Rating: 
Summary: 1973 or 2003, still scary to me.
Review: Well, no matter how hard I try I don't think I can expand on what's been stated already. That being said, I consider the Exorcist to be the best horror movie ever. It's chilling and gruesome, and offensive to the point of blasphemy. And the movie is glorious in it's shocking entirety. Musn't be missed for anyone who likes movies in general, no need to be a horror fan, but it helps.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice expanded version
Review: I'm not going to rewrite the epilogue of this 1973 horror classic; Anyone familiar with horror films has, at least, heard of The Exorcist, and should pretty much know of what its storyline consist. However, one thing I can say about "The Exorcist: The version you've never Seen" dvd release, is that the additional footages does change the perception of the film to a certain degree (use "Director's Commentary" to distinguish additional footages), in that it does provide better insight on events leading up to the possession of the young pawn, Regan MacNeil (played by actress Linda Blair). *For instance, the additional footage showing Father Damien Karras reviewing an audio recording of Regan MacNeil, made for her father (who is estranged) a long time before the story begins; this scene compared with the later footage of Father Karras reviewing another taped recording of a now possessed, disturbed Regan, further stresses the dramatic transformation she is going through while under the spell of the demon Pazuzu. Another instance is the "spider walk" scene, which fixes on the reaction of poor Regan's mother when she notices her little girl doing something that is unbelievably out of character; this also helps heighten the intensity of Regan transformation. SPECIAL FEATURES: "Director's commentary"; At first, I was impressed with this dvd's director's commentary (voice of William Friedkin), but after the first 15, or so, minutes of the film (after the campus protest scene), the narration ceased to be an informative diatribe on the makings of this film, and developed more into a 3rd person paraphrased recital of the movie script/or screenplay, which left me greatly disappointed. I was expecting a more informative lecture on the mechanics of how this 1973 movie master piece was put together; info. such as the special effects, as well as commentary on the props & cinematography; the comments you would usually hear by a director on a dvd release on a film of this magnitude; the info. just mentioned, and more, would have been excellent. The other special features included on this disk; i.e. the "behind the screams" segment, along with the "most famous scene not in the movie [the spider walk]," "fast facts," etc... are all fine the way they were presented, however, would have made for excellent monolog to intergrade into the Director's Commentary on this dvd. *In finality, I can say that, despite the disenchantment with the Director's Commentary, this version of The Exorcist is a must for those who are a fan of this 1973 horror classic; And, in addition, you now have the convenience of viewing "The Exorcist" with the deleted scenes intergraded into the production. *My rating 4 of 5 stars.
Rating:
Summary: Heavily reedited version of The Exorcist
Review: The Exorcist has not aged well, mostly because the special effects in this movie look extremely dated because of its 1973 heritage, however the story is still solid, the acting on top form and the dialogue is one hundred percent satisfactory. If you want to learn a lot about the making of this film then I highly recommend a book called The Exorcist by Mark Kermode which is part of the BFI Modern Classics prints which is almost like reading a 100 paged review of the film. Certainly fans will enjoy that. The film is based on the book The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty which itself is based on a true story of demonic possession. Those of you who like this film should read the book if you can. The book is also just as scary and maybe even more so. The premise is quite cerebral. A young girl starts to exhibit violent fits and her actress mother watches slowly in horror as her daughter