Mocking Halloween: The Exorcist

This film is considered to be one of the scariest films of all time and one of the greatest films in general. To call it the scariest film of all time is overstating the movie. The Exorcist is a slow burn movie and probably too slow for a film that is supposed to scare the living daylights out of you. Up until Regan mutilates herself with the crucifix, you are constantly on the edge of your seat waiting for something scary to happen. Even when the possession starts… it seems more like a poltergeist possession and a demonic one. Finally, when Regan gets fully possessed you’re relieved to see something frightening happen but even sill the movie makes effort to cut away from the action and instead focus on a priest jogging around a field. It’s not until Merrin shows up when things begin getting good.

Considering that kids nowadays are so pampered by TV and the Internet that they are accustomed to seeing people getting their heads lopped off, or people getting blown away by guns that they won’t look at The Exorcist as a horror. If you put this movie on for a 12 year old today, he’d probably fall asleep. I damn near fell asleep before the movie got to it’s middle. For horror fans, this movie is sacred ground but for most of the modern general public The Exorcist is a snooze-fest.