Fifty years ago, William Friedkin’s The Exorcist redefined screen terror with its slow but atmospheric build up mounting to a sustained crescendo of graphic, visceral horror. Audiences had never seen special effects like these before, and reacted with panic and revulsion — as if Satan himself was at loose in this film.
Thirteen-year-old Linda Blair is Regan, the movie star daughter who is possessed by a demon, and whose body becomes a spiritual battleground. Even today, if you have never seen this movie before, you have never seen anything that can match it for sheer unadulterated horror.
(Screening the original 1973 cut)
VIFF+ Premium member Calvin Woida requested The Exorcist: “A classic of the genre and an all-round excellent film that stands the test of time.”
Content Considerations: Child abuse, graphic violence
Some movies aren’t just movies. They’re closer to voodoo — they channel currents larger and more powerful than themselves.
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly
It stimulates and rewards, time and time again.
Andrew Collins, Empire
William Friedkin
Linda Blair, Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb
USA
1973
English
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Credits
Executive Producer
Noel Marshall
Producer
William Peter Blatty
Screenwriter
William Peter Blatty
Cinematography
Owen Roizman
Editor
Norman Gay, Evan A. Lottman
Original Music
Jack Nitzsche
Production Design
Bill Malley
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