becomes possessed by an evil spirit. Doctors can not cure her and so instead turn to the Catholic Church for help. A local Jesuit priest who is also a psychiatrist is having a crisis of faith. He goes to study the girl and discovers something diabolical at work. An older experienced exorcist is appointed to perform an exorcism which will leave the viewer reeling long after the credits come to a close. Mostly this version of the film is a re-edit of the original with several restored "lost" scenes and some restored cut scenes. A new scene is restored at the start featuring the home at Georgetown where Regan, the possessed girl is living. The music has also been altered here. There is additional music added to Father Merrin looking at the statue at the start of this film. Most of the University movie scenes included re-recorded new dialogue. A new scene where Regan meets a doctor for the first time has been included. The phone call scene to Chris's husband is now missing the swearing. Regan's scene during the party has been cut - she no longer laughs in that scene. The infamous X-ray scene has more background dialogue of doctors talking to Regan. The scene where Father Karras lies in bed drunk has had the dialogue reedited. The nut grabbing scene has an extra facial demon effect inserted along with new sound. Just before Chris discovers that Burke Dennings has been murdered there are several demon statues seen about the house (the stove, door and Regan's wall). Chris's reaction to Dennings death has been swapped for a new cut. The infamous "Spider Walk" scene has been restored for this version. A long period of blackness is added to the film after this scene. New music had been added to conversations between Kinderman and Karras. A long shot of Karras's sermon in church has been added. The tape recording sequence has some additional scenes of Karras listening to the tape. When Merrin receives the telegram, new music has been added. More scenes have been added to Merrin's arrival at the house and the preparation for the exorcism. More conversations between Merrin and Karras about the demon have been added. The exorcism scene has been mostly reedited with additional sound effects and special effects. The medallion scene has been altered so that Dyer gives the medallion back. Regan also waves goodbye to him. Dyer and Kinderman have a new reedited conversation in the end. In short this is a whole new version of the Exorcist and is certainly worth watching. Just make sure that you read the book too!
Rating:
Summary: STILL ONE OF THE MOST POWERFUL HORROR FILMS EVER
Review: Thirty years later and I still find "The Exorcist" a powerful, disturbing, and amazing work of art. William Friedkin's direction is superb, the score including Oldfield's TUBULAR BELLS still one of the best, and the whole project an exercise in terror. Let's go beyond the obvious special effects and the frightening possession of Regan McNeil, and look at the stunning performances Friedkin elicited.
Ellen Burstyn is outstanding; her mother role goes from the pampered movie star trying to stay close to her daughter to the pure terror of seeing her child possessed by Satan.
Jason Miller in his guilt-ridden role of Father Karras is mesmerizing. Tormented and doubting his faith, he nonetheless conquers these and propels the movie's grueling climax.
Max von Sydow as Father Merrin is brilliant in his subtle performance of a man near death faced with the unbelievable task of exorcising not just a demon, but the devil himself.
Linda Blair's performance is all the more amazing in that as everyone knows, Mercedes McCambridge mouthed the demon's voice, but Linda was there physically and her agony (especially in those awful hospital tests) demonstrates what potential she had, that was unfortunately never fully tapped in later films.
Kitty Winn as Burstyn's personal assistant was also very good in a supporting, almost invisible role.
And let's not forget Lee J. Cobb as Kinderman, a cop with a heart and soul a great pickup line.
THE EXORCIST has never been duplicated for its gut-wrenching horror and it's ability to creep under your skin no matter how often you've seen it.
A true classic in any genre.
