The Exorcist (1973)

Directed by: William Friedkin | 122 minutes | drama, horror | Actors: Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Max von Sydow, Jason Miller, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty Winn, Jack MacGowran, Reverend William O’Malley

In 1973 ‘The Exorcist’ was an innovative film, which was completely in line with its time. In the hippie era, American society was refocusing on the role of traditional relationships, but the excesses (drug-related murders; increased divorce rates) had also sparked a lot of fear. How to better portray that through a Hollywood actress in an upscale neighborhood of conservative Washington DC with a sweet daughter on the threshold of puberty who is possessed by the devil. In ‘The Exorcist’ the aforementioned fears are explored in an unprecedented way and grotesque special effects (turning heads, green vomit) successfully introduced into the horror genre. Even more startling is the language used in the film, in which Regan’s transformation is central. Words like ‘cunt’ are rare in Anglo-Saxon public life and the suggestion of intercourse with Jesus at all. Not to mention Regan’s gory self-mutilation; enough to still disappoint people in the twenty-first century; ‘The Exorcist’ therefore remains unique in its kind, a ‘Passion of the Christ’ but the negative of it.

Yet the film suffers from a moderately dramatic effect. We don’t get to know more about Regan than that she makes fun coloring pages; mother Chris is single and father absent and neglectful. Friedkin presents everything as a given fact and the viewer must then discover some tragedy in it; Chris stands there and looks at it. The Father Karras storyline suffers from a similar problem. This sinful priest (smoking and drinking) hesitates between his work as a servant of God and the care of his mother, but what his character adds to the film is a mystery. It leads to a messy mishmash of innocence and evil, faith and fate. ‘The Exorcist’ loses its persuasiveness as a result; certainly in comparison with the later ‘The Omen’, in which the fact of the antichrist is processed more subtly – and without snot – and the despondency of the parents of the satanic Damien really becomes tangible.

In ‘The Exorcist’, on the other hand, there is a balanced build-up of tension and the performance of the young Linda Blair, who first impresses as a dreamy girl and then – if we still recognize her – as the personification of evil. She is the star and easily outshines reputed actors like Ellen Burstyn and Max von Sydow. ‘The Exorcist’ leaves you with mixed feelings.