'The Exorcist' (1973), an In-depth Analysis of Why it is the Scariest Movie Ever Made

When asked what is the scariest movie ever made, I can almost guarantee that 1973's "The Exorcist" will come up 9 times out of 10 in most movie viewers' opinions. In fact, the tag line for this movie's re-release in 2000 reads "The Scariest Movie Of All Time Has Returned. In The Version You've Never Seen Before." "The Exorcist" does not scare me as much as it used to because I have seen it several times and have grown immune to its effects but it can still give me some chills if I watch it in the dark. I can't think of any movies that still scare me but this one comes closest and I know that it can still scare the wits out of many people.

"The Exorcist" was voted the Scariest Movie of All Time by Entertainment Weekly and Maxim. It also topped the list of the Top 50 Scariest Movie Moments in a 2007 poll in the UK's The Times. The film was so scary that during its first release, many moviegoers fainted or went into hysterics and paramedics needed to come in.

Father Merrin discovers a demonic artifact while on a dig in Iraq which leads to a battle with a demon, who later possesses a young girl named Regan in Georgetown, Washington. Her mother, Chris MacNeil, a famous actress in town for the filming of a movie, despairs after her daughter's health continues to deteriorate. After all known medical tests and treatments have not helped Regan and learning of the mysterious death of a family friend, Burke Dennings, in Regan's bedroom, which draws the investigation of police detective, William Kinderman, Chris seeks an exorcism. Father Karras is asked to check on the condition of Regan and to recommend that the Catholic church allow an exorcism on her daughter. Father Merrin, an elder priest who had performed an exorcism in the past, is called in to lead the exorcism with Father Karras.

"The Exorcist" is loosely based on a true story and is a must-see for all horror fans. The subject matter is about demons, Satan and contains a lot of foul language toward God, so this has caused much controversy with the Catholic Church, holy clergy and preachers like Billy Graham, who claimed a real demon was living in the film reels. It was considered so scary and controversial in its original release in the UK several town councils completely banned its showing, which caused "Exorcist Bus Trips" to be created in which travel companies organized buses to take people to nearby towns where the film was not banned. It was also not available on video in the UK until 1999 when the British Board of Film Censors approved the uncut version.

The height of the controversy occurred in 1973 but is still somewhat controversial to some people. Most of the contention with "The Exorcist" focuses on the story being blasphemous toward God but, this is far from author William Peter Blatty's original intention. Blatty's story, more so in the novel, is about a journey of faith for all of the characters and the triumph of good over evil.

For six months after the release of "The Exorcist," Linda Blair received death threats from people who believed it glorified Satan. Warner Brothers hired bodyguards to protect her.

Now, on to my very detailed reasons for why "The Exorcist" is the scariest movie ever made...

Special Effects

The special effects in "The Exorcist" were groundbreaking at the time and are still very effective in scaring us. "The Exorcist" is filled with special effects that really send chills up and down our backs with the dramatic, traumatic, offensive or just plain gross scenes. From the shaking bed, the pea soup/vomit projectile, the 360 degree head spin, the levitation, the spider walk down the steps, the frigid air that caused the characters' breath to be visible, the words "help me" dug into Regan's belly from the inside, the moving furniture and objects or other effects, "The Exorcist" creates several truly scary scenes.

A major part of the scariness of the special effects is the demonically possessed face of Regan. This is definitely one of the highlights of "The Exorcist." Her face is probably the most disturbing "monster" I have ever seen in a movie and I have even had nightmares of it. Makeup legend, Dick Smith, and his assistant, Rick Baker, are responsible for much of grotesque face. If nothing seems to scare you, her face might do it for you.

There is very little blood or gore -- they are gross but not very gory. Probably the worst bloody scene is the masturbation scene which needs definitely no explanation!

The another special effect used in "The Exorcist" is the subliminal image of a creepy-looking face that appears on screen for a fraction of a second and it really scares some people. It appeared 3 times during its original release and several more times in the re-release in 2000. The grimacing face is of Eileen Dietz painted black and white. The director was inspired by the demon mask used in the movie "Onibaba" (1964).

Possession

For me, the idea of possession by anything or anyone is very, very scary indeed. I don't really believe possession is possible but the idea as put forth in "The Exorcist" truly terrified me in the past.

Regan starts acting strange (becoming violent, hitting people and using excessive profanity) after she is possessed by the demon. It started with her use of an Ouija board, on which she began communicating with a spirit named Captain Howdy, who later turned out to be Pazuzu, an actual ancient Sumerian demigod / demon.

It's never bluntly shown whether or not the Ouija board is what really caused Regan to become possessed or something else. I heard it mentioned and also think I saw that the tiny relic of Pazuzu, found by Father Merrin in Iraq, also appears under the stairs in the house were Regan lived. I'm not sure how it would have gotten there or whether or not he played the part in her possession. "The Exorcist" is never very clear about this.

