The exorcist is a 1973 horror movie that encompasses the weather of the human soul. It was directed by William Friedkin and thereafter adapted by William Peter Blatty from his novel on the same subject. The film features several characters such as Ellen Burstyn, Jason Miller, Linda Blare, Max Von Sydow, Ellen Burstyn as well as Mercedes Mc Cambridge. The exorcist is one cycle of demonic infant films that was produced approximately during the late 60’s to around mid 70’s. Thereof, it was released in a theatrical fashion in U.S by Warner Bros. As a matter of fact, following its release, it sparked a particular wave of obsession that was also coupled with possession. This tells why the film was ranked amongst the top fifty scariest films in the year 2007- a perfect illustration that it is a horror movie of all time.
The Exorcist is a captivating as well as a horror story of Regan- a little child who was then living with her single mother in Washington D.C. Regan’s mother, Chris was a renowned actress as and a socialite who was extremely committed to her daughter. At the beginning of the film, Chris and her daughter heard loud noises from attic. They presumed that it was rats. Nonetheless, they came to a realization that it had been something that was far much worse. The situation gradually progressed and Regan’s mother noticed the strange behavior of her daughter. It all began with her complaint of her tremulous movements of her bed after which Chris realized that the shaking was quite pronounced.
In this respect, Regan acted out of control. Amazingly, she sworn and peed deliberately on the floor during one of her mother’s dinner parties. Her horror-stricken mother commenced to see various specialists in a bid to have Regan assisted. Nevertheless, it just became worse. Desperately, she sought assistance from Father Karras who was then a priest. Chris had a deep belief that Regan must have been possessed. Unfortunately, father Karras was amongst those priests who had issues in regard to their faith and appeared to be unlikely specialist to conduct an exorcism. On the other hand, he vowed to do anything to assist Regan whereas things appeared to be getting worse for the little girl.
In this twists of events, members of the Chris’s began fearing Regan. She physically and fiercely attacked people and herself then. It is one of Regan’s attacks that claimed the death of a very close friend of her mother. Father Karras and Regan’s mother comes to a conclusion that an exorcism was the only and the viable option to assist the little infant out. In this vein, Karras was granted permission by the church that it would send a powerful exorcist to carry out the ritual.
In this light, Father Merrin, a specialist, who was chosen by the church to conduct the rite. The audience thereof learnt that Father Merrin had dealt with the specific demons that had possessed Regan. This was demonstrated by the kind of statements that Regan spewed out. She verbally started aggressing Karras and in this twists of odd circumstances, Karras realized that he was alone with her after the unforeseen death of the anointed exorcist- Father Merrin. When Karras realized that he was incapable of casting out the alleged demon, he unexpectedly forced the demons to possess him. Thereafter, he committed suicide by jumping from a window.
Some particular characters in the film such as Regan and her mother are portrayed to be either atheists or agnostics, but they are demoed as believers at the end of it. The disbelief in faith is demonstrated by some characters such as Father Karras on account that he sees how some individuals suffer and how much little God intervenes. This is also demonstrated when his aging mother falls into a dementia and he cannot do anything about the incidence. He just takes her to a mental hospital where she gets admitted. It is my belief that she wanted to take her home although she ended up dying before he could do so. He helplessly blamed himself whereof the demon impersonated his deceased mom so as to lay more guilt upon Father Karras. Moreover, this kind of helplessness feeling produces a particular loneliness that any audience would find scary.
On the contrary, The Exorcist exhibits faith being believed for the first time in the movie. For instance, Father Karras asked Father Merrin why Regan had been possessed. In response, Father Merrin avers that demons could have been trying to establish a feeling of despair by showcasing the hideous side of humanity and that God had alienated from the so called Christians. It is my deep presumption that the demon had been targeting the faith of the Christians as well as the priest. This would be true because Father Merrin with his faith were the actual target owing to an exorcism that he had earlier conducted when he was young in Africa. The alleged demon had been exorcised from the person and it had then possessed Regan in a bid contend with Father Merrin once more. In this case, the demon was seeking true vengeance.
Actually, the film is considered to be very scary as well as controversial after its original release in United Kingdom. The controversy at its best happened precisely in 1973; although it is still somehow controversial to some individuals even today. In this case, it seems that most of the contention that faces ‘The Exorcist’ concentrates on the horror story being very blasphemous towards God. Nonetheless, this is far from what William Peter Blatty presumed. They allege it to be a story of faith for all the concerned characters and the victory of goodness over the evilness.
For those audiences who never considered themselves as Catholic Christians or any type of Christians per se, would end up considering themselves agnostic but still respectful about Christianity religion. The entire context of the film ‘The Exorcist’ makes one believe in religion in a way that scares him or her, even if he or she does not consciously believe in it. Nonetheless, it appears that the overall point showcased in the film is to show triumph of the good deeds over the evil. However, to comprehend the significant point, the audience ought to see the evil which in this case is brought forth in a blasphemous lexicon of the demonic voices that are possession Chris’s daughter. Regan spews tons of curses which are disgusting about God, Jesus amongst other Christian believes. Essentially, some of the curses are immensely offensive but in my opinions they ought to have been done if the film was presupposed to be entirely about evil.
In addition to the offensive language that was used, there are a few aspects that are tailored to be considered offensive to the Christians. These may include when Regan was masturbating with a crucifix. This can be regarded as an outright defilement of the holy statute in the Holy Catholic Church. In my perception, the exorcist would not have such a significant use if it were not for such kind of scenes. This can be attributed to the fact that they intended to showcase how the evil looked in a bid to make every audience freeze in fear. Actually, the obscene language that was used towards Christian religion as well as the offensive scenes was very instrumental in crafting the horror aspect of the film. However, as outlined in this discourse, they appear not to be very scaring in their natural particular, but scaring in the sense that they blatantly disrespect the religion.
The entire scary atmosphere that is established by the reasons as outlined in the discourse is an aspect of creating beauty in the film but in a morbid manner. Everything ranging from the visual perspectives, the music, general themes and the ideas in the story brings forth a tour-de-force of horror that makes ‘THE EXORCIST’ the most chilling movie ever created.
Works Cited
Blatty, William Peter. "The Exoricist." 1 January 2012. Psychological Horror. 26 November 2013 <http://voices.yahoo.com/plot-summary-review-exorcist-william-6009328.html?cat=38>.
Ebert, Roger. "Film Review." 23 January 2013. The Exorcist. 26 November 2013 <http://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-exorcist-1973>.
John, Guggie. "The Exorcist (1973)." 12 October 2012. Entertainment. 26 November 2013 <http://voices.yahoo.com/the-exorcist-1973-depth-analysis-why-is-6813846.html?cat=40>.
Lobosky, Prof. "The Exorcist." 2 April 2012. Film Site. 26 November 2013 <http://www.filmsite.org/exor.html>.
Tim, Lucas, Kamonde and Mark. "The Exorcist." Video Watch Dog (2010): 20-31.
