HorroRated archive entry
HorroRated pickThe Exorcist
HorroRated verdict
- Directed by
- William Friedkin
- Written by
- William Peter Blatty
- Produced by
- William Peter Blatty, Noel Marshall, David Salven
Why it’s HorroRated
The Exorcist isn't really about demonic possession. It's about a mother watching her daughter disappear and being completely powerless to stop it. Everything else, the head spinning, the green soup, the crucifix scene, all of it exists to make that helplessness feel more unbearable. William Friedkin directed it like he believed every frame of it, and that's what makes it work.
Synopsis
Regan MacNeil begins changing in ways her mother cannot explain or stop. No diagnosis fits, no treatment works, and what William Friedkin builds around that helplessness isn't really about demonic possession at all: it's about a mother watching her child disappear. The horror serves that grief, and the combination is unbearable in the best way.
Filed under
Quick facts
- Release date
- December 26, 1973
- Runtime
- 2 hours 2 mins
- Country
- United States of America
- Language
- German, French, Latin, Arabic, Greek, English
- Content rating
- R
- Entry type
- Movie