Regan isn't the only character that becomes possessed by Pazuzu because, near the end of the movie, Father Karras commands the demon to possess him before jumping out of the window to kill himself and the demon now inside of him to save her and defeat the demon. (See "Exorcist 3" (1990) to see what happened to Father Karras after he jumped.)

In both characters, possession looks terrifying and I imagine it to be so. Not being able to control your own actions is one of the ultimate fears for many people such as myself.

Demons & Satan

I don't really believe in Hell, demons or Satan, at least not consciously, but, for some reason, this movie makes me feel like they do exist. The feeling leaves soon after I stop watching "The Exorcist" but, probably subconsciously, the thought of the existence of Hell and its evil creatures lingers in my mind because I've actually had nightmares of a possessed Regan stalking me in my bedroom and not for seductive reasons!

While I don't believe in Hell, demons or Satan, I do find myself being somewhat scared of them. It's a strange concept to be afraid of what we don't believe in -- maybe I need a psychiatrist? But we really don't control our fears, do we?

The Voice & Language

I find the voice of Regan to be definitely one of the creepiest things of "The Exorcist" because it's so rough, dark and menacing, especially when apparently emanating from the mouth of a child. Imagine hearing that voice in the dark while you are alone!

The voice of the demon is actually done by the veteran actress, Mercedes McCambridge, who sued Warner Brothers for credit as the voice. It was first contended that she refused credit but I don't know. For the pea soup vomiting scene, she regurgitated a mixture of chewed apples and raw eggs. She also chain smoked and vomited to create the demon voice.

In addition to the sound of Regan's voice, her actual vocabulary is very, very vulgar, even by today's standards. While this might not seem scary in of itself, remember that this voice and language is supposed to be coming from a 12-year-old girl. During the exorcism sequence, the profanity dialogue disturbed Max von Sydow so much that he forgot his lines. The language leads me to my next point.

Christianity

I don't consider myself to be a Catholic Christian or any kind of Christian right now but I grew up hearing about Christianity all of my life. I now consider myself an agnostic but I'm still respectful of religion. I do argue against many of the things in the Bible but still respect the religion. Maybe subconsciously I still believe in it somewhat and some of it scares me, even if I don't consciously believe it.

I think that the overall point of "The Exorcist" is to show the triumph of good over evil but, to get to this point, we really need to see the evil and it really comes out in the blasphemous language of the demon voice possessing Regan. She curses tons and some of it is very foul about God, Jesus and other Christian ideas. Some of it is very offensive but needs to be done if the film really is supposed to be about evil.

In addition to the foul language, there are a few scenes that are meant to be offensive to Christians. Some of these include Regan masturbating with a crucifix and the defilement of a holy statue in the church. I think "The Exorcist" would not have such a great impact if not for scenes like this. They show us what evil looks like and make us cringe in fear.

As I said previously, I do not count myself as a Christian but the offensive language and scenes towards Christianity scare me because they are so blatantly disrespectful of the religion. I would never say or do these offensive things because I would be scared to do it. Who knows if we nonbelievers might be wrong? I think faith itself deserves some level of respect even if we don't believe it.

Music

Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield, need I say more? All of the music is perfect for "The Exorcist." Who can forget the theme song, Tubular Bells? It really will go down in cinematic history as being one of the most well known movie theme songs, along with the likes of "Psycho," "Jaws," "The Omen" and "Halloween."

Whenever I hear Tubular Bells in and out of the movie, I get slight chills up and down my back and I expect to see Regan ready to jump out at me at any moment. One scene with this song that is not scary is made scary just because of this song I think -- I'm referring to the scene when Chris is walking home to see your daughter and we just see her walking on the suburban sidewalks by herself and she passes the church and a group of nuns. The song makes it creepy for me because I get to thinking about how her life is about to change with the possession. Others might not see this but it really helps me see inside of Chris' head.

Loneliness

Loneliness is what I feel when I think of Chris and her ordeal as the mother of a possessed girl. I feel it even as Chris walks the sidewalks to Tubular Bells before the possession really takes foot. I can empathize with her character's thoughts and emotions as she feels so alone and helpless to help her daughter. I suppose I think of my own mother and how lonely and helpless she often feels about my disability and there being no cure. I probably intertwine my empathy for Chris and my mother. This loneliness can feel very scary.

"The Exorcist" also shows the loneliness of Regan or at least it is implied. Imagine how lonely you would feel to be unable to control your own actions because something else is controlling you. Plus, to be stuck in a room and strapped to a bed for your own protection is very scary to me.

The loneliness of Father Karras is also present. He is unable to cure his mother's growing dementia and illness which probably leads to his growing loss of faith, among other things. This is similar to the feelings that Chris must endure with her own daughter. Again, this is of loneliness can be very scary.

