The Exorcist: 25th Anniversary Special Edition

Rating:
Summary: The Original Is The Best
Review: Undoubtedly one of the most horrifying films ever made, but one of the most terrifying? Nah!!! Almost everything that could be said about this cinematic milestone has long come to pass. I've just dropped by to impress upon all the prospective buyers of this masterpiece to stick with the original. For the lucky ones out there who have yet to experience this film, STICK WITH THE ORIGINAL. The New Director's Cut, while having a superior sound mix, falters in comparison. With the exception of the now famous SPIDER WALK, the re-edit takes away the mystique. For the uninitiated, Mr. Friedkin doesn't let the experience creep up on you, instead(& I would guess it's aimed at the ever-shortening attention span of the younger film-going public)he bashes you ove the head with it. Dommage......

Rating:
Summary: the most disturbing movie you will ever see
Review: This is the story of a 12 year old girl called Regan, who got possessed by the devil after listening to Pink Floyd records. Not coincidentally, this movie was released the same year "Dark Side of the Moon" came out. Nobody can help this girl: not her mother, her priest or anyone. The only way she can bring out the demon is if she promises never again to even touch a Pink Floyd album. When she does this, everything goes back to normal, and--presto!--demon no more. Wow, now THAT'S a story worth telling!

Rating:
Summary: The Exorcist: 25th Anniversary Special Edition
Review: One of the scariest movies I've ever seen.The plot is great, the characters are unforgetable, and the dialogue is good.This is one of the best horror movies ever made.It starts off a little slow but it pays us back with the incredible middle and ending.Any true horror fan or average veiwer will love this movie.The acting is incredibly good for such an old movie let alone horror genre.Some of the scenes are questionable of being sadistic but you've got to love it.Make sure to see this wonderfully made and acted movie.(8/10)

"The Exorcist remains a film of considerable potency, one which forever raised the horror genre's bar so high that few since have dared respond to the challenge."
-- Dan Jardine, APOLLO GUIDE

Rating:
Summary: ZZZZZ
Review: Ifn this is the scariest movie, then people are scared really, really easy. Disney's "Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad" is scarier than this. This is a long movie, that could be shortened to half an hour and be sufficient. Only scary if you're highly catholic.

Rating:
Summary: Unseen version takes it down a notch.
Review: I still say Linda Blair should have won an Academy Award for her performance here. I mean, think about it. How hard could it have been for a little girl to be so disgusting & evil. The Exorcist has been called the scariest movie of all time, & stil remains.

This unseen version does some good things and a couple bad things. First, the flashes of demon faces is a brilliant touch and manages to make you feel quite uneasy. The infamous "spider walk" scene truly takes you off guard the first time you see it. By the second time, it starts to look kinda silly. Still very scary though.

Exorcist is one of the greatest horror movies, not because of how scary it is, but simply because its a good movie. By todays standards its a little slow, but the story of a Devil possesed little girl still has as much power today. The final added scene is pointless. The final scene kinda ruins it, but I'm I dont want to spoil it for anybody so buy it.

Rating:
Summary: About cute Linda Blair
Review: While she is nothing short of excellent in this hit film does anyone agree she curiously turns in a better performance after becoming posessed then before.

Rating:
Summary: The Best Horror Movie Ever(Bar None)
Review: The Exorcist is an emotional roller coaster.From start to finish
it is filled with heart stopping suspense and terror.This film
deals with subject matter that is difficult for some people to
stomach.The acting is superb and the storyline was groundbreaking
for this genre.The fact that the Exorcist did not win the Oscar
for best picture is somewhat puzzling.

Rating:
Summary: Enormous Letdown
Review: I don't see what's so scary about this movie. Maybe it's because I'm an athiest that this doesn't scare me like I was assured it would. Everyone I know and countless reviews have said that this was the scariest movie ever, and I was really letdown when it was just a long, boring, and frankly silly Christian flick. I also read that it might offend you if it didn't scare you. This movie didn't bother me in any way, aside from making me sleepy. It was the same story with Rosemary's Baby, another big letdown for me. I almost don't want to see The Omen for fear of another dissappointment. Once again, I'm an athiest, so this might be scarier for a religous person. That's all I have to say about that.

