The Exorcist Reviews | RateItAll

The Exorcist

1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 novel of the same name Website

Approval Rate: 58%

58%Approval ratio

Reviews 24

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  • by

    drjoe35

    Wed Sep 19 2012

    lol the first time i saw this i was stunned especially when the girl turns her head 360 degrees and attacks the priest is mind blowing, this movie is a must see.

  • by

    djahuti

    Fri Sep 02 2011

    Not even close. I can remember me & my friends laughing at it till the balcony shook in an old NYC theater.

  • by

    melissaz

    Tue May 31 2011

    This is my favorite horror movie. It was very smartly written and psychologically damaging. lol It had it all. Good and evil. Faith and the faithless. Wealth and poverty. And it posed a terrifying question. Can this really happen???? I LOVE IT!

  • by

    bluesman55

    Sun Sep 06 2009

    This movie so completely terrified me that I have never watched it twice. I was standing in the aisle yelling right along with the priest. "Satan be gone...satan be gone" This movie, along with The Omen ended my interest in "devil movies".

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    wolfmantip

    Sun Aug 16 2009

    This IS Scary..One of my favorites, Young Linda Blair was really good in it, as was the whole cast. A Classic from beginning to end.

  • by

    greek0aa

    Fri Jun 05 2009

    The DVD came as advertised and is fine. Very, very disappointed in the vendor's shipping policy, however. Paid extra for expedited shipping based on the city listed and proximity to me. Also, paid full shipping for a second product, even though they shipped together. There was no option to save on shipping by ordering two products from the same vendor. The DVDs arrived well past the expected date and missed a critical birthday. Won't buy from this vendor again, despite the good products.

  • by

    darkpalace

    Sat May 30 2009

    This movie was okay and a bit interesting to me. I was not as excited about it as a lot of others were. Someone had invited me to it and I really didn't feel like seeing it and to stand in line for it. The idea of her actually being possessed and the acting was not really getting to me. I don't exactly believe the idea of possession but it could be. I think it was a good try at it. I wasn't going for the effects and everything. I was not really scared at all. It wasn't a terrible movie or bad. I am not Catholic so the idea of the priest doing an exorcism is just not something that I am readily believing in.

  • by

    keithmirenberg

    Mon May 04 2009

    The Exorcist (The Version You've Never Seen) (1973)- I originally saw this five star horror movie when first released in New York back in 1973. For those of you old enough to remember, I too was one of those lunatics who stood on line in the freezing cold to see this great film. Crazier still is the fact that I thought it was worth the wait at the time! This great DVD includes some really frightening footage that was not included in the theatrical version of the movie. In addition, the entire film has been digitally restored at 1.85 and plays beautifully on a new HDTV system, filling the entire screen. Watching this film on a new large screen HDTV is just like a night out at the movies.

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    mightymightybr_oncos

    Fri May 01 2009

    OMG, the scene where the crawls up the stairs like a crab gives me chills everytime I think about it... good...scary... what else you want? Maybe a nice "flaming" raspberry tea like Nate Iseminger?

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    jimbo9235

    Mon Apr 06 2009

    I remember when this move came out. Radio stations were offering money to people to go sit in a theater by themselves and watch this movie. I went with four guys and two of them left before the movie ended. I stayed because I love horror movies. Not much on slasher films but love the suspenseful, scary ones. My main reasoning behind the success of this movie is simple. Possession has been documented for as long as we can recall. Most horror films are about monsters and things that JUST WON'T DIE..! The Exorcist is more about a family trying to save a member from the demons that haunt us all. The possibility that this really could happen or maybe has happened before made it even scarier. All aspects of the movie were excellent. Every time that I watch it, it affects me. I'm 52 years old now and it still gets to me. Turn out the lights, turn the volume up and enjoy, if you dare.

