The Exorcist (1973)

I remember one morning in October when I was getting ready for school and Mom was watching Good Morning America talking about great horror films to watch on Halloween. I come in as she's watching and I see a clip of pots and pans getting thrown across a room and a girl slamming back and forth on a bed while making horrific sounds. My mom's reaction was, "God, I hate that movie!" On the way to school, I asked her what that was and she said, "That was The Exorcist." I didn't think much of it for a while but over the years, I learned more and more about it. I slowly grasped the demonic possession aspect, that it was about religion and the like, and I remember back when Wal-Mart had these devices where you could scan a movie and a TV monitor would show the trailer. I did that with The Exorcist and the trailer, as brief as it was, did freak me out. Once again, it was mainly the sounds that the girl made that got to me. As I researched it more and more, I found out that among horror movies, this film is a legend, that it was an enormous hit when it was released and people were running out of the theater screaming and such. I thought, "God, this movie must be the scariest thing ever." Turns out, many do think that, since it was voted the scariest movie of all time in 1999. So, I wondered if it was a movie I wanted to see, even when I became more open to all horror movies. After seeing the second half of the movie a couple of times and bolstered even more so by the re-release in 2000 as well as hearing stories about from my relatives, I actually saw the entire film when I was seventeen. While I don't think it's the scariest movie of all time by a long shot, I do respect it for its place in the genre and that it is, indeed, a brilliant film.

You probably already know the plot or even a semblance of the plot for The Exorcist but I'll give a brief summation just in case. It's actually three plots that come together at the climax. The first deals with Father Lancaster Merrin who, while in Iraq, finds evidence and gets a premonition through various bizarre occurrences that something evil is about to happen. After that, we switch to Georgetown, Washington. Here, Father Damien Karras, a psychiatrist as well as a priest, is going through a crisis of faith which is made even more severe by his sick, elderly mother's worsening condition and eventual death. By the time she does die, they have become estranged because Damien has put her in a nursing home even though she told him she didn't want to go. The main plot, of course, deals with Chris MacNeil, an actor who's currently working on a movie in Georgetown who's also beginning to notice disturbing changes in the behavior of her twelve-year old daughter Regan. At first, they're simply mood swings and an unnatural use of bad language but over time, they become much more horrifying, including seizure-like convulsions, an evil voice coming through her, unnatural strength and movements as well as more supernatural occurrences. When no physical or psychological cause can be found, a doctor finally tells Mrs. MacNeil that an exorcism may be the best course of action. Father Karras takes the case, trying to determine if Regan is, indeed, possessed and when the evidence suggests that she is, Father Merrin is enlisted to help him exorcise the demon before Regan dies from the possession.

When this film was released in 1973, the horror genre was in a state of transition. Beginning with Psycho and the psychological thrillers that came before and after it, the genre started to move away from the Gothic films that had made it popular in the 30s and 40s and focused on horrors happening everyday life. In fact, The Exorcist, along with Night of the Living Dead and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, is considered to be one of the first horror movies of the modern era, with the stories happening in modern cities and households, in the countryside, in suburban neighborhoods etc., or to be more precise, settings that everyday American citizens could relate to. It also burned the idea of demonic possession and exorcism into the American subconscious. Before then, exorcism wasn't really talked about (even a character in the movie says that it's sort of kept in the closet by the church) but ever since, almost everyone knows what an exorcist is. Even more frightening is the idea that the story is supposed to be true. The novel by William Peter Blatty that the film is based on (which is an excellent book, by the way), was supposedly based on a real case of demonic possession that took place in the 40's. Blatty has said that the priest who performed the exorcism let him use his diary about the case provided that he change the possessed person's gender from a boy to a girl. Whether or not that case is legitimate is up for debate and the people involved have never commented on it (including the person who was possessed, whose real name has never been revealed) but it does give the novel and, as a result, the film, a frightening air of authenticity about it.

