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The Exorcist
William Friedkin, 1973
After choosing to miss out on last night's screening of Night of the Living Dead, I opted to redeem myself somewhat by giving a second chance to a film I'd never really felt too strongly about before - the notorious tale of demonic possession that is William Fredkin's The Exorcist.
As per usual, here's a quick summary for anyone who doesn't know the plot - preteen girl Regan (Linda Blair) starts behaving more and more strangely every day, with her bizarre outbursts becoming angry, destructive and reeking of the paranormal. Her distraught mother (Ellen Burstyn) tries everything from modern medicine to psychiatry before finally turning to the church to perform an exorcism to rid Regan of the demon within. Drafted into the task is Father Karras (Jason Miller), a Jesuit priest with his own troubles.
I've only watched The Exorcist once before now, on a glitchy DVD of the 2000 re-released version (which was also the same version I saw tonight). It's become clear that watching the film on a small television does no real justice to just how shocking it can be at points. Granted, it took at least a third of the film to win me over - prior to that, I still remained rather unimpressed by it (because obviously the seriously intense parts hadn't started and it was still working on developing the characters - most of the other films I've watched as part of this program haven't invested that much time and effort into developing the first act). However, once it started picking up and the trouble started growing, then it truly got gripping.
I've noticed that the past few horror films I've watched all tend towards different styles of scare tactics. I should give credit to The Exorcist for maintaining a totally different approach to scares to the others. Even if it isn't quite as instantly tense or thrilling (as, say, certain scenes in most of the other films were), it still manages to be unsettling, and I've got to give it credit for that. Want to know how unsettling? This example's rather personal, but here goes - The Exorcist marks the first of the horror films I've seen where I never laughed. Not even the slightest giggle. Despite the admittedly ridiculous demonic behaviour (such as green vomit, random swearing, rotating heads, etc) and some of the more questionable acting moments that had others in the theatre laughing, the film never made me laugh. I don't think that makes it scary by default, but it's still something that these effects don't seem laughable to me. There were no jumps or even too much suspense - about the most the film really disturbed me was when I watched one of the scenes where Regan was getting extensive medical treatment (don't really want to go into it, although I think you should be able to guess the one if you know the film.) I literally couldn't stop cringing.
Also, not sure who here has seen this in theatres, but it's recommended. Reading up on this film, I found it won an Oscar for its sound effects, and I couldn't help nodding my head and agreeing. Watching this in a theatre with surround sound is just damned incredible. Despite moments where it really just seemed to be overbearing noise, more often than not it sounded very effective, maintaining impressive balance. That (along with the notable lack of music for much of the film, especially its climatic moments) was an interesting choice and it certainly did help this film along.
So my opinion of the film improved quite a bit. I actually learned to appreciate the film from all sides a bit more, and I'd recommend it to others, although be sure to have it loud. Love it or hate it, it's the only way to truly experience The Exorcist.
GRADE: B
The Exorcist
William Friedkin, 1973
After choosing to miss out on last night's screening of Night of the Living Dead, I opted to redeem myself somewhat by giving a second chance to a film I'd never really felt too strongly about before - the notorious tale of demonic possession that is William Fredkin's The Exorcist.
As per usual, here's a quick summary for anyone who doesn't know the plot - preteen girl Regan (Linda Blair) starts behaving more and more strangely every day, with her bizarre outbursts becoming angry, destructive and reeking of the paranormal. Her distraught mother (Ellen Burstyn) tries everything from modern medicine to psychiatry before finally turning to the church to perform an exorcism to rid Regan of the demon within. Drafted into the task is Father Karras (Jason Miller), a Jesuit priest with his own troubles.
I've only watched The Exorcist once before now, on a glitchy DVD of the 2000 re-released version (which was also the same version I saw tonight). It's become clear that watching the film on a small television does no real justice to just how shocking it can be at points. Granted, it took at least a third of the film to win me over - prior to that, I still remained rather unimpressed by it (because obviously the seriously intense parts hadn't started and it was still working on developing the characters - most of the other films I've watched as part of this program haven't invested that much time and effort into developing the first act). However, once it started picking up and the trouble started growing, then it truly got gripping.
I've noticed that the past few horror films I've watched all tend towards different styles of scare tactics. I should give credit to The Exorcist for maintaining a totally different approach to scares to the others. Even if it isn't quite as instantly tense or thrilling (as, say, certain scenes in most of the other films were), it still manages to be unsettling, and I've got to give it credit for that. Want to know how unsettling? This example's rather personal, but here goes - The Exorcist marks the first of the horror films I've seen where I never laughed. Not even the slightest giggle. Despite the admittedly ridiculous demonic behaviour (such as green vomit, random swearing, rotating heads, etc) and some of the more questionable acting moments that had others in the theatre laughing, the film never made me laugh. I don't think that makes it scary by default, but it's still something that these effects don't seem laughable to me. There were no jumps or even too much suspense - about the most the film really disturbed me was when I watched one of the scenes where Regan was getting extensive medical treatment (don't really want to go into it, although I think you should be able to guess the one if you know the film.) I literally couldn't stop cringing.
Also, not sure who here has seen this in theatres, but it's recommended. Reading up on this film, I found it won an Oscar for its sound effects, and I couldn't help nodding my head and agreeing. Watching this in a theatre with surround sound is just damned incredible. Despite moments where it really just seemed to be overbearing noise, more often than not it sounded very effective, maintaining impressive balance. That (along with the notable lack of music for much of the film, especially its climatic moments) was an interesting choice and it certainly did help this film along.
So my opinion of the film improved quite a bit. I actually learned to appreciate the film from all sides a bit more, and I'd recommend it to others, although be sure to have it loud. Love it or hate it, it's the only way to truly experience The Exorcist.
GRADE: B