With “The Exorcist,” master director William Friedkin has delivered possibly his best film. You haven’t seen the horror masterpiece yet? Then you’ll have to hurry if you want to see the film at no extra charge with your Prime Video subscription…
Horror cinema has produced many groundbreaking masterpieces. Just think of Roman Polanski’s “Rosemary’s Baby”, the slasher milestone “Halloween” or even “Shining” by Stanley Kubrick. Also among the best films of the genre is “The Exorcist,” directed by William Friedkin (“Living and Dying in L.A.”), which was to put its audience into a veritable state of shock in the early 1970s.
Not much has changed 50 years later, as “The Exorcist” still gives you goosebumps and an extreme sense of unease. You have missed the classic so far or parked the film on your Amazon Prime Video Watchlist for now, waiting for the right moment? Then now is the time to watch “The Exorcist,” because it’s only available on your Prime subscription at no extra cost until August 25, 2023, inclusive (and it’s also not currently included in any other popular streaming subscription).
THIS IS WHAT “THE EXORCIST” IS ABOUT
Divorced actress Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) has traveled to Washington with her 12-year-old daughter Regan (Linda Blair) to film a movie. When the child suddenly becomes vulgar and aggressive during a medical examination, the attending physician believes there is some kind of behavioral disorder.
But no signs of neuronal damage can be found. At a reception Chris gives her colleagues, Regan’s condition worsens enormously and director Burke Dennings (Jack MacGowran), a friend of hers, dies in a strange way. Can now only the Jesuit priest Damian Karras (Jason Miller) and Father Merrin (Max von Sydow) help with an exorcism?
STILL DISTURBINGLY EFFECTIVE TODAY!
After its release, “The Exorcist” kicked off a wave of outrage that had industry journals philosophizing over and over about why people were just so crazy about the devil. And that’s quite fitting when you look at how extremely the shocker hit the box office at the time: After “The Sting,” “The Exorcist” was the second most successful film of the year in 1973. Including multiple reruns, it grossed over 441 million dollars worldwide over the years, which, adjusted for inflation, would correspond to around 1.8 billion dollars (!) today. The fact that it has lost none of its impact to this day makes it a true classic.
The recently deceased William Friedkin raised horror to a new level with “The Exorcist” and, above it all, staged a pop-cultural monument infused with iconic images. What makes the film so special is its approach to the unknown, as first and foremost Friedkin here tells of the conflict between scientific progress and the crisis of faith that the United States faced in the 1970s. “The Exorcist” is thus also a kind of national stocktaking.
One can accuse “The Exorcist” of having a thoroughly reactionary bent, because ultimately the path back to faith leads to the answer. One thing should be noted, however: Exorcism is not seen here as a flawless, universal solution, but as a tragic, inescapable means of preventing something even worse. Victims demand the process in a dramatic way nevertheless. Thus, “The Exorcist” also functions on an intellectual level throughout.
As for the horror in and of itself: Here William Friedkin, who shortly before was awarded the Oscar for Best Director for his tough cop thriller “French Connection”, flexes his muscles. The evocative mood unleashed by the ever-cooling images simply make your blood run cold. “The Exorcist” confronts its audience with the inconceivable – and does so in an unrelenting, gruesome, disturbing way. A parforceride, shocking as the first day.