Just as notorious as the effect the film had on audiences is the lengths that director William Friedkin went to in order to make sure it was as effective as it possibly could be. Friedkin, by this point, had won an Oscar for The French Connection and that film was why Blatty said he wanted him to make this movie. Friedkin's films since The Exorcist have been rather hit and miss, none of them reaching the levels of success that his early films did. Personally, I rather enjoy his other genre efforts. I think The Guardian is an underrated and rather creepy flick and Bug, even though many felt tricked by the marketing, is a nice thriller. However, as I was saying, Friedkin did stuff during the making of The Exorcist that was abusive and he probably shouldn't have but I think when you watch the film, it could be a big reason why the film is so well made. He pushed a proposed 85 day shooting schedule to almost a full year, he fired guns off-camera without warning to elicit real reactions, he supposedly smacked an actor to get the necessary performance out of him, had the set of Regan's bedroom built inside an enormous freezer to create a genuine feel of coldness, had actors Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair yanked so hard by harnesses that they suffered back problems, among others. Friedkin was such a cruel perfectionist during the making of the film that, if you watch the making-of documentary on the DVD and Blu-Ray, you will see a raw take where you hear him yell at someone to shut up. It's unbelievable. In essence, the making of the movie would probably make a good movie in and of itself.

The very idea of the film and everything behind it is quite terrifying. When you first see the movie, you probably think, "Oh, this could never happen." I myself often said, "If the devil wanted to possess someone, why would he be so obvious about it? And why would he possess a young girl? Why not possess someone of power like the president or the king of England?" But as you learn more about it, you find that it may not be that black and white. Also, when you learn the supposed true story behind the film and see documentaries on other real stories of possession with interviews of people who've experienced it, you begin to wonder if there are things you don't understand and could happen to you. Personally, while The Exorcist was the first major movie on the subject, I think other films like The Exorcism of Emily Rose and The Last Exorcism have done a better job of making the idea of demonic possession more realistic and, therefore, more frightening (a little too much for my taste in the case of the latter but that's a story for another day). It makes you pay a little more attention to what that odd sound was you heard in the dead of night or what that movement was you saw in the darkness. It's truly freaky. In fact, weird stuff happened during the making of the film including unexplained fires and tragedies among the cast and crew, similar to what would happen during the productions of similar movies like The Omen and Poltergeist franchises. But now, let's look at the actual movie and see what it has to offer. Note that since the 2000 Version You've Never Seen cut is the one I've seen the most and prefer, I'm going to mention a lot of things in that so if you've never seen that version, you may want to watch it before reading this review.

What really helps the film's legitimacy is its superb cast. Ellen Burstyn is incredible as Chris MacNeil. She's a hard working actor, currently making a film that she personally has little interest in but a job's a job. She loves her daughter very much but has a strained relationship with Regan's father (I can't recall if they say they're divorced or not), getting especially angry when she can't get the guy to call Regan on her birthday. She also has no religious beliefs, which makes what happens to her daughter all the more bewildering and frightening to her. At first, she goes along with the doctor's diagnosis that it could be nerve problems and later, a lesion on the brain but she becomes increasingly frustrated when the doctors act blase to the reality that Regan's behavior and actions couldn't be all psychological or physical. He frustration is understandable and believable but due to her atheist way of thinking, she has no choice but to go along with the doctors. That makes her even more bewildered when a doctor finally says en exorcism may be the way to go, asking, "You're saying I should take my daughter to a witch doctor?" But when things take a supernatural turn and a detective comes around believing that Regan may have been responsible for a gruesome death recently, she has no choice but to contact Father Karras. The scene with her that really gets me is when she's talking to Karras, who's reluctant to investigate what's happening to Regan as a case of demonic possession, and she breaks down crying, pleading with Karras to help her. You can feel her desperation, frustration, and fear of losing her child to something she doesn't understand. That's another thing: even though she doesn't necessarily believe in God or the devil, she knows enough to realize that something evil has entered her life and, "that thing upstairs isn't my daughter." The exorcism is simply a last ditch effort to save her daughter since she's run out of options. By the end of the film when Regan is saved, you have a feeling that Chris will probably be forever scarred by what's happened and now knows that there are things she doesn't understand. I honestly think that Ellen Burstyn should have won the Oscar she was nominated for because her performance is so amazing and believable.

