The Exorcist still successfully horrifies

When one thinks of horror movies, several big names come to mind. The Halloween series, Silence of the Lambs, Dracula, Frankenstein, The Wolfman and others are all nearly synonymous with what people consider “horror” to be: a suspenseful atmosphere, terrifying creatures, scared people and plenty of slow, cinematic death scenes.

However, among these films, one in particular has come to be known as one of, if not the scariest movie of all time: a 1973 film directed by William Friedkin, known as The Exorcist.

The Exorcist is a film whose history and legend alone stands as a testament to its impact on the genre. The film, upon its release, received critical praise for being, at the time, one of the most frightening productions ever committed to film. Nine people involved in the production of the film died shortly after its release, and many were very badly injured on-set.

Its imagery has permeated throughout pop culture; even recent films, such as This is the End, have dedicated time to referencing this horrific giant. To date, it is one of the only horror films that required box offices to give out vomit bags with each ticket, and rumors abound that theaters had EMTs and ambulances on hand at every showing. But what makes this film so memorable as a horror masterpiece?

The film is set in Washington D.C. and focuses on the plight of a young girl named Regan McNeil, played by Linda Blair. One day, Regan’s mother, Chris (Ellen Burstyn), discovers that her daughter is acting strangely, as she begins swearing and acting extremely violently. Throughout the film, Regan’s visible health deteriorates, and she begins behaving more and more vulgar, violent, irrational and sexual.

Following her murder of another character, the failure of numerous medical treatments and the recommendation of the church, Chris comes to believe that her daughter is possessed by a demon, and thus requires an exorcism in order to become well again.

The remainder of the film is dedicated to showing the possessed Regan terrifying and abusing anyone and anything she comes across.

The film’s plot itself does not present much that is particularly “fresh” in terms of horror stories. The film itself is loosely based on an actual incident in the late 1940’s, in which a boy was allegedly demonically possessed. As such, the film is limited in the number of ways in which its plot can unfold, as it must remain, to some degree, similar to what occurred in reality.

The characters are almost paper-thin; while they all have established backstories and “lives,” most of the characters exist solely as objects of Regan’s torment. Only one character, a priest named Damien Karras (Jason Miller), offers any background of note, and even then, his character exists primarily to become a key target of Regan’s attacks.

At its core, the film is the possessed Regan’s film, and it primarily focuses on her just acting frightening and scaring everyone around her. She certainly does a fantastic job acting frightening.

The Exorcist utilizes every horror tactic one could dream of and with brutal efficiency.

In a vein similar to Halloween and other slasher movies, there are plenty of “jump” scares in which very sudden, jarring events happen, often with disgustingly brutal results.

Friedkin includes several “subliminal” scares, similar to what one might find in “screamer” videos, wherein a scene, without warning, tears away to a grotesque, terrifying image for a brief moment.

There are plenty of gore-scenes, as Regan vomits, bleeds and expels all manner of bodily fluids on terrified onlookers. Her body contorts in unnatural fashion, she assaults whoever goes near and, in one scene, gets very uncomfortably sexual with a crucifix.

All the while, Regan unleashes unrelenting psychological torment on her onlookers, tearing into the fears we, as people, have about life, deathand normalcy.

All of these scares coming from a little girl only adds to the effectiveness of the scares: the characters are completely unable to fight back against what happen; they are powerless and are forced to submit to whatever horrors Regan inflicts. These scenes pile on, one after another, into an unrelenting barrage of horrific scenes that continues throughout the vast majority of the film.

A common issue, especially with older horror films, is that its scares don’t age well: effects become dated, and scenes become less frightening as a result. While admittedly, The Exorcist suffers from this to an extent (I don’t think anyone will really buy it when Regan turns her head 360 degrees, anymore), the film varies its scare tactics enough that this rarely becomes an issue.

Rather than relying on solely jump scares, psychological scares, effect scares or other singular tactic in the way most horror films do, The Exorcist uses so many tactics that there is sure to be something in the film to frighten any potential audience.

The overall result of this brutal combination of scares is a film which is, for the lack of a better term, unpleasant. However, the film is unpleasant in the best possible way: audiences can expect to be simultaneously repulsed by the film’s imagery and yet enthralled all at the same time, as the film does exactly what audiences should want a horror movie to do: it scares them.

Part of The Exorcist’s effectiveness — and what makes it so memorable as a horror film — is that it recognizes precisely what a horror film is meant to be, to the exclusion of all else. Anything deemed “unessential” to the horror formula is treated with very little regard. The characters, as previously stated, are very thin, and the plot itself is relatively unimportant. The weaknesses of these areas shine through during any of the scenes that take place away from Regan.

The movie is very fond of “exposition dumps,” whereby a character conveniently gives away his or her entire relevant backstory in one line of dialogue, just to keep the story moving along. While doing this keeps the plot moving, it makes the “breather” scenes in between scares feeling stifled, and a bit unnatural.

However, Friedkin had the insight to recognize that horror movies are not dependant on plot, or characters, in the same manner as other films.

He clearly recognized that the focus of horror movies should be on the frightening scenes themselves, rather than the circumstances surrounding them; as such, the film works extremely well as a horror film, as all of its resources are devoted to making its scary scenes as frightening and memorable as possible. And given how often many of the movie’s more infamous scenes are referenced even today, the film has certainly succeeded in being memorable.

While suffering from a weak plot and little character development, The Exorcist excels in all the ways that matter. The film maintains a foreboding atmosphere while juggling a variety of different types of shock value. Its scares are disturbing, varied and memorable enough that audiences are sure to turn on the lights, even after watching. While it could never be considered a masterpiece in storytelling, as a horror film, it truly serves to set the bar.

Overall rating: 4.5/5