“The Power of Christ compels you!” 

One of the most harrowing horror classics, The Exorcist lives up to all the hype and creates a truly harrowing experience.

The film is more disturbing than it is actually scary. There were no moments that made me jump or hide behind my sofa, but plenty of moments that made my skin crawl and stomach turn. And the theme music that immediately tells you something is off was the cherry on top. But although it was quite intense to watch, it was also fascinating as this film is crafted phenomenally for its time. The biggest ‘horror’ film around before The Exorcist was probably Psycho (which I don’t find frightening), but this just blows that movie out of the water. Moments like the bed shaking and objects flying across the room would’ve been absolutely revolutionary in its time and terrifying to watch when it came out. 

Ellen Burstyn put on a great performance which felt accurate of how any mother would feel in this situation. Her outbursts were almost as brutal as the horror elements as she was the main emotional drive in this film.
She had great chemistry with Linda Blair, who gave an incredibly haunting performance as Regan and had some of the most shocking lines of the film such as:

“Your mother sucks cocks in Hell.”

To hear these words come out of her mouth suddenly is truly unsettling, but also one of the films best elements (if that makes sense).

I feel that Max Von Sydow was wasted in this movie which is a shame because his role could’ve been really interesting to watch. Instead, he’s got like 10 minutes of screen time and his character is written on a very basic level. Max von Sydow did a great job with what he was given, but I just feel his talent wasn’t used nearly enough. 

If you’re going in expecting the scariest horror film, you may be mistaken. But if you’re looking for the most shocking one then you’re in luck. Either way, it’s a fantastic, almost-flawless film.