Jason Miller is equally as brilliant as Father Damien Karras (isn't it odd that the name of the Antichrist child in The Omen is Damien as well?). Karras is both a priest and a counselor at his congregation but lately, he's become very troubled, having lost his faith in God. This situation is compounded even more when his mother dies after he places her in a nursing home against her will and they become estranged. As such, when he's called on to help Regan, he's reluctant to believe that she's possessed. Throughout his sessions with her, he mainly thinks that she's very disturbed but isn't convinced that there's a demon inside her. You could chalk it up to his loss of faith as well as outright denial since he hears her speak in tongues, make sounds that she couldn't possibly be able to, imitate the voice of a homeless man whom he rejected early in the film, move objects even though her hands are tied down, and know stuff that she has no way of knowing, such as the death of his mother. But, he does see enough to convince him that an exorcism is needed and he assists Father Merrin in it. As they go through it, his faith slowly comes back when he sees things that can only be caused through supernatural means, such as Regan's head twisting completely around, the bed actually levitating up off the floor, the icy coldness of the bedroom, and so on. The demon also torments him by imitating his mother and heaping guilt onto him and he's so shaken that he has to leave the room. When he comes back and finds Father Merrin dead, he demands the demon to possess him and when he does, he makes the ultimate sacrifice to keep from harming the now free Regan, throwing himself out the window and fatally tumbling down the stairs outside. Father Karras has gone through an amazing arc: he's lost his faith, denied the existence of God and the devil, reclaimed it after coming face to face with the devil, and made the ultimate sacrifice in the name of God. As he's given the last rites as he dies, there's a definite feeling that his soul has been redeemed and is now in heaven. (Or there would be if it hadn't been for The Exorcist III but that's neither here nor there.) It's amazing that this was Miller's first film role because he does a killer job (although he wasn't an amateur because he'd been in the theater for a while) and, like Burstyn, he should have won the Oscar.

Father Lancaster Merrin is played by veteran actor Max von Sydow. He's an elderly priest and archeologist, respected in his congregation for having dealt with demonic possession in the past and having succeeded in driving the demon out, namely the same demon that has possessed Regan. While in Iraq, he gets a premonition that the demon he faced decades ago is about to return and he must once again wage battle with it. One of my favorite moments in the film is when Merrin drives out to the middle of the desert and sees a statue of that very demon. He stands off against his old adversary as things around him turn supernatural, with wind picking up and a pair of dogs spontaneously fighting. After that, we don't see Father Merrin again until he's contacted to take part in the exorcism. As soon as he receives the letter, he knows what he's about to face. He doesn't need to know the case history about Regan's possession, knowing what he is going to face and even tells Karras that there is only one entity within Regan when he suggests that there could be at least three. He also lays down the rules for Karras, warning him not to listen to the demon no matter what he says because he's a liar and not to engage him in conversation. Despite his failing health, he presses on with the exorcism, obviously having affection for Regan and determined to drive this cruel spirit out of her. He even explains (in a scene in the 2000 cut) what the demon's goal for possessing Regan is, to prove that all humanity is garbage since he can corrupt someone as innocent and pure as a young girl. Unfortunately, this time Merrin loses his battle with the demon, although you're not sure if the demon himself killed him or if Merrin's ill health finally caught up with him. However, it's necessary for Karras to gain the incentive to regain his faith entirely and completely redeem himself.

One actor in this film that I don't think is talked about enough is Lee J. Cobb as Detective William F. Kinderman. Granted, he's not in the movie much and you could have cut all his scenes out of the movie and it wouldn't have made any impact but I just can't help but like this character. He's funny, kind, charming, and very cunning. When he talks with Chris about the death of Chris' director Burke Dennings, he doesn't want to blatantly suggest that Regan could be the murderer (as well as be the one who desecrated an altar in a church recently) because he can tell that Chris is already upset enough as it is but he does hint at it. He's good enough to suggest that the killer could have been an unexpected visitor to the house but that doesn't seem likely. I also like how charming he is. He sheepishly asks for an autograph from Chris on the pretense that it's for his daughter but has to admit it's for him since he's a fan of hers. I also like the scene where he asks Father Karras for help in solving both the murder and desecration and to get more information from him, asks him to go to the movies with him. I just find that so funny. That's another reason why I like the 2000 cut because it comes full-circle when Kinderman asks Karras' friend Father Dyer if he'd like to go to the movies with him as well and when he tells him what's playing, he says, "I've seen it." Kinderman's response: "Another one," since Karras said the same thing to him. He's just a nice, likable character and it's a shame this was one of Cobb's last movies because he does a good job.

