The Exorcist (1973)
One of those iconic films where I have seen the clips and the parodies, but otherwise knew nothing of what it was actually about. I was pleasantly surprised of the high production value and the big city setting. Was somehow expecting a gritty setting in a remote country or something. Having terrible things happen to innocent girls has become a tired horror trope by now, but there is a reason it is often used. It so damn effective and poor Regan here is the epitome of that.
I like how the film doesn’t go overboard with the possessed scenes. We see just enough to get a pretty good idea of what is going on, and while the editing cuts to something completely different a second after did feel jarring at first, I came to appreciate this approach as it is so far from the shock type style of more modern horror films. Add to that, the hospitals scenes are in some ways equally horrifying as the demonic scenes in her bed.
Looking at the themes section on the Wikipedia page, I am amazed how this can apparently be interpreted with all kinds of societal and political allegories. That is not really how I generally watch films, but it is a testament to this that it can work on several levels, because you don’t really need to read more into it than what we see on screen with a possessed child and the exorcism process to enjoy it.
Rating: 4