Director: William Friedkin
Year: 1973
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Exorcism
Plot:
After a series of strange behavioral outbursts, a woman decides that her daughter’s physical and mental deterioration is the result of a natural phenomenon, but the more it continues she finds the only outcome to be an exorcism when the true nature of everything is revealed.
Review:
For the most part, this here is a rather troubling classic. Most of the film’s positive attributes are found in the way this one unfurls a dynamic and genuinely thrilling dual-pronged storyline. This relates to the issues here involving each of the main priests called into action which is perfectly in keeping with the type of setup employed as it weaves the setup of the younger one trying to come to terms with his relationship with his ailing mother while going through the motions of his elder trying to come to terms with the return of a figure he once battled in the past. As both of these issues revolve around fallen or shaken faith, with each one reconciling their own interpretation of how a just and loving God can allow such actions to take place, the use of bridging these factors together through their shared struggle in trying to get through the ordeal together makes for an incredibly strong starting point.
From here, the delving into the supernatural comes off impeccably well with the gradual build-up of her behavior and appearance signaling the potential possession. From the party appearance to the constant verbal outbursts, the negative test results, and the eventual realization that it’s not just anything physical but rather supernatural, this provides a great baseline for the type of outbursts necessary within the genre to justify the final exorcism as that comes off absolutely masterfully. The battle that takes place inside the bedroom offers not just incredible concepts for the sequence including the levitating, physical deformations, verbal slurs against the holy figures, and much more, but brings the storyline connotations into this one sequence a strong overall collaboration making this one of the most powerful and devastating scenes in the entire genre.
On top of the physical actions depicted here, the spiritual one that comes about here as a result of what’s going on also manages to bring about a lot to like. As the terms of the exorcism drag out the realization that the tormenting and physical confrontations offer up the kind of standout throughline for the initial viewpoint of restoring faith. Given the loss he’s exhibited and how these events have affected his mindset before the exorcism, using this as a secret bridge to their lives as they both require the other to fulfill their personal struggles adds a fantastic psychological advantage over the physical action being undertaken. This correlation between the incredible physical action and emotional turmoil that takes place helps to set it above its contemporaries and cash-ins and overall all manage to combine together into one of the genre’s finest features.
There’s not a whole lot going on here that holds this one down. In fact, the one issue to be had with the film concerns the somewhat glacial first half and the amount of time it takes before getting to the actual possession. Most of the scenes here are really not that interesting as they delve instead around the utterly endless scenes of her mother spending time going between the film shoot and tending to her worsening condition which explodes so quickly into testing for something on such flimsy evidence that it’s quite difficult to believe what’s going on. This endless series of medical tests brings a rather sluggish pace to what’s going on as this serves the background information needed to make the exorcism work; the pacing featured here is what drags it down as it stands out being the main issue on display.
Overview: *****/5
An all-time classic for a reason, this one stands the test of time for a number of factors and maintains its reputation to this day making it one of the better genre efforts from numerous regards. Any fan of the genre in a minor capacity or are intrigued with the film will have quite a lot to enjoy and appreciate here while others who don’t enjoy those factors should heed caution.
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