Banned for 25 years. People ran screaming from cinemas. People were sick in thier seats. Just some of the stories you may have heard about the original screenings of The Exorcist. 25 years down the line and it has finally been given the green light by the censors at the BBFC.
The Exorcist focuses on the battle between good and evil. The battle between God and the Devil. The story revolves around a small girl who, after fooling around with a Ouija board has fallen victim to the devil. After showing signs of posession, a Priest who is rapidly loosing faith is called into help the girl. He comes to the conclusion that an exorcism is needed and calls on another priest in order to rid the girl of the demon that has taken residence within her.
Let's get the first issue out of the way first. The film HAS faired badly against time. I doubt that anyone would run from the film screaming if you showed it to them today. However, in the 70's when nothing like it had been seen before, it was a whole new ball game. However, this does not mean that the film has no impact. That couldn't be further from the truth. The whole film has a disturbing atmosphere to it, made more strange by the fact that not only did the set of the film burn down for no reason but a total of 9 people died during the making of the film. This by anyones standards is a large amount of deaths for just one film.
I feel that the main group of people who really will be affected by this film are religious people. As the whole film centres around religion and the belief in God and the Devil, non-believers will not be as affected as believers. There are many scenes which may not cause too much of a problem to a non-believer but may disturb or even offend a believer (e.g. the infamous crucifix scene). However, this should NOT stop you watching the film.
The acting in the film is spot on throughout, with each of the characters giving 110%, especially Linda Blair who does a fantastic job of portraying the posessed girl, Regan. The special effects, though poor by todays standards (the Head-Spinning scene is the most obvious) were remarkable for the time and should be commended for that.
The DVD edition is a 2-Sided single disc. One side contains the film with 2 commentaries (One by the director and one by the Writer) and the flipside contains a documentary on the Exorcist that was originally shown on channel 4, but the version on show here has been cut down from the original 70 minute feature to around 55 minutes. Also contained on this side are trailers, TV Spots and interviews. A good selection of extras to say the least.
Picture Quality is good for a film of this age as is the Dolby 5.1 Soundtrack, which enhance the immersion factior of the film.
This film is a true horror classic and really should be viewed by anyone who likes the horror genre. As the director says before the beginning of the film, "If you belive the world is an evil place, the Exorcist will enhance that feeling. If you believe that good will triumph over evil, then the Exorcist will enhance that feeling."
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Production Year: 1984 - Horror - Director: Joe Dante - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Zach Galligan, Phoebe Cates, Hoyt Axton, Polly Holliday, Frances Lee McCain, Judge Reinhold, Corey Feldman
Production Year: 2000 - Horror - Director: Keenen Ivory Wayans - Original Language: English - Classification: 18 years and over - Starring: Carmen Electra, Anna Faris, Kurt Fuller, James Van Der Beek, Keenen Ivory Wayans
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When it was released in 1977The Exorcist II: The Hereticwas virtually laughed off the ... more
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Postage & Packaging: Free! Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours...
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Nov 10th, 2001
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