Rating:
Summary: A Story of Sacrifice, Redemption, and Resurrection
Review: The ancient Babylonian demon, Pazuzu, unearthed by a priest in modern Iraq, returns, this time to a house in Georgetown in which a little girl and her mother live. The true horror of this 1973 masterpiece lies not in its special effects, which are meant to manifest the demon's presence, but in the narrative's details of each character's life. This film, based on William Peter Blatty's novel, explores the battles between the physical and the metaphysical, between body and soul (cf: Lieutenant Kinderman in his conversation with Father Karras). The true horror lies in the quotidian, in presence of the noonday demon, which is the demon to be feared above all others. The true horror is Father Karras' mother dying alone in an apartment in New York, while her highly-educated son, an oblate, a psychological eunuch, serves God and his dying Church, both ultimately leading to the priest's profound crisis of faith. I've known Catholic religious who've regretted the choice they were forced to make, many years ago, when their religious order forced them to decide between visiting the sick bed of a dying parent or attending the funeral, but not both. Karras' story is not far-fetched at all. Karras' dilemma is a real one and in that lurks the noonday demon (cf: the Roman Ritual) that smiles broadly at you during the brightest part of the day. The other horror is to be found in the broken home of the MacNeil family, and in a little girl's vulnerability, which perhaps invites the Devil in first disguised as Captain Howdy. The narrative is divided into a holy three: Manifestation, Possession, Expulsion. Never mind the special effects. They're silly to us thirty years later because special effects technology has advanced and because these graphic scenes have been parodied so much (remember Bernadette Peters hopping around and foaming at the mouth on The Carol Burnett Show?) that they've become an integral part of our pop-cultural history. "The Version You've Never Seen" has some things good and some bad. The demonic flashes insult the viewer's intelligence. We know a demonic presence is lurking. It's behind closed bedroom doors; it's upstairs; it's by the open window. We don't need the demon's visage flashed on the hood of a stove or in front of the little girl's door to remind us. It's there in the lights flickering and in the phone that rings. The added footage in the doctor's office is brilliant. Today, thanks to HMOs, we can relate very strongly to the battery of tests Regan undergoes and which any child would be put through (only to be prescribed Ritalin) if his or her behavior suddenly changed. These very real scenes help build the suspense and horror later to be manifested. Blatty's novel, unlike the film, let's not forget, takes place in the spring, during Easter, so as to parallel the Christians' Easter myth of death and resurrection. Re-contextualizing it within Halloween will forever make this a Halloween horror flick, but we must not forget that, ultimately, this is an ancient story told in a modern way of sacrifice, redemption, and resurrection.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Scariest Movies in History
Review: I must say that the extra scene of Regan on the stairs made the hairs on the back of my neck stand. Some people found that scene comical or out-of-step with the movie, but I thought it was chilling. This is a classic.
Rating:
Summary: Macabre
Review: I read the book right after it came out and I couldn't put it down! When the movie came out I already heard a lot of the advance publicity but I was still deeply engrossed when I watched it for the first time. I have seen it many times since although not in its' recent remastered version. It is a movie that will challenge you in many ways yet it is also a movie that has the potential to reassure you as well. It is a very well-made movie complete with great writing, acting, directing, and, above all, great special effects. Even after all of these years, they still are impressive. This movie is not for the squeemish as I can illustrate with an experience I had in Ensenada, Mexico. The movie had been out for a year or two and a friend of mine and I were traveling in Baja Mexico. There wasn't a lot to do at night so, when I saw that the movie was playing at the local theatre, I suggested we go see it. When my friend said he hadn't seen it before, I insisted that we go. The theatre was fairly full when we went in. As the movie got progressively more intense, the show would stop and a warning notice would appear on the screen advising the viewers that the movie was going to become even more graphic. This screen appeared three times during the movie. At the end of the show, the lights came on and I was surprized to discover that there were only a handful of people besides my friend and I who had sat through the whole movie. I don't know that the movie will grip you quite so hard but it may. There is a strong element of hardcore Christian good versus demonic evil and you can get caught up in this. The actual history of exorcism is fairly scant given the number of years the scarement has been around and the hundreds of millions of Christians that were or are in this world. I suspect most people would view this movie more as a test of their nerves rather than their faith. However, after my experience in Mexico, I thought I should at least put my own warning notice on the screen.
Rating:
Summary: Wow.
Review: Did you know this is a true story? Just kidding. This is the movie that would freak out religious fanatics for the rest of their lives. But yes it is a movie. A VERY EVIL movie. I only saw bits and peices from this film when I was a kid. Of course none of the scary scenes. The spider walk scene was unexpected. I knew it would happen but it came out of nowhere while I was watching it, which made it scary. I think they cut it out because it was too scary for it's time. Especially for people who get scared easily. And the scene, the very GRAPHIC scene when regan was on the bed and she had the cross in her hand, well the rest I can't write, but if you've seen it you know what I'm talking about. Was that scene in the original one? That was sick stuff. There were times when I had to laugh, especially the yo mama type comments, it made me think of Scary Movie 2. Hehe. Well, overall this was a unique and interesting movie. Just remember to sleep with the light on. He could be under the bed while you sleep.
