Showing its age
 Oct 5th, 2000
(Apr 13th, 2002)
Advantages:
Stil grips
Disadvantages:
aged badly
Recommendable:
Yes
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  dave27
About me:
Member since:24.09.2000
Reviews:989
Members who trust:167
Review rated by 6 Ciao members on average: very helpful 
When this film first came out it was revolutionary and regarded as the scariest film ever made bar none. But that's a long time ago now. When I first saw it, for a while (as a teenager) I was genuinely scared to go out late at night (but that might have been the drugs). However, I watched it with my family two months ago and it doesn't seem to have aged very well - perhaps it's that the memory and passing years have increased its status in my mind or perhaps we've just become immunised by endless shockers since but I have to say I was a little disappointed. Make no mistake, though, this is an amazing film, dealing graphically with the demonic possession of a young girl with horrifying special effects.
It broke new ground in horror and it's certainly a harrowing experience - watch and enjoy. Even today a simple search on an engine such as Google will tell you of the tight grip this film managed to achieve upon those who saw it - just typing in "the exorcist" brought up over 60,000 relevant sites, produced by fans of the film - the same sort of cult following that the infinitely inferior Blair Witch Project achieved much later. The official site with the obligatory Flash effects is at http://theexorcist.warnerbros.com/ where you also get the warning "the scariest movie of all time has returned in a version you've never seen." If you're prepared to sit through the lengthy period while the flash loads (and mark my words, it is lengthy), you will get a pretty fair idea of some of the things which mad ethe actual movie so intense and unsettling - the strange eyes, the disfigured girl, the evil voice, the full horror bit, when we were not used to stuff like The Hills Have Eyes. This film dates back to 1973, when the world was young and we were all VERY innocent.
Another site at http://www.filmsite.org/exor.html gives a great run down on things - "The Exorcist (1973) is the sensational, shocking horror story about devil possession and the exorcism of the demonic spirits from a young, innocent girl (of a divorced family). The film was enormously popular with moviegoers at Christmas-time of 1973, but some portions of the viewing audience fled from theaters due to nausea or sheer fright/anger, especially during the long sequence of invasive medical testing performed on the hapless patient. Its tale of the devil came at a difficult and disordered time when the world had just experienced the end of the Vietnam War (US troop withdrawal and the fall of Saigon) and at the time of the coverup of the Watergate office break-in (also in Washington, D.C.). "Critically, it was presented with ten Academy Award nominations, two of which won (Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound). The other eight nominations included: Best Picture, Best Actress (Ellen Burstyn), Best Supporting Actor (Jason Miller), Best Supporting Actress (Linda Blair), Best Director, Best Cinematography (Owen Roizman), Best Art Direction/Set Decoration, and Best Film Editing. The Exorcist was notable for being one of the biggest box-office successes of all time - it was also one of the first 'blockbusters' in film history."
You also get loads of other useful info about William Peter Blatty, the author of the book on which the film was based, and its director William Friedkin. Don't believe, however, that it's the special effects and over the top bits that really provoke horror - for me the real grist of the piece is the astonishing way in which a sweet little adolescent girl is transformed, uttering some of the foullest language you are ever likely to hear on the big screen - it's not the head turning or the pea soup projectile vomit which remains in the mind, but the evil force which totally absorbs and alters her, in a very chilling way.
Time has worn down the shock impact of The Exorcist, but believe me you will still be affected by the horror.
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![The Exorcist [DVD] [1974]](http://picnicb.ciao.com/uk/78547387.jpg)
26.02.2004 22:42
Excellent movie. Did scare the hell out of me when i watched it as a kid. Though its funny now, especially after watching Scary Movie. jedi_kickass ( ' _ ' )
01.05.2002 16:41
True, it's not THAT shocking anymore, but it's still a brilliant piece of filmmaking and one of the most well-directed films in that genre.