Review: ‘The Exorcist’

By Rylee Mathis Posted March 08, 2013

Recently, I watched ‘The Exorcist’ with a friend. I’m not talking about ‘The Last Exorcism’ or ‘The Exorcism of Emily Rose’; I’m talking about one of the first movies about exorcism made in 1973 based on a novel published in ’71.

Anyone who has seen ‘Scary Movie 2’ or looked for the man in the field in that YouTube video knows what the little girl, Regan, from ‘The Exorcist’ looks like. Greenish skin, wide unblinking eyes, cuts all over her face, and messy hair. But not everyone has actually seen the movie she came from.

‘The Exorcist’ follows the life of a young priest who is considered the best in the business. The movie shows a little bit of the life of Regan and her mother who lives in Washington. Regan starts to go through some changes, some very violent. The strange things get so bad that her mother is at the end of her rope. She talks to the doctors in a psychiatric hospital and they suggest her daughter be exercised so the mother seeks the help of the priest.

I’m sure you can guess the rest so I won’t give away the ending. Personally, I hated the movie. The type of horror wasn’t my style. Sure, it scared me and I was afraid to go to bed that night, but that’s how I am with most scary movies. I didn’t like it because of the disturbing things the 12-year-old girl said and did while she was possessed. Granted, there was a demon claiming to be the devil inside of her and I expected awful things, but it was just too much for me. Too disturbing.

I like the jumpy kind of scary movies. Lots of blood and gore don’t make a good movie, the startling moments do. The anticipation that can be created with a slow-moving camera and creepy music beats red corn syrup squirting all over the place any day.