Rating:
Summary: SCAREY MOVIES MAKE FOR SCAREY REVIEWS!
Review: Only a monumental film like "The Exorcist" could have the scariest, as well as the most idiot reviews such as some of the reviews I've read here! I was trying to read other people's opinions on why this movie is so scarey, but all I could find were teenagers trying to defy tradition by claiming that it's "not scarey" and right-wing fundamentalist Christian nut-cases plying their "don't follow the devil to hell" trade. Yikes. This movie brings 'em all out! Which I think says alot about this movie. "What's scarey" is subjective, I guess. I happen to find this movie to be perhaps the scariest movie I have ever seen. And I don't even BELIEVE in "the devil"! The special effects and make-up departments did an excellent job in this movie; the sight of that FACE is something that has stayed with me my entire life. Having that face turn and fix it's gaze on me would freeze my soul. I think that may be the source of the movie's most frightening aspect; the thought that while you are innocently going about your business, there are "things" watching and waiting, jumping in when you open the door a crack. Now, as I said, I don't believe in "the devil", but I WAS brought up Italian Catholic, and I think that the "the devil's watching you" thing was very strongly driven into people for many years (I'm 40 years old). As a child, I was always warned not to read horror novels or scarey things because "it attracted the devil." I guess maybe that sticks to you in some way, whether you believe it or not. I think that is part of the source of the visceral terror that this movie can provoke. when you are alone, perhaps you are not REALLY alone. The movie is filled with top-notch actors, and it seems that every outside shot is always during a cloudy day, which adds to the mood. The quick shots of demonic faces flashing by in the priest's dreams, the way the dresser charges by itself towards the camera, the mysterious "thumping" in the attic...these are all things that you remember. There are many strong images in this film, all adding to the movie's many themes of fright, guilt, shock, disbelief and even saddness.
You are never told WHY the devil would chose THIS little girl instead of someone else who happened to be using a ouija board. You are never really told what the devil "wants." I mean, what is the devil really accomplishing by inhabiting the body of a little girl? But it really doesn't matter; once you are taken on the ride, once the roller coaster starts. And once it starts, it just keeps going. When this movie first came out, people who went to see it fainted, and became physically ill. It galvanized their emotions. It was indescribable, because no one had ever seen anything like it before. 25 years later, and we are all quite jaded. Freddy and Jason have become horror movie icons. But they don't scare me like that little girl in that bed scares me.
Why? After all this typing, I still am not sure why. But juding from the film's longevity, and by the variously angry/spiteful reactions, I'd say that a lot of people agree with me. Don't watch this movie with a chip on your shoulder; a good movie should do more than scare you. It should make you think, make you react. Don't watch this movie if you are already convinced that there are devils everywhere (it will only make you more paranoid). Watch this movie. Period.
Rating:
Summary: Chilling. Terrifying.
Review: To begin with, this movie is scary. The newest version, "The Version You've Never Seen" is even scarier. The spiderwalk is terrifying.
Based on the novel by William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist is a movie that will stay with your for a lifetime. Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), is a visiting actress in Washington, D.C. who notices dramatic and dangerous changes in the behavior of her 12 year old daughter Regan (Linda Blair). A young priest, Father Damien Karras, at nearby Georgetown University begins to doubt his faith while dealing with his mother's terminal sickness. When all medical possibilities have been exhausted, Chris MacNeil is sent to a Fr. Karras. He becomes convinced that Regan is possessed and he and Father Merrin, experienced in exorcism try to drive the spirit out of Regan before she dies.
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