The Exorcist (1973) Movie Review - 31 Days of Halloween 2024

Welcome to Knockout Horror. We are deep into the final days of our 2024 31 Days of Halloween feature and it is time for another classic horror review. Today we are checking out a movie frequently dubbed as the “scariest of all time” – William Friedkin’s The Exorcist from 1973. This movie just got a brand new 4K release so what better time to revisit it than now?

When actress Chris MacNeil’s (Ellen Burstyn) daughter, Regan (Linda Blair), begins acting strangely after the pair move into a luxurious house for Chris’s new job. Chris believes that Regan may have a simple medical condition that can be treated by doctors. When it turns out, however, that Regan is getting worse and even becoming violent. Chris resorts to an altogether more drastic option for helping her child in the form of two Catholic priests.

A Controversial Classic

Man, did this movie ever cause a storm on its release back in 1973? Sparking ire from the religious community and puritan audiences, alike. The Exorcist is a movie whose legend has been built, just as much, off the screen as it was on it. The frequent mixing of sexuality and religion was enough to raise a lot of eyebrows. But, when combined with the adorable possessed girl swearing, acting violent and being vulgar, it was enough to send heads spinning. And that’s without mentioning the blasphemous depictions of items of religious significance being used in, ahem, ways they were never intended.

In short, The Exorcist pissed people off. Did you know that this movie was banned in the United Kingdom until the late 90s? Released in cinemas in 1974, its run was truncated due to the mass protests organised by religious leaders and community heads. Hell, it was removed from screenings completely in certain parts of the country.

When it finally made its way to home video in 1981, its shelf life was cut short by the passing of the Video Recordings Act 1984. This meant that all movies needed to pass certification; a task that was going to be incredibly difficult for a movie like The Exorcist. Despite getting the nod from a few members of the BBFC, director James Ferman overruled them. Refusing the 18 certificate on the grounds that the controversy surrounding the movie would create a desire, in young people, to watch it. In turn, corrupting their fragile little minds. We sure loved banning horror here in the UK.

A Long Wait

Growing up in the UK myself, I had something of a long wait to watch this movie. The internet wasn’t a big option when it came to finding banned movies in the 90s. You were really dependent on knowing a person who knows a person. I, however, didn’t know a person. The fact that I was a child was something of an obstacle when it came to having a circle of dodgy contacts who could find black market horror movies. I simply had to wait and wait is exactly what I did. Wait with baited breath, in fact, because people had talked this movie up to the moon.

I remember my much older brother speaking about it in hushed tones. Telling me that it was so scary they had to ban it and nobody can find a copy because they destroyed them all. Obviously, that’s a fairly histrionic appraisal of the situation but that’s how my brother was. When 1999 rolled around, The Exorcist finally earned its 18 rating and was placed back on the shelves. It was finally here and this was my chance to watch “the scariest horror movie of all time”.

Finally!

I was delighted! I still remember my best friend, and me, wondering how we would get our grubby hands on a copy. We were certainly not 18 and we certainly didn’t have any convincing fake ID. What we did have, however, was a lot of balls. Hell, if we could get away with buying 4 cans of Carling and a small bottle of vodka, this should be child’s play. Luckily for us, my mate just so happened to be 6 foot 3 and had a very convincing bum fluff moustache. So we headed up to the counter at our local video rental shop and tried our luck.

It worked! Not because of the height or the bum fluff moustache. But because I’d spent a ton of time in that shop chatting with the young lad who worked there. Mostly about the Highlander movies and crap horror in which we shared a mutual interest. He liked me and was more than happy to let me break the rules. As long as I only returned the videos when he was in so he didn’t get in to trouble with his boss. We rushed back to my friend’s house, so eager to watch that we didn’t even wait until night time. We threw it on his 14 inch portable television right there and then. Sat forward on the edge of our seats with eyes wide in anticipation of some serious horror fun.

And….

This was only going to end one way, right? We were seriously disappointed. This wasn’t scary, we didn’t jump once, it didn’t get into our heads and it didn’t freak us out at all. In fact, I would go as far as to say it was a bit boring. It was a movie extremely heavy on its religious themes and full of talk about demons and whatnot. The hype had inflated our levels of hope to something that The Exorcist could never hope to reach.

Watching as an adult, I still don’t think it really reaches the level of the hype. Even today, people talk about this movie like it is the best horror of all time. And while it is great, top ten certainly, and full of iconic moments. It was clearly designed to shock and once that element evaporates with the dry heat of age. It loses some of its ultimate impact. Recent IMDB reviews throw around 10/10s as if this is a movie without flaws and that simply isn’t true.

Still an Iconic Horror

With that being said, this is still a great movie. It takes awhile to get going, with the first third being devoted to Chris trying to find a scientific solution to Regan’s issues. But once things pick up and the horror starts, things get grim fast. The continuous sense of dread, present throughout, is something that I couldn’t appreciate when I was younger but do now. That’s a difficult thing to achieve in horror and it works incredibly well.

Sure, it doesn’t quite meet the levels of existential dread present in most people’s everyday lives. But this movie, often, feels hopeless and almost like a ball and chain hanging from the viewer’s neck. The heavy, brooding, almost foggy atmosphere is something many movies tried to copy and completely failed at. The Exorcist really nails the dreary, depressive, horror vibe almost like no other.

Technically Great

The thing that stands out while watching The Exorcist in 2024 is how intricately crafted and well made the movie is. To recognise that the majority of the lighting here was organic or what was available in the house at the time is quite something. Just look at the scenes in the kitchen, there is stainless steel everywhere but not a single errant reflection from a stage light. That’s incredibly impressive.

Everything is so carefully crafted and deliberate that the limitations of the setting become the strengths of the picture. This movie was filmed in so many ways that go against convention and it makes for a horror movie that looks completely unique. Every shot is purposeful and you can tell that a tremendous amount of work went into making that the case.

Acting is fantastic. Everyone takes this movie, and story, incredibly seriously. Special mention has to go to the young Linda Blair who, obviously, had a difficult shoot but is completely convincing throughout in one of horror’s most iconic performances. Ellen Burstyn gave her body for this film, suffering a bad injury in one scene, and you feel every second of her pain and grief at her situation. Jason Miller’s performance as the conflicted Father Damien Karras is captivating and completely full of nuance. Everyone is fantastic without a single exception.

Should You Watch The Exorcist?

You should definitely watch The Exorcist if you are interested in horror history. Don’t go into it expecting the scariest horror of all time, you will be disappointed. It’s not remotely scary anymore, not even in the slightest. It is even a bit silly, in parts. If you dislike religious horror, just skip it because it won’t change your mind. If you are looking for an aesthetically different, utterly hopeless, fantastically acted and engaging story of demons, despair, parental-child relationships, and desperation. You will probably really enjoy The Exorcist. It is a very important movie in horror history and still very much deserving of attention.