, it doesn't need gratuitous nudity, or really even extreme violence to create a very terrifying scene. This is a movie that uses traditional horror elements, as well as amazing practical effects, without resorting to the gross out or jump scares to get its scares. This is a true horror movie, that uses real horror to scare the shit out of generations of film goers. Yes, this is one of the greatest movies ever made, and without a doubt one of the greatest horror movies of all time, and no that is not just my opinion, but the expert opinion of film historians, and experts in the field of film, the critics even thought it received mixed reviews at the time, now all consider it for its greatness, even the fact that this movie has received a large amount of awards, which is extremely rare for horror movies. This is a must see, this is one of the top movies that every viewer must see in their life. Would I recommend this movie? Yes, a million times yes! This is the first movie to ever scare me and give me nightmares for years to follow, this movie changed horror movies and how society would view them, and how film makers would make them. Mostly likely if you like the horror genre at all, the creator of your favourite movie or writer of your favourite book, or the creators of your favourite horror video game were influenced by this film. I am not giving this film undue praise, because it has earned this praise over the years. Yes, every lover of horror needs to see this film, but I honestly think everyone needs to see this film, even those who don't like horror, because of the amazing impact that it has had upon our society, and our pop-culture. So if you have not seen this film, go and hunt down a copy of The Exorcist immediately. But, know this, you might not want to watch it alone in a dark house, or go to bed right afterwards, maybe cleanse yourself with a comedy or something after watching this movie, but whatever you do, watch it.