Still Turning Heads

Sun Herald

Sunday March 25, 2001

ROB LOWING

ALTHOUGH it hasn't aged as well as it would like to think it has, the 1973 horror film The Exorcist is still classic, terrifying entertainment.

This was the Hannibal of its day, outraging the establishment and the church with its special effects gore and brooding themes about loss of faith and pre-pubescent sexuality.

To a modern audience, used to slam-bam shock tactics, The Exorcist now seems like a stately veteran. It takes 30 minutes just to set up its characters almost unheard-of these days.

After a stealthy opening which introduces a priest called Father Merrin (Von Sydow) working in Iraq, the story switches to well-known American film actress Christine MacNeil (Burstyn).

Chris has separated from her husband but has a loving relationship with her 12-year-old daughter Regan (Blair). The pair is living in a posh rented house, with servants, while Chris shoots her latest movie.

At first, as Regan demonstrates all the signs of hyperactivity, Chris isn't unduly concerned, blaming recent upheavals. But when Regan is transformed from a loving daughter into a foul-mouthed violent psychotic, Chris desperately turns to the Church. She begs self-doubting priest Father Karras (Miller) to help.

Karras believes that he has lost his faith but Church officials urge him to stand firm: he is their most gifted psychiatrist. But the troubled priest suspects that Regan is possessed; for a successful exorcism, he needs the experienced Father Merrin.

It is a testament to the film's cinematic style and slow-smoulder pace that the entire audience jumped at the sudden ringing of a telephone.

The new print has 11 minutes of additional footage. The visuals look faded in some places but director William Friedkin's cinematic eye and his slowly encroaching camera still make this masterly suspense.

And the performances are superb. Blair proved truly gifted, a young performer who really looked like she was thinking in close-up.

Equally great is Miller. If you think you've seen that emotionally wrecked presence elsewhere, you have. Apart from being a Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright, Miller is also the father of permanently tortured Jason Patric from The Lost Boys and Speed 2.

Burstyn has proved the real stayer; she's nominated for a Best Actress Oscar this year for the equally horrifying drug drama Requiem For A Dream.

The script was written by William Peter Blatty and based on his best-selling novel. The film might feel too long now, but its sarcastic humour ``excellent day for an exorcism" keeps it fresh.