Reviews

Every time I watch this film it just reminds me how excellent it is and why it was etched in my memory as one of the most disturbing films that I have seen.

It has somehow become cool to dismiss the Exorcist as overrated, over-hyped, or "not as scary as everyone says it is". The fact that this movie has an 8.1 rating is disturbing in and of itself. I exaggerate, but that strikes me as unreasonable.

Everything about this film made it the quintessential horror experience. I remember this film leaving the biggest long-term psychological scar of any film I've seen. It was during this time that I was impressionable towards the idea of religion - nowadays I would not give religion even a passing consideration - and the idea that demon possession may have some believability to it--this is the way the film was billed to me. I'd liken this to going into the Blaire Witch Project expecting it to be an actual documentary.

But not just that--the film reaks of perfection. Every shot was given masterful consideration. Friedkin, I am told, spent endless takes just trying to get shots to his liking. So combine this level of perfectionism with an already interesting premise, a universal accessibility, and some of the best acting I've seen of any horror film (if you can consider this a horror film -I consider it a 'psychological thriller' - period.

As far as build-ups in movies go, this movie had one of the greatest build-ups I've seen. It does not launch right into the action as your average horror flick would and treats the subject matter deftly. What ensued is a very subtle, very tight-rope tension builder....and not overdone with blood, in-your-face scares.

This is what I go to the cinemas for: flight-of-fancy, compelling films.

Also, this movie in conjunction with The Omen instilled a permanent fear of the number 6 for me.

I completely see why some people really like this movie (director Quentin Tarantino among those that do).

The movie may have been slightly cringe-worthy when I saw it (mostly the way the director relishes in the dirty art he has created), but in retrospect is fluff compared to a lot of the movies I've seen since then. Even though this movie is pure, unadulterated carnage and heinous acts throughout the entire course of the film, it had a redeeming quality.It's hard to pinpoint what made this movie so appealing to me. It was a perfect emblem of the pure sleaziness and overall decadent atmosphere of the 70's smut prevalent at this time. Like all grindhouse films, it appeals to the baser senses - filled with excess violence (grizzly and well-done) and sex. And it's shot amazingly well for such a poor film. I expected it to be grainy and imperceptible.

There's an element of immorality felt when watching films like this, but it's a healthy outlet to sublimate impure thoughts. It's sensationalist, yes. Probably no artistic merit either. But it's an appetizer of the 70's Perversia. I do think it's mostly meant to be titillating and gross for the sake of being gross. It's so blatantly in-your-face tasteless and bad that I love it. Stay away from it if you don't have a knack for the depraved.