Even the actors who don't get much screen-time are great. Kitty Winn as Sharon, a young woman who's assistant to Chris and looks after Regan, doesn't have much of a role and is not in the film much but you can tell that she's sympathetic to Chris' plight and does what she can to help Regan. Jack MacGowran is also memorable as Burke Dennings, the raunchy, drunk director of the film Chris is working on at the moment. He's only in two scenes but is memorable mainly for how drunk he gets at a party that Chris throws and acts racist towards Karl, Chris' Swiss housekeeper, calling him a Nazi and the like. He's killed by the possessed Regan off-camera or that's what we're led to believe. (MacGowran was also believed to be a victim of the curse that supposedly surrounded the film because he died right after he finished filming it.) Father William O'Malley plays Father Joseph Dyer, a young priest who's very likable and encouraging, as well as a close friend to Karras. His best scene is when he visits the depressed Karras after his mother dies and does what a good friend should do: help him through his tough time. He's also the one who gives Karras the last rites when he dies (O'Malley is the actor whom Friedkin slapped to get a good take out of). He's also part of an interesting final part of the film that is different depending on which version you watch. When Karras fought with the possessed Regan after Father Merrin's death, she ripped off a charm he wore. Chris gives the charm to Father Dyer. In the original cut, he keeps it but in the 2000 version, he gives it back to her. It's not important in the long run but interesting.

Now we come to the actor who's most remembered from the film: Linda Blair as Regan MacNeil, Satan's favorite twelve-year old girl. Blair is quite believable as a young girl who starts off as happy-go-lucky and has a great relationship with her mother, which makes what happens to her all the more horrific. Exactly how the demon was able to possess her is never explained, although we are given a few clues. It's revealed that Regan has been playing with Ouija board and has been communicating with a spirit she calls Captain Howdy, which is the demon no doubt. A doctor also explains that possession often starts with guilt and maybe Regan felt guilty about her parents splitting up and that's how the demon was able to enter her life. Whatever the case, it's shocking to see this cute, apple-faced young lady begin spouting so much profanity and doing horrific things, ultimately becoming a malnourished, hideous creature with a scratched up face, creepy green eyes, stringy hair, and with a horrific voice. I remember the first time I actually saw a photo of the possessed Regan and it freaked me out. Blair's performance was so creepy that she received both praise and scorn. She got an Oscar nomination but she also received death threats from people who felt that she was a mentally ill child and had to have bodyguards with her for a while. Quite an accomplishment that ended up having her forever tied with the film.

You can't talk about Blair's performance as Regan without also discussing Mercedes McCambridge as the voice of the demon. Friedkin was originally just going to electronically deepen Blair's own voice but it proved to not to have the effect he wanted. That's when he hired McCambridge, who had one of those strange voices that you couldn't tell whether it was a man or a woman. She went even further by swallowing raw eggs, drinking a lot of liquor, and smoking cigarettes to produce that creepy voice. The effect is very memorable. Hearing that voice come out of little Regan's mouth is quite an eerie sight. Also, I have to mention the identity of the demon. In the novel, the demon's name is revealed as Pazuzu but in the film, it remains unnamed. In fact, the entity claims to be the devil himself but we're never sure whether it is, in fact, the devil or if it's just one of his minions pretending to be him. Merrin says that the demon is a liar and this whole time, he's been claiming that there are many entities inside Regan but Merrin says that there is only one and since he's dealt with the demon before, he should know what he's talking about. I've always assumed that it was just a demon and not the devil but that's what is so effective, that you can judge for yourself.

What freaks me out even more than the demon's actual voice is the sounds he makes. The growling and wheezing are really eerie, especially during the scene where Karras talks with Regan for the first time, but the howling that the demon starts doing in the moments leading up to the exorcism are some of the creepiest things I've ever heard. But what gave the movie its notoriety and got a lot of extreme reactions from the audience were the makeup and physical effects. Like I said, the look of Regan when she goes completely under possession creeped me out when I actually saw a picture of it. Dick Smith did quite an impressive job with that. The scene where Regan's throat blows up like a bullfrog is weird as well and, of course, there's the projectile puking. I must say that that never grossed me out as much as it did others when she vomits on Karras but it does get me when she does it during the actual exorcism (that's more the burping noise she makes when she does so but still). One scene I was not prepared for because I'd never even heard about it was the scene where she jams the crucifix into her vagina. I remember when I first saw that scene I was like, "Oh, dear God!" The combination of her doing that as well as what she's saying at the same time is what was so horrific. I'm sure some people in 1973 probably fainted during that scene.  There's other stuff like the moving furniture, the levitating, and so on but that was the scene that freaked me out big time. And oddly enough, despite the movie's reputation, that and the scene where she's given a brain scan are the only moments with any type of gore or sexual content. I have to mention that that scene is really hard for me to watch because it looks so painful when they prick her neck and insert the tube that sends the dye up her vein. It shows that you don't have to be overly gruesome to elicit real visceral responses. Finally, I have to say that the twisting head, as often imitated and famous as it is, is still eerie when you actually first see it with the gross sound effects that accompany it.

