HALLOWEEN REVIEW OF THE DAY: The Exorcist (1973)

The Exorcist is known as one of the scariest films ever to be put out in Hollywood cinema. And to be honest I could not agree more. The feel, the tone, the story, the atmosphere, the whole overall look of the film is all around gothic, dramatic, epic, and of course frightening. This is probably one of the first horror films to deal with the topic of possession and exorcism. Though nowadays there a TON more, they do not do this classic justice where those films rely on cheap effects and jump scares. this film is good and succeeds at being a horror film by not only disturbing the audience through what they see on the screen, but also the film disturbs the audience mentally. And when a horror film does that to somebody, it can affect their personal fears for life, and that my friends is what makes a very good horror movie. A fear of something that can stick with you for life. There are a few things that makes this film, for me personally, set it apart and at the same time rise above  other horror films. One is our main villain, Reagan aka whatever is possessing her, played by Linda Blair. This characters, or characters, is probably one of the best aspects of the movie. Not only is this one of the best and most iconic villains in horror, if not in all of cinema, but she is a disturbing, intimidating, frightening, and horrifying character. You have absolutely no idea what she is going to do or what she is going to say. The acts she does while she's possessed in order to mess with the mind of our main hero Father Damien is both diabolical and unforgivable, but what do you expect when a girl is possessed by what seems to be the definition of what is evil. Plus her make-up and voice effects had to this unforgettable yet disturbing performance of one of cinema's greatest villains. Our two main protagonists are also great heroes. Father Damien is a man who you can tell is slowly losing his faith due to some unfortunate events that affect his life. That is until he is hired to exorcise the evil spirit out of Reagan, this is the moment where you can possibly guess that Damien might be getting his faith back because one he is dealing with a force that cannot possibly explain and two he is going to need all the faith he can get in order to defeat the spirit. Father Merrin is also a very good protagonist. What makes this character so great is that he is the complete opposite of Damien. Where Damien starts off as reluctant, troubled, and frightened by the spirit Merrin seems experienced, wise, courageous, faithful, and full of leadership. That is until we get more into the exorcism where Damien begins to grow more faith and  having the ability to confront the monster while Merrin is struck with frightening awe for the creature as his fear most likely takes his life. These characters could not have been written more perfectly. Another element that makes this movie so great is the tone of the film. The overall tone has this disturbing and uncomfortable feel to it as you know from the beginning you are about to witness events that you hope you may not have to witness in reality in the future. The music, lighting schemes, effects, and acting add to this film's gothic and very eerie tone that just makes you tremble throughout. One last but definitely not least of the reasons why I think The Exorcist is truly one of the best horror films of all time is the subject matter. Even if you don't believe in God, heaven, hell, the afterlife, or just don't have any religion background the thought of something more evil than imaginable  more frightening than ever imaginable, so frightening that you cannot explain it, is disturbing. The film executes that idea perfectly and though yes we have more exorcism/possession movies today more than we need, this the perfect film of that subject matter because it treats it like the way most audiences want films like this to be treated. When we want to see a horror film, we want to be legitimately frightened and the film greatly succeeds at that, as well as making my top five favorite films of all time. Rating: E