By Marc S. Sanders
Perhaps it is my Jewish upbringing or the fact that I’m not a spiritual person anymore, but what many consider to be the scariest movie of all time really does not alarm me that much. William Friedkin’s The Exorcist is a superb demonstration in horror though. Disturbing? Yes. Unsettling? That’s an understatement. Scary? A little bit.
It’s not so much the threat of a random demon or the possibility of Satan on earth that chills me. It’s this poor, sweet girl who has been unfairly taken advantage of that makes me shudder.
William Peter Blatty adapted his best-selling novel into his Oscar winning screenplay and it succeeds so well because amidst all of the terror, there’s an education to be had. Do any of us truly know or have witnessed someone who has been demonically possessed by an entity of pure evil? I’ll be the first to come clean and say no. Therefore, I’m intrigued as Friedkin’s film proceeds to observe how the decision to exorcise a demon from the shell of a pre-teen girl arrives. Nevertheless, to me it is all fantasy. I might just hold more faith in the Jedi practice of the Force than I do in the ideas of holy water, devilish idols or even what can befall you by flippantly using the name of Christ in vain.
Famous film star Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) is on location in Georgetown shooting her latest picture. She resides in a furnished home with her twelve-year-old daughter Regan (Linda Blair), along with an assistant and a butler servant. Regan is a fun-loving kid and adored by her mom. Strange behaviors begin happening and all too quickly, the daughter is beyond control with patterns of activity that are anything but recognizable. I can’t even describe most of the imagery. I could never do it justice.
Doctors are quick to attribute Regan’s afflictions to a lesion resting on the cerebellum of her brain. Yet, extreme procedures and x-rays show no medical disruption or disturbances. I recall Friedkin’s director cut from 2000 inserted the questionable practice of dosing the girl with Prozac. Before the supernatural is ever considered, the merits of science and medicine must be explored.
Nevertheless, it is unbelievably bold how this personification puppeteers young Regan with vile actions of vomiting, uttering the ugliest vocabulary and committing terrible bodily harm and atrocities with a crucifix. Blatty could have drawn the line with the slaps and punches Regan delivers to the doctors and her own mother. The point would have been clear. Yet only something that has to be tangibly real with no question of a joke or side humor, has to go this far. It’s often sickening and demoralizing to the worst degree, but reality never compromises. The drivers of this fiction wish to move this as far away from what’s not valid. It’s evident how convincing all the footage is within the film.
Following the mysterious death of Chris’ film director, along with an unheard-of recommendation from a physician, the idea of committing an exorcism to release whatever’s possessing the girl is suggested. The problem is there is no expert on the subject of exorcism. It seems absurd, and the Catholic Church is never quick to endorse the procession.
During the first hour of the picture, a second story covers the personal conflict of Father Karras (Jason Miller). One of his first scenes shows him arriving home to his ailing mother and removing his collar. It’s a visual sign that the minister is questioning his own faith as he undoes his garb. Karras may be a priest, but he also specializes in the study of psychology for his parishioners. As he encounters Regan in her bedroom, he’s gradually assured that he is speaking with the demon who knows too much about himself.
A third story, which actually opens Friedkin’s film, occurs in Iraq where Father Merrin (Max von Sydow) is excavating through an archeological dig. He doesn’t have much to say but his stoic expression tells us that his discovery of a medallion buried in the rubble, along with particular statue, spell dread. It’s no accident that Friedkin places this scene often against the backdrop of a sun sparked, blood red sky.
Eventually, all three stories intersect within the coven of Regan’s upstairs bedroom, where this demon taunts, cackles, teases and defies the power of the Bible and the Catholic faith. This third act is impossible to take your eyes off. Every second of imagery builds upon the power of the supernatural from moving furniture that charges forward like monsters on the attack, to ceilings and doors that split open. The bed rumbles. Demonic imagery appears out of the cold darkness. It’s such a well-crafted sequence of events that is completely atmospheric.
On what I believe is only my second viewing of the film, there are few things I noticed. Chris is not a religious character. So, when she evokes frustration, first at her ex-husband over the phone, and then at doctors and priests who lack explanations, she’s apt to shout “For Christ’s sake,” or “Jesus Christ.” Variations of the word fuck is also adjacent to this dialogue. Chris’ language could be a close second to the abhorrent verbiage coming from her monstrous daughter. Blatty and Friedkin seem to imply how the son of God and the potential of Satan are so easily taken for granted. Chris may be corrupted, but it is the innocent, young Regan who is trifled with. There is nary a thing more disturbing in film than watching a child in peril.
Friedkin’s direction with Father Karras is consistently interesting as well. Often, he positions his camera on a ground floor or at least pointed up to a level above to witness Karras’ ascents. His faith is clearly shaken. So, all he can do is rise and rise again, closer to a heaven that may still be welcoming. Karras climbs flights of stairs or walks up sidewalk hills, to approach a vile intruder seeking to disrupt the purity of angelic youth.
Only after I watched the film did I read that Linda Blair’s unforgettable performance was not the only contributing factor to Regan’s demonic possession. Oscar winner Mercedes McCambridge who originally was not credited, supplied the scratchy, tormented and taunting voice of the demon. It’s an unbelievable embodiment of a powerful villain. Linda Blair was Oscar nominated for this role, but because she did not entirely own the performance, she likely lost to another child actor, Tatum O’Neil (Paper Moon). The craft of Blair’s makeup all the way to her changes in eyes is a gut punch to the psyche. Regardless, this is one of the most uncompromising and effective child performances I’ve ever seen in a film.
Max von Sydow donned aging makeup on his youthful forty-four-year-old complexion, and he looks straight out of another famous role from later in his career (Minority Report). Richard Pryor and Saturday Night Live did a hilarious spoof on The Exorcist and for this nonbeliever I related to Pryor’s antics. Yet, Max von Sydow takes what could have looked like utter silliness and convinces me that the ritual of exorcism is incredibly trying and exhaustively repetitive accompanied with the robes he dons to the holy scripture he reads from. Merrin specifically instructs Karras not to directly respond to the demon. Don’t even talk to it. Merrin sticks to that practice. Karras, the younger and less experienced sidekick, is drawn into the monster’s personal jibes.
Despite my position on religion and faith, I do not frown on what others value. People find solace in their perceptions of God, the biblical stories, and the figures who teach. Religion often bestows a fulfilling life cycle. Religion offers comforts through pain, loss, love and hope. That’s okay. Everyone must follow their own path towards salvation. I tend to turn towards my personal psyche which I speak to daily.
I watched The Exorcist off of a 4K streaming print found on HBO MAX, and the picture is positively striking. Aside from dated fashions and cars of the early 1970s, the picture looks incredibly modern. The themes of the film remain strong. Hardly anything has ever matched the horror of The Exorcist.
I value everything in The Exorcist that Father Karras and Father Merrin heed to. I believe in this story wholeheartedly. Friedkin and Blatty, plus the cast enhance the authentication of demonic possession and how it operates. This work of fiction, which Blatty claims to have been inspired by from an account of possession of a young boy during the 1940s, is a thousand percent genuine. Within the moment and inside the confines of this picture this demon lives by overtaking young Regan.
How much did I believe it? Before bed last night, I made sure my little night light was on and I never walked into a dark room. Every single light in the whole house was practically turned on.
It’s not about the fear of God or the Devil. It’s the fear I had for young Regan.
2 UNPAID MOVIE CRITICS!!!! 