Rating:
Summary: Do you believe?
Review: I've never really been a fan of 70s horror movies, but this is one that quite literally scares the s**t out of me! I've seen it before, a few years ago, but after much persuasion, sat down again in front of the DVD, to relive the horror. This DVD version is apparently "the version you've never seen", with an extra 11 minutes of scenes and images deleted before the original release of the movie.

Having been a few years since I've seen the movie, and having tried to block most of it since (although I've read the book), I was interested to see it again. Apart from having to ignore the extremely 70s look of the movie, it's not instantly gripping. The start is slow, and wasn't really necessary, apart from Father Merrin's introduction.

The extra scenes include a "nervous disorder" diagnosis for Reagan; Father Merrin's arrival has been expanded before the ritual; an epilogue with Lt. Kinderman and Father Dyer; and most notably, the spider walk. The latter of which is one of the freakiest scenes in the movie, despite being horrifically short, and no more than a quick glimpse.

One of the scenes that I hated in this movie, is the scene where Regan (such a sweet innocent girl to begin with) is violently masturbating (bloodily) with a crucifix, while swearing obscenely, and nearly giving her mother a nervous breakdown. That is one scene that will stay with me, and had me crossing my legs afterwards, and for the rest of the movie. It's graphically described in the book, but to see it in the movie, and then pushing her mother's face into it, is horrible. Not a scene I wish to see again! I remember reading this scene in the book, and having it sicken me. There's a scene before this, where she masturbates, but it doesn't have much of an effect. I thought from that scene that she was supposed to do it with a crucifix, but I got told that they couldn't possibly put a young girl through that. Well, by God, William Friedkin and William Peter Blatty showed that, and on a young girl, albeit possessed by the devil, and made it to shock! In this disturbing scene Linda Blair said she had no idea what it was supposed to mean, she was just bringing down the crucifix into a box.

Most of this movie focuses on Regan (played by Linda Blair) and what happens to her, and her mother. There's also more focus on the Gabriel Byrne lookalike Father Karras (Jason Miller), and his relationship with his mother, which is seen more during the exorcism.

Linda Blair could have gone onto bigger and better things after this movie, but really, she hasn't. Whether it's been a choice of bad scripts, or just always being known as "the girl from The Exorcist", she's rarely been seen on the big screen. Apart from minor roles in one of the sequels to The Exorcist, and a reporter role in one of the Scream movies, she'll always be known for playing Regan.

Why there were sequels to such a great film? In my opinion, they could never have bettered this movie, and just wanted to cash in on its success. A film that should have been better left untouched, and un-sequeled, although I don't think that's a real word. It ruins the original, and I for one, do not want to see the sequels, as they're no doubt rubbish, and the same story, just with different actors.

There are actually two versions of this DVD out, or maybe even more! The version I own is the one with extended/new scenes, but not much in the way of extras. The extras on this DVD are: trailers; feature length commentary by William Friedkin; TV spots "Most Electrifying", "Scariest Ever", "Returns" and "Never Seen" and two radio spots "The Devil Himself" and "Our Deepest Fears". The other DVD has more extras, but doesn't have the extended scenes. So which do you go for? They're both equally interesting, and are done to milk you of your hard-earned pennies. If I see the other one at a decent price, with the extras, I'll be getting it.

This movie is not for the fainthearted, and although you'll manage to block out the boring opening scenes (which don't really do much for the rest of the movie), most of the movie will stay with you. What will you remember most from this? The festering wounds maybe? The projectile vomiting and head spinning? (Lovely) Or perhaps, the climax (almost quite literally for Regan) of the movie, the exorcism? For me, it will be that crucifix scene (legs now firmly crossed!).

What we need next is a special edition DVD which combines the contents of all the ones currently available, i.e. extended scenes, and loads of extras, including the 74 minute documentary available on the video special edition.

Rating:
Summary: STILL the greatest horror film ever made
Review: I prefer the 25th anniversary DVD of THE EXORCIST simply because it has much more stuff on it related to the film.

I saw this version in the theatres when it was released and still enjoyed it. I thought the added images of the demon statues were distracting, but the 11 minutes of footage was interesting.
Remember when people smoked EVERYWHERE? The hospital scenes where everyone, including the doctors, light up is almost funny now.
The "spider walk" scene, which I'd seen the rough footage for on the 25th DVD, still managed to make me jump when incorporated into the finished product this time around.

This is still the greatest horror film ever made. God help us if they ever top this one.