Medical Mystery

"The Exorcist" shows a medical mystery in terms of Regan's illness/possession that complements the feelings Chris with her growing sense of loneliness that I mentioned previously. Chris takes her daughter to all sorts of doctors and her daughter takes hundreds of tests only to find out that the medical field can find nothing wrong with Regan physically or mentally. Being unable to find answers or cures definitely creates a sense of helplessness.

I can empathize with this because I have an incurable disability and my mother feels very helpless because there is no cure and she can't do anything but cope with the downward progression of my disability. Sometimes I feel this helplessness but I have mostly grown accustomed to it; however, my mother still has bouts of feeling helplessness.

"The Exorcist" uses this medical mystery aspect of the story to show us the growing helplessness of Chris for her daughter. It adds another layer of fear as well as the obvious possession itself. It's probably something that is not as scary unless you have actually gone through it yourself with a loved one. Those who have will definitely know where I am coming from with this point.

Loss of Faith

Some of the characters in "The Exorcist," such as Chris and Regan, are either atheists or agnostics but, by the end of the film, they are believers. The loss of faith is mostly shown in the character of Father Karras because he sees how bad some people suffer and how little God intervenes. He sees his aging mother falling into dementia and he can't do anything about it except allow her to be admitted into a mental institution. I believe he wants to take her home but she dies before he can do so and he blames himself. Later, the demon impersonates his mother to lay even more guilt upon him. Again, this feeling of helplessness creates a certain loneliness that I find very scary.

In contrast, "The Exorcist" also shows faith being found for the first time or being found again. In the film, Karras asks Merrin why this girl is being possessed and Merrin says that the demon is trying to make them feel despair by showing the ugly side of humanity and that God doesn't love us. I believe the demon is really targeting the faith of the priests.

Father Merrin and his faith are the real targets of the demon because of an exorcism he performed when he was younger in Africa. The same demon was pushed out of the person on which he performed the exorcism and now it wants revenge through the possession of Regan to do battle once more. This exorcism is briefly discussed in "The Exorcist" and shown in greater detail in the sequels "Exorcist II: The Heretic" (1977), "Exorcist: The Beginning" (2004) and "Dominion" (2005).

Suburbia

Just the juxtaposition of all of the events of "The Exorcist" occurring in middle-class suburbia is quite disturbing in my opinion. People in middle-class suburbia generally have a sense of security compared to those, say, in a ghetto, and to see these shocking events taking place there is scary to me. It's kind of like 9/11 because we don't expect such travesty in places we don't normally see it.

There are a few more things outside of the "The Exorcist" film that make it scary.

Based on a True Story

"The Exorcist" is loosely based on the true story of an exorcism performed on a 13-year-old boy in 1949 and lasted months. It began in his home in Mt. Rainier, Maryland and a blessing was performed in Georgetown University Hospital in Washington by a priest. It failed and an exorcism was performed by Fr. Bowdern in St. Louis.

Strange Occurrences During the Filming

There were several strange occurrences during the filming of "The Exorcist" that make the movie even scarier when you think about it.

The interior sets of the MacNeil house, except Regan's bedroom, were destroyed in a fire and had to be rebuilt.

Priests visited several times to bless the set due to production problems in New York and in Washington at the foot of the Lauinger Library's steps to 37th Street.

Linda Blair's harness for the bed-shaking scenes broke and she was injured. Burstyn's harness for when she is thrown across the room by Regan pulled too hard and injured her back.

Jack MacGowran, who plays Burke Dennings, died during filming due to a flu he picked up in the UK. There are also rumors of the deaths of 8 other people associated with the production including, Vasiliki Maliaros, who also died before the release of "The Exorcist."

Conclusion

The overall scary atmosphere, created by the reasons I listed above, is a thing of beauty in a morbid way. Everything from the acting to the visuals, music and story ideas create a tour-de-force of terror that makes this the scariest movie ever made. The directing by William Friedkin set up every scene to show some form of horror - even the most subtle scenes.

"The Exorcist" is truly a classic horror film that will scare you a lot and also make about life. Watch it for the horror, acting, the exorcist face or just for the philosophy -- just be sure to watch it! The schedule as I dare you to watch it alone with the lights out.

Watch "Exorcist: The Beginning" (2004) and/or "Dominion" (2005), "The Exorcist" (1973) and "The Exorcist 3" (1990) in that order for the complete chronological saga. Skip part two, as it is not relevant to the trilogy. According to Blatty, the trilogy is "The Exorcist," "The Exorcist 3," and "The Ninth Configuration" (1979), which is not really a horror.

Be sure to check out: Book Review: The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty.

Sources: Yahoo Movies, Wikipedia