The most incredible scene in the entire film is the actual exorcism because the movie has been building towards it for two hours and it's where all the subplots come together. Wes Craven has said that when he saw the movie in the theater at the time, a woman got up and went screaming up the aisle because she was so terrified. It is a very tense scene and it gives you the impression that the war for Regan's soul is on now. It's the loudest, most chaotic scene in the film with Merrin and Karras praying, the demon yelling, all the gross possession effects come out in full force, the wall starts cracking, windows start blowing open, Regan's IV falls on the floor and shatters, the bed lifts up off the floor, and the demon is spewing obscenities, flicking his tongue, torturing Karras with the memory of his mother, etc. It's unreal. The part where Merrin and Karras continuously yell, "Power of Christ compels you!" is the best part of all of it as well as the moment where they get knocked to the ground and see Regan stand up and howl while an image of the demon appears in front of her. It's definitely one of the most well-filmed scenes in a movie that was already very well made.

There are actually a lot of subtle touches to the film that I think the more outrageous moments overshadow. One brief moment takes place in the opening in Iraq where Father Merrin is having someone examine the strange artifacts he found at the dig and clock in the room suddenly stops ticking and the pendulum freezes in mid-stroke. It's subtle but it's something you can't help but notice. Another part of the movie that I find fascinating is the scene where Chris puts Regan to bed after bringing her home from having tests done and finds a crucifix underneath her pillow. She asks her Swiss housekeepers if they put it under there and both deny doing it. I think Sharon is also questioned and she also denies doing it. So, how did it get there? And what's more, Chris brought it downstairs with her but how did Regan reacquire it in order to perform the masturbation scene? Did she come downstairs, get it, and go back upstairs without anyone noticing? Also, Lt. Kinderman finds what appears to be one of the little clay figures Regan has sculpted at the bottom of the stairs next to their house. Again, how did it get there? We're also led to assume that the possessed Regan desecrated the statue in the church so maybe she had the sculpture with her at the time and dropped it. Kinderman notices something else that's odd. While watching the MacNeil house at one point, he sees a shadow move across Regan's window. We assume it's her but we know that she's strapped to the bed. Maybe the demon can make the straps disappear at will as Karras challenged him to. The eeriest touches to the film are the subliminal glimpses of the demon's actual face throughout the film. You see it briefly when Regan is first being examined and in the 2000 cut, you see it several times when Chris comes home to find the lights in the house blinking on and off and Regan upstairs alone. Creepiest of all is when you see it superimposed over Regan's face at one point during the exorcism. This was so freaky that during the film's original release, some people actually thought it was a real demon hiding in the celluloid. These subtle touches balance out the more dramatic parts of the movie and make it much more than just a gross-out movie.

There's a debate over whether good or evil won out in the end by the conclusion of the movie. While Friedkin himself would give no concrete answer, he said that he personally felt that this was an instance where good did triumph and I think I agree. True, both Father Merrin and Father Karras lose their lives but they manage to drive the demon out of Regan and save her life. The film is also about the redemption of Father Damien Karras, who's lost his faith but regains it and triumphs over the demon by making the ultimate sacrifice. The only downside to this aspect is The Exorcist III which, although it is an underrated and well made film in its own right, has Father Karras' soul not at rest and with the demon putting the soul of a serial killer into his body (that's a review for another time but I had to mention it). So, all in all, I think the does have a positive ending. If you want to see a movie where Satan triumphs, watch The Omen, which ends with all the main characters dead and the Antichrist child still alive or, for that matter, Rosemary's Baby, where the main character is forced to be the mother to the spawn of Satan. Compared to the endings of the movies, The Exorcist has a downright fairy tale ending.

