Hallo-Watch: The Exorcist (1973)

Watched:  10/21/2025

Format:  HBOmax

Viewing:  Third or Fourth

Director:  William Friedkin

I put on The Exorcist (1973) before Jamie went to bed, and she immediately asked and then answered the question I'd asked myself.  When had I last seen this?  She informed me I'd shown her the movie circa 1998, so that is likely when I last saw it.  Which is wild.  I quite like The Exorcist.  But it is a journey.   It's not a movie I put on without wanting to watch the whole thing.  Obviously.

I have no notes.  I think this is one of those movies that is beyond comment in 2025, and has already been talked to death.  I wouldn't change a damn thing about this movie, and I have no questions about it.  

Do I find it frightening?  Look, I saw this movie the first time during a gauntlet of movies that also included The Shining and Clockwork Orange.   I remember finding it disturbing and a bit scary when I was 14, sure.   But that was quite the run of movies we were on.

I do find it fascinating that this (and maybe a few other movies) really hit some people because they seem to think this sort of thing can happen.  Which, I think this movie does a phenomenal job of building a case against - look for a medical reason, a psychiatric diagnosis, etc...  and even an exorcism is more likely to work as more of a psychological trick.  But, yeah, puking up green bile and mutating in front of people is pretty convincing.  It's one of the genius bits of the film to keep folks like myself invested.

Part of what worked well for me is not just Regan swearing at people in a lower octave and spinning her head like it's on a lazy susan -  it's everything surrounding Regan and her visiting head-pals that works well for me.  Father Damien and his shaken faith, the single mother wrestling with the absence of a father/ Father for her daughter, Max Von Sydow as the elder priest who shouldn't be doing this but marches in, and whatever is going on with Lee J. Cobb as the police detective, still a baller actor here in 1973.  

The characters are so human, it's remarkable, and it makes Regan's slow transformation all the more horrific.  And maybe this movie could have only been made this was in the 1970's and a brief window in the early 90's.  

Anyway, yup.  Hopefully I won't wait another nigh-30 years to watch it again.  

And just for fun, the JLA Exorcist-homage cover from 1989 by Kevin Maguire.

Yes, that's Amanda Waller who I knew from Suicide Squad in 1989, I believe.