  • by

    terryrichard

    Thu Mar 19 2009

    "The Exorcist" came out on Boxing Day, 1973 and immediately became a boxoffice phenomenon. Highly regarded by critics and fans as the best thriller ever made, "The Exorcist" tells of a true story in which a 12 year old girl is possessed by satan. The movie is also one of the best movies ever made, with amazing performances by all the leads, especially Ellen Burstyn who plays the mother, and Linda Blair who plays the little girl. The movie also won 2 Oscars, one for sound and the other for the screenplay. I also believe both Burstyn and Blair were robbed of Academy Awards for their roles, as some had a hard time with the posession that took place in the story. The movie is about the forces of good and evil in the world and the eventual outcome of that battle. There have also been other sequels and pre-quels to "The Exorcist", but they are all inferior to the original. The follow up "The Exorcist 2" is regarded as one of the worst films ever, although Linda Blair is in it. Ellen Burstyn ... Read more

  • by

    binnietheblood_ybooh

    Thu Mar 12 2009

    I personally was not able to believe in what was happening. It could be the dependance on Christian belief lessened the effectiveness of the movie for me but the book worked pretty well, so maybe the book is just better than the movie. Still, I have alot of respect for the film and some of the scenes where effective but not the scariest of all time.

  • by

    edt4226d

    Mon Mar 02 2009

    It's a great, intense movie, and it remains one of my favorite horror films, but I can't say I ever found it scary. I first saw it as a young teenager in an inner-city theatre, and during the scene where Linda Blair as Regan (appropriate name, somehow) begins thrashing helplessly about on her bed, screaming, "Mother! Mother!" the older, more hardened teenaged crowd in the theatre I was in began laughing hysterically. For them, the movie might have been a comedy, and it was hard to get the full "chilling" effect in an environment like that. As an adult, though, I still think it's a great movie, even though I now find the whole premise absurd.

  • by

    james76255

    Mon Mar 17 2008

    I don't even like thinking about this movie. Even the watered down TV version is creepy. It's possibly the only movie in which the lighting plays a factor in how scary the movie actually is, so a symbolic sixth star for the lighting and cinematographer.

  • by

    uncnc08

    Mon Mar 17 2008

    I'm catholic as well,and I've only seen it once and yes this movie disturbed me greatly. I don't think it's the scariests movie I've ever seen,but it's close.

  • by

    oscargamblesfr_o

    Wed Dec 21 2005

    No brainer for me. The only thing scarier than The Exorcist would have to be people who are NOT scared by The Exorcist.

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    kkii96b9

    Tue Jul 05 2005

    this film really did not scare me it was kind of disturbing and a few scenes were scary but deffintley not the scareist film

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    souljunkie

    Tue May 24 2005

    Absolutely the scariest still. Being Roman Catholic all my life means this movie strikes a particular chord with me. I saw it the first time at 15 years old and I had to sleep that night with the lamp on. My belief in God meant I believed just as much in the devil. The images of Reagan in the movie were by all means ghastly enough to represent evil. At the time I could not have conjured up something that ugly and vile in my own mind. That is what made it seem like real evil. Still does. Reading later on about all the strange and unfortunate things that happened while the movie was filming still leaves me wondering if the subject matter and the taboo of what was being portrayed did not create something we will never understand. None of the other movies on this list are in the same league. I can stop here.

  • by

    callitdownthel_ine75

    Mon May 23 2005

    Who can forget the haunting, exorcism scenes? Filmed in dark tones and largely filmed in the shadows, this movie was creepy and sadistic. It didn't help that the sequence of events were said to have happened. And Mercedes McCambridge's lending her voice only added to this scary freak show.

  • by

    dpostoskie

    Mon May 23 2005

    Not just THE scariest movie during it's time, but the scariest to film!

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    wid71649

    Sun May 22 2005

    A friend of mine who is an avid horror fan had to sleep with a night light for a week after watching this movie for the first time. Now THAT my friends is a great horror movie!

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    jmoney52

    Fri Jan 14 2005

    The Exorcist is the Granddaddy of them all. Gotcha moments and disturbing scenes galore. The only movie I ever shut off because it was scaring me too bad.

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    oz2dcb56

    Sun Dec 19 2004

    couldn't even listen to the theme song for two years without tearing up...!

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    middlefinger

    Sat Dec 18 2004

    The only thing more horrifying than the movie is the book!