As I've been saying throughout this review, the Version You've Never Seen cut of The Exorcist is the one I've always seen and, as a result, the one I preview. Some may find the added footage unnecessary but I think a good deal of it helps the film, such as the scene where the doctor tells Chris what Regan did to her while he examined her and the aforementioned moment where Father Merrin says what he believes the demon's goal to be. As well, I like the subtle effects that were added to the film, such as the much smoother transition between Father Karras' possessed and normal faces when the demon enters him or the moment where Regan's face becomes demonic right before she attacks the hypnotist. Usually, I frown on CGI being added to old films like original Star Wars trilogy but I think it's done well enough here that it's not distracting. However, the most infamous reinstated scene in the 2000 version is the one that I think does have faults and that is the spider-walk scene. Friedkin has said that he deleted it because it never looked good due to the wires holding the contortionist that performed it but when it was reinstated during the re-release, he had the wires removed through CGI so the scene, as it stands, looks good and is startling. However, I agree with the other reason he gives for removing it and that's because he felt it came too early in the film, namely before it's determined that Regan is possessed. Although I think some of the other stuff would have been a giveaway to something supernatural going on, that was a little too obvious and I don't think she would have needed a psychiatrist to tell her something was wrong with Regan after that. What's interesting is that there's another version of the scene that you can see on the making of documentary, The Fear of God: The Making of The Exorcist, which looks even more interesting than the one that was put back in.

The Exorcist may be a brilliant film but I do have some issues with it. First, there are the sounds that Chris hears in the attic at the beginning. I'm not criticizing the sounds themselves because they do sound creepy but what I have issues with is that Chris tells her housekeepers that she heard rats in the attic. Uh, rats? I don't think rats make those types of sounds, lady. My main issues are that I think it takes everyone a little too long that something unnatural is going on with Regan. While the spider-walk scene would have been a little too obvious, I do think the other stuff should convince the psychiatrists and everyone else that this isn't physical or psychological. After the two doctors have to sedate Regan when she's freaking out in her room, flopping around and speaking in the demonic voice for the first time, I agree with what Chris says when they still think it's a lesion on one of her frontal lobes, "Did you see her or not?" Seriously, does all that thrashing and that voice seem like something natural to them? They could be in the denial but that still gets me. I also think that Father Karras is a little too reluctant to believe that Regan is possessed. I know he believes she's disturbed but the voice, projectile vomiting, speaking in tongues, and part where she makes a drawer open without touching it should have tipped him off. Granted, he's lost his faith but that should convince anybody, especially when the words HELP ME appear on her body. After that scene when he goes to ask permission to perform an exorcism, he's asked if he believes it's legitimate and he says, "Not entirely." What?! How can you not be completely convinced by this point? These are minor gripes but I still think everyone should have realized early on that this isn't normal.

Despite being a fairly chaotic movie, The Exorcist is pretty quiet music-wise. Composer Lalo Schifrin wrote a score for the movie but Friedkin rejected it, saying that it sounded like Mexican marimba music (if I recall, I think it ended up being used for The Amityville Horror). Friedkin instead used modern classical compositions, most notably Tubular Bells and portions of a cello concert by Krzysztof Penderecki, as well as some original music by Jack Nitzsche. Overall, I think the music suits the film well. A good majority of it is nice and subtle, not intrusive at all and I think that's good because, like Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds, this is a movie that has the best effect when there's no music playing. The Version You've Never Seen had some new music put in that I think also works well, such as some eerie music that plays in the scene where Chris returns home to find Regan alone. In the original cut, there was no music but I think the music in the 2000 cut gives the scene a feeling of dread that it didn't have before. It may not be enough to win an Oscar but the music in this film serves its purpose in giving the movie an extra feeling of unease.

What more can you say about The Exorcist? It's definitely a classic and is one of the iconic horror films of the 1970's. It brought the idea of demonic possession into the American mainstream, it was one of the horror films that benefited from a very large budget, and to this day, remains a legend. Also unusual for a horror film is the number of Academy Award nominations it received. It only won two (Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound) but its receiving ten nominations is an amazing feat for a genre that's often shunned by the Academy. While I think it being voted the scariest movie of all time was a bit much and all the parodies and spoofs have maybe softened its blow on modern audiences, there's no denying its reputation as one of the most well acted, directed, and visceral horror movies ever made. Except for the third film, I doubt I'll ever review the sequels. The Exorcist II: The Heretic is notorious for being an incomprehensible, laughable mess of a film and I've never had any desire to see either version of the 2004 prequel. They're beside the point though. Bad sequels and rip-offs aside, I do think The Exorcist deserves its legacy. The tagline for The Haunting was, "You may not believe in ghosts but you cannot deny terror!" and I think the same applies to The Exorcist: Whether or not you believe in the devil, you cannot deny fear of the unknown and that's what this film is ultimately about.