The Exorcist (1973)
When Fr. Merrin unleashes a demonic spirit on an archaeological dig in Iraq, an innocent girl half way around the world suffers the consequences. The film opens in Iraq and moves to Georgetown where film star and single mother Chris MacNeil and her daughter Regan are living. All is well at the MacNeil house until rumbling in the attic begins and Regan falls ill. After Regan's behaviour becomes violent and erratic, a series of tests are conducted to measure her mental state. When the results reveal to be inconclusive and Regan's mental health begins to resemble a demonic possession, Chris turns to a Jesuit priest, Fr. Karras in hopes that he can perform an exorcism and save her little girl. Karras is ill equiped for such a procedure so Fr. Merrin is called to face the demon that he unleashed.
The Exorcist brought horror to the mainstream, achieving a respectability often reserved for dramatic films. It earned 10 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, a rare feat for any horror film. Word of mouth spread like wildfire as audiences packed movie theatres to see what was billed as "the scariest movie ever made". Reports of audiences running out of the cinema, fainting, vomiting, and breaking into hysterics only fuelled the desire to experience the film. The realistic special effects and sound design, the natural performances and the use of subliminal messages has continued to make this film into a terrifying experience again and again.
Required reading: Kermode, Mark. The Exorcist. London: British Film Institute, 1997.
Director: William Friedkin
Writer: William Peter Blatty
Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Jason Miller, Max von Sydow
Running Time: 122 minutes (132 minutes: Director's Cut)
Year: 1973
Studio: Warner Bros.
The Exorcist brought horror to the mainstream, achieving a respectability often reserved for dramatic films. It earned 10 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, a rare feat for any horror film. Word of mouth spread like wildfire as audiences packed movie theatres to see what was billed as "the scariest movie ever made". Reports of audiences running out of the cinema, fainting, vomiting, and breaking into hysterics only fuelled the desire to experience the film. The realistic special effects and sound design, the natural performances and the use of subliminal messages has continued to make this film into a terrifying experience again and again.
Required reading: Kermode, Mark. The Exorcist. London: British Film Institute, 1997.
Director: William Friedkin
Writer: William Peter Blatty
Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Jason Miller, Max von Sydow
Running Time: 122 minutes (132 minutes: Director's Cut)
Year: 1973
Studio: Warner Bros.
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