| In my opinion, The Exorcist is by
far, one of the scariest horror movies ever made. The simple fact
that this movie is based on a true occurrence is enough to make
your skin crawl. The original Exorcist movie is about the demonic possession
of a young girl and the battle to bring her back from the grasp of
her demonic possessor, the devil. One of the freakiest and most
horrifying scenes is when the possessed 12 year old girl, Regan,
runs the down the stairs on her hands and feet backwards. To make
this spooky scene function, a Russian gymnast was used to get the
shot. Other memorable scary scenes are when Regan's head spins
completely around and the entire exorcism ritual will scare the
liquid out of you. Below are descriptions to all of the Exorcist
movies in the series. Even if you don't see them all, I urge you
to watch the original. |
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With THE EXORCIST, William Friedkin
(THE FRENCH CONNECTION, THE BOYS IN THE BAND) rivals Hitchcock for
heart-stopping terror in this deeply horrifying
masterpiece that led to religious boycotts, fainting and nauseous
audiences, and a commercial success that forever changed
Hollywood. Linda Blair plays Regan, a 12-year-old girl possessed
by the devil. After exhausting all the options of science,
psychology, and medicine, Regan's mother (Ellen Burstyn) realizes
the supernatural nature of her daughter's condition and resorts to
a religious solution, turning to Father Karras (Jason Miller) for
an exorcism. Aided by the mysterious Jesuit exorcist Father Merrin
(Max von Sydow), Karras must confront not only supernatural
phenomena but also his own inadequate faith and displaced guilt
over his mother's recent death, a personal torment Regan uses to
manipulate him, but with disturbing results.
Like THE GODFATHER before it and JAWS soon after, THE EXORCIST
enjoyed
tremendous commercial and critical success that directly
transformed Hollywood into the blockbuster behemoth of American
culture.
Theatrical Release: December 26, 1973.
Ellen Burstyn suffered permanent injury to her spine during
shooting of the scene in which she is knocked across the room.
Friedkin punched Father William O'Malley during shooting of Father
Karras's death scene to elicit a better performance.
The film was rereleased in 2000 with a digitally remastered
soundtrack and 12 minutes of additional footage, including the
infamous "spider-walk" scene, in which the possessed
Regan walks backward on all fours down a staircase; it also
includes scenes that provide additional psychological background
on Regan, more subliminal, shadowy shots of the demon, and an
alternate ending with a lighter tone than the original release.
"...The first modern, F/X-heavy shriek-o-rama....[Miller
and Burstyn] give harrowing, nuanced performances....Strikingly
new amid [its era]..."
"What an excellent day for an
exorcism."--Regan (Linda Blair) to Father Karras (Jason
Miller)
"Why you do this to me, Damie?"--Regan (as Father
Karras's mother) to Father Karras
This is the movie that you can't stand to watch
and yet can't turn away from. THE EXORCIST is a horrifying,
riveting film based on William Peter Blatty's best-seller (he also
wrote the screenplay). In the ultimate transformation plot, a
12-year-old girl (Linda Blair) becomes possessed by the devil.
Soon the once-sweet child beomes a murderous, vomit-spewing,
bed-twirling hellhound. A dedicated but naive priest attempts to
exorcise Satan from Regan's body--and in the process is forced to
confront personal demons of his own. The theatrical release led to
outrage, fainting, nausea--and huge box-office receipts. The
result was two cash-in sequels, the second directed by Blatty.
"...The EXORCIST is still one of the
scariest and most adult horror movies ever..."
"...At once a religious parable, a study of
tortured adolescence and a warped satire about a single-parent
family, it hasn't dated in the slightest..." |
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Richard Burton stars as exorcist
Father Philip Lamont in John Boorman's sequel to THE EXORCIST. The
cleric, who is struggling with his faith, is investigating the
death of Father Merrin (Max Von Sydow), who was killed in the
course of exorcising the Assyrian demon Pazuzu from Regan MacNeil
(Linda Blair). Although now seemingly normal, Regan continues to
be monitored at a psychiatric institute by Dr. Gene Tuskin (Louise
Fletcher). In an attempt to plumb her memories of exorcism, Dr.
Tuskin has hypnotized the girl, to whom she's linked by a
"synchronizer" and is so overcome by
"witnessing" Regan's memory of the event that Lamont has
to rescue her. After a tour of the Georgetown house where the
exorcism took place, Lamont returns to be coupled with Regan by
synchronizer. The priest is spirited to the past by Pazuzu to
observe Father Merrin exorcising a young boy, Kokumo (Joey Green),
in Africa. Learning that the boy developed special powers to fight
Pazuzu, who appears as a swarm of locusts, Lamont journeys to
Africa, defying his superior, to seek help from the adult Kokumo
(James Earl Jones).
This sequel to the 1973 groundbreaking box
office hit finds Regan under psychiatric treatment, still
recovering from the effects of personally hosting evil. However,
one priest who thinks it's not over yet.
Theatrical release: June 17, 1977.
Shot on location in New York, New York; Glen Canyon, Utah; and
Africa.
Linda Blair refused to be wear the elaborate make-up that she had
in THE EXORCIST, so a double performed the scenes of demonic
possession. |
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On the 15th anniversary of the
exorcism that claimed the life of a young priest, a nightmarish
series of bizarre, religious murders haunts a local police
lieutenant.
"This may sound like heresy, but THE
EXORCIST III is a better and funnier (intentionally) movie than
either of its predecessors..." |
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With a digitally remastered
soundtrack including new sound effects and new music along with
never-before-seen restored footage, THE EXORCIST: THE VERSION
YOU'VE NEVER SEEN pays tribute to this terrifying film, originally
released on Christmas Day in 1973. It tells the story of Regan
(Linda Blair), a little girl who becomes possessed by the devil
and undergoes a violent exorcism conducted by two priests: an
aging man at the end of his career (Max Von Sydow) and a young man
having a crisis of conscience (Jason Miller). A blood-chilling
film directed by William Friedkin and written by William Peter
Blatty, this enhanced restoration of the original will thrill
audiences anew.
"...THE EXORCIST retains the power to turn
heads--and stomachs....A new shocker has been included: the
infamous "spider walk," in which Blair's Regan descends
the stairs like a crazed crab, bent over backward, mouth gushing
blood..."
"...THE EXORCIST remains the ultimate
exploitation-nightmare vision of the onslaught of
adolescence....[It speaks] to a larger, if unconscious, collective
fear..." -- Rating: A-
Theatrical release: September 22, 2000
Ellen Burstyn suffered permanent injury to her spine during
shooting of the scene in which she is knocked across the room.
Friedkin punched Father William O'Malley during shooting of Father
Karras's death scene to elicit a better performance.
This new release includes 12 minutes of additional footage,
including the infamous "spider-walk" scene, in which the
possessed Regan walks backward on all fours down a staircase; it
also includes scenes that provide additional psychological
background on Regan, more subliminal, shadowy shots of the demon,
and an alternate ending with a lighter tone than the original
release.
"...THE EXORCIST was and is a brilliant
horror film, one with an archetypal ability to reach and disturb
us. It will survive as long as people care about well-made
movies..." |
Exorcist
Movie Posters
Exorcist - Excorcist - Exercist - Exsorcist - Exorsist |
