The Exorcist (1973)

Directed by William Friedkin. Ellen Burstyn, Jason Miller, Max von Sydow, Linda Blair. Warner Bros (1973; 2000 recut ed.).

By Steven D. Greydanus

In the winter of 1973, in the heyday of gritty Hollywood postmodern sophistication so beloved by critics of the subsequent era of Star Wars and Superman, E.T. and Raiders of the Lost Ark, a stunning horror film took US moviegoers by storm, ratting even the jaded, sophisticated audiences of the day with its stark, horrifying vision of absolute evil in all its obscenity and banality — and its unapologetic context of institutional religion, in the form of the Catholic Church, as the framework in which to understand and combat evil.

In his book Monsters from the Id, Catholic writer E. Michael Jones connects the fascination of horror to the debunking of Enlightenment rationalism, and William Friedkin’s The Exorcist certainly supports his case. Postmodern areligiosity, the decline of marriage, casual dabbling in such occult phenomena as Ouija boards, and the therapeutic culture are all indicted in this horrifying tale of a bubbly, increasingly troubled young girl whose single mother turns for help to doctors, tests, and prescriptions.

“You just take your pills and you’ll be fine, really,” Chris (Ellen Burstyn) promises her daughter Regan (Linda Blair), but part of the film’s brief is that pills aren’t the answer to everything, and faith and religion may have answers science doesn’t.

Very strong obscene and profane language and imagery make The Exorcist a shocking, harrowing experience, but arguably the film’s most troubling factor is the lack of true redemption in the twist ending, which resolves the demon possession without allowing good to triumph over evil.

In Terence Fisher’s Hammer horror films in the 1950s and ’60s, the power of the cross or holy water over satanic powers was absolute. That may have been overly optimistic (in Catholic theology, sacramentals aren’t intrinsically efficacious), but The Exorcist errs in the other direction, depicting a demonic presence that is ultimately expelled by God’s power, but induced into departing.

Christian novelist Stephen Lawhead argues that the film depicts evil as powerful, but good as merely “lucky,” winning by a “surprise tactic.” That’s not good enough.

Very strong obscene and profane language and imagery; satanic abuse of a child; ambiguous treatment of religious themes.