A film doesn't stay the scariest ever made for long. The more famous a film is, the more inflated its reputation and the more referenced and parodied it becomes. This has the effect of stripping the film of novelty and numbing the emotional impact of its innovations.
But if you're willing to give that film a chance, it'll still work!
A man is disturbed by the results of an archaeological dig, and we cut to the home of famed actress Chris MacNeil, who has a sweet 12-year old daughter, Regan. Chris becomes concerned by noises in the attic and Regan soon starts to act erratic and violent and disconnected from herself.
My favorite horror stories are about corruption, dread, and escalation, and this film nails it. The camera is ominous as it moves at odds with the characters, and certain scenes build tension before anything overtly wrong happens. The first outright scare is still very small, which is great. The film masters the balance of show and hide as Regan's behavior becomes visibly supernatural and demonic. There are quiet scenes where just enough is hidden to make us nervous, and a lot of scenes that have power from just going all the way with really nasty spectacles depicted frankly while you're trapped in the room with the characters. There's a visceral disgust invoked by the things Regan is subjected to and made to perform as a child out of control of her body. The sets also start to feel like characters in themselves.
The film has some nice plot dynamics. Chris tries medical investigations until it's clear the doctors can't give her help, but the priest she contacts, Father Karras, is a very sad man whose faith is slipping and who operates as a psychiatrist, not an exorcist. Religious horror doesn't connect to me, but the film is scary and its religious angle isn't overbearing or preachy. Indeed, getting an exorcism is shown to be difficult due to the standards to act—standards the demon gleefully skirts by taunting Karras with plausibly deniable behaviors.
The film doesn't feel the best tied-up. It's only in the last act that we fully learn who the archaeologist is—a priest and exorcist, who then shows up to help Regan, and that feels weird. The house is investigated by police for reasons that don't feel strong, and a couple of plot threads felt unexplained or unresolved in ways that didn't feel purposeful. And yeah, a bit of the film's infamy let down some of the scenes.
In the end, though, this is still a good scary film crafted well.
Let down by its infamy, perhaps, but still good.
A film doesn't stay the scariest ever made for long. The more famous a film is, the more inflated its reputation and the more referenced and parodied it becomes. This has the effect of stripping the film of novelty and numbing the emotional impact of its innovations.
But if you're willing to give that film a chance, it'll still work!
A man is disturbed by the results of an archaeological dig, and we cut to the home of famed actress Chris MacNeil, who has a sweet 12-year old daughter, Regan. Chris becomes concerned by noises in the attic and Regan soon starts to act erratic and violent and disconnected from herself.
My favorite horror stories are about corruption, dread, and escalation, and this film nails it. The camera is ominous as it moves at odds with the characters, and certain scenes build tension before anything overtly wrong happens. The first outright scare is still very small, which is great. The film masters the balance of show and hide as Regan's behavior becomes visibly supernatural and demonic. There are quiet scenes where just enough is hidden to make us nervous, and a lot of scenes that have power from just going all the way with really nasty spectacles depicted frankly while you're trapped in the room with the characters. There's a visceral disgust invoked by the things Regan is subjected to and made to perform as a child out of control of her body. The sets also start to feel like characters in themselves.
The film has some nice plot dynamics. Chris tries medical investigations until it's clear the doctors can't give her help, but the priest she contacts, Father Karras, is a very sad man whose faith is slipping and who operates as a psychiatrist, not an exorcist. Religious horror doesn't connect to me, but the film is scary and its religious angle isn't overbearing or preachy. Indeed, getting an exorcism is shown to be difficult due to the standards to act—standards the demon gleefully skirts by taunting Karras with plausibly deniable behaviors.
The film doesn't feel the best tied-up. It's only in the last act that we fully learn who the archaeologist is—a priest and exorcist, who then shows up to help Regan, and that feels weird. The house is investigated by police for reasons that don't feel strong, and a couple of plot threads felt unexplained or unresolved in ways that didn't feel purposeful. And yeah, a bit of the film's infamy let down some of the scenes.
In the end, though, this is still a good scary film crafted well.