William Friedkin’s 1973 supernatural horror movie, The Exorcist, has terrified generations and continues to live in people's nightmares. The movie was written for the screen and based on William Peter Blatty's 1971 novel of the same name. At the time of its release, it was reported to have been so terrifying and disturbing that people were leaving the cinema in disgust, with some even fainting with shock. It is no surprise that it went on to become a huge box office hit, and may still haunt horror fans, but is it still one the scariest horror movies today, almost half a decade later?
The Exorcist follows a simple yet effective narrative and paranormal horror structure, which is now so popular due to the amount of horror movies that have more recently been using it. When Regan's (Linda Blair) mother notices weird behavior from her daughter, she seeks medical help, but does not find any answers. Eventually, when her head starts spinning, and she begins vomiting, swearing, and doing unspeakable things with a crucifix, the mother contacts a priest who tries to exercise an evil force out of her. The audience is treated with terrifying, disturbing behavior that is not for the faint-hearted, and the movie does not shy away from attempting to traumatize the viewer.
Update August 12, 2023: This article has been updated following the passing of director William Friedkin and the trailer for the upcoming sequel, The Exorcist: Believer.
The legendary director of the movie William Friedkin, unfortunately, passed away on August 7, 2023, at the age of 87. All of Hollywood is deeply affected by the occurrence and mourns the loss. Friedkin leaves behind an incredible legacy as not only was he nominated for Best Director at the Academy Awards for The Exorcist, he won the Academy Award for Best Director for his movie The French Connection. He was a widely acclaimed director, and his legacy will continue for a long time after him.
The Beginning of The Exorcist
Filmmakers have always used the horror genre to entertain and terrify audiences, and horror movies of the the '70s were no different. However, films like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, which was one of the movies responsible for a surge in both populated and underseen slash movies, portrayed horror very differently from The Exorcist. Most horror films depicted young people getting up to no good and falling prey to a murderous lunatic.
However, when The Exorcist was initially released, the concept of coming face to face with the devil, and an innocent girl becoming a victim to demonic possession, was something very new to viewers. The concept of a conflict between the forces of good and evil, in a movie which was in no way fun and took these things extremely seriously, was absolutely terrifying. However, it is evident that both The Exorcist and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre shared the same cultural anxiety - a traumatic experience that is completely out of our hands.
The trauma of 1973 and its preceding years was palpable. The Watergate scandal broke nine months before the release of The Exorcist, and the chaotic, violent despair of the Vietnam War was finally ending without any triumph. Roe v. Wade legalized abortion smack dab in the middle of eight years of Republican presidential leadership, and the division in the country (over the civil rights of Black people, women, and the oppressed and marginalized in general) solidified the death of the swinging sixties.
What helped make The Exorcist so popular is that the audience could relate to the terrifying change occurring to the helpless characters, and we couldn't help but fear and question — could this actually happen to me? The movie became personal to the viewer, particularly when the victim is a young innocent girl, and leaves questions unanswered. If her body and soul is taken over by an evil demonic spirit, then what could happen to me? What already is?
Society's Relationship With Horror
The Exorcist of course remains one of the classic horror movies, but whether it is still one of the scariest can be questionable. Although the special effects often seem comically outdated now in comparison to recent special effects in horror, the film was well-executed at the time (cue the green vomit and rotating head), and the iconic scene of Regan floating off the mattress was so simple and creepy. However, with today's fancy digital technologies that make blood, gore, and all things scary look more realistic, The Exorcist's use of effects may have been scarier nearly 50 years ago, and it can be debated whether scenes like these are actually still scary or just pretty corny.
While more modern filmmakers master different keys to what makes us frightened, like unexpected jump scares, The Exorcist doesn't rely on jumps and epic effects to be scary; it is simply down to things like the atmosphere on the screen. Viewers can't deny that the film has a cold, dark, eerie atmosphere, which is scary in itself. Simple details, like seeing the character's clouds of breath on screen (which was a choice from the director, who refrigerated the set), sometimes builds more tension than a jump scare.
Typical techniques of scaring the audience now in modern horror are at risk of becoming overused (and thus anticipated), so taking a trip to the past and re-watching movies like The Exorcist can be ironically quite refreshing, and we may forget how scary we actually find it.
Weird Occurrences
Something that might contribute to The Exorcist still being one of the scariest horror movies to date (which lovers of supernatural horror will likely agree with) is the amount of strange, unexplainable occurrences that happened to the cast and set during filming. Over the course of filming, nine people associated with the production of the film died, including two actors whose characters also died in The Exorcist. Even an extra on the film, Paul Bateson, turned out to be an actual serial killer.
Additionally, a fire (caused by a pigeon flying into a circuit box) destroyed the set of Regan's home. However, what was insanely creepy about this was that the entire set was destroyed, apart from Regan's bedroom, which was left completely untouched. After the fire, director William Friedkin even asked a reverend to perform an exorcism on the set itself because the cast and crew felt uncomfortable. Ellen Burstyn demanded that her line, "I believe in the devil," be cut from the film; nonetheless, an accident on set caused a permanent injury to her back. As such, The Exorcist is considered a cursed movie with a deadly production.
During one screening of the film in Rome (near the Vatican), lightning struck a 400-year-old cross on a nearby church, sending it down into the plaza below. The actress who did the voice for the demon suffered a horrible tragedy; her son killed his own wife and children before turning the gun on himself. After the release of the film, there were even reports of heart attacks around the world that happened whenever the film premiered.
All of these strange occurrences may play a role as to why this is still one of the scariest horror movies of all time and why The Exorcist franchise is still feared; we can't blame viewers watching the movie for being terrified that something creepy and unexplainable might happen. Overall, despite the outdated quality of the movie, the concept and atmosphere in and surrounding The Exorcist might explain why horror fans still consider it to be one of the scariest horror movies ever made.
The Legacy of The Exorcist
Being one of the most influential horror movies of the last century, The Exorcist has spawned four movies and a tv series as sequels and prequels. Even the author William Peter Blatty wrote another book called Legion as a sequel to the original book after the success of the movie. This has continued well into this century as well as the trailer for the first movie in a new Exorcist sequel trilogy was recently released. The first movie is named The Exorcist: Believer and is set to hit the theaters on October 13, 2023. The movie trilogy will be directed by David Gordon Green, and the second movie is set to release in 2025.
From the trailer, we can see that two girls will get possessed by a demon this time, and a beloved familiar face of Ellen Burstyn as Chris MacNeil, will also make an appearance. The movie looks really promising with its first trailer, and the fans of the original movie are excited. William Friedkin's passing makes the release of this new movie bittersweet, but now more than ever, is a good time to rewatch The Exorcist.