The Exorcist

The Exorcist is a 1973 American supernatural horror film, adapted by William Peter Blatty from his 1971 novel of the same name, and starring Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Max von Sydow and Jason Miller. The film is the first part of The Exorcist franchise, and was directed by William Friedkin.

Plot
One of the most profitable horror movies ever made, this tale of an exorcism is based loosely on actual events. When young Regan (Linda Blair) starts acting odd -- levitating, speaking in tongues -- her worried mother (Ellen Burstyn) seeks medical help, only to hit a dead end. A local priest (Jason Miller), however, thinks the girl may be seized by the devil. The priest makes a request to perform an exorcism, and the church sends in an expert (Max von Sydow) to help with the difficult job.

Why It Rocks

 * 1) Fantastic acting.
 * 2) Awesome writing.
 * 3) Great direction from William Friedkin.
 * 4) It's often considered to be the greatest horror film ever made, to the point where it became the first horror film to be nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars.
 * 5) Plenty of extremely scary and terrifying moments, especially Regan's iconic head-spin scene as well as the infamous moment where she masturbates with a crucifix.
 * 6) Rather than overusing jump-scares and horror cliches, the efficiency of the film is achieved thanks to the atmosphere and dark vibes that are placed as the story progresses, the lack of music in the horror moments also makes them even all the more scary.
 * 7) Regan's possesed look is genuinely creepy which is how a villain in a horror movie should look
 * 8) The film has been known to scare people more than any other horror movie. Literally, when the film was released in 1973, scores of people formed long lines outside theaters to see it. It made them scream, cry, throw up, pass out causing ambulances to go to theaters, and even had a lot of people walk out midway through because of how scary it was.
 * 9) It started the horror film sub-genre about demonic possessions and exorcisms.
 * 10) The film has become a cultural phenomenon, parodied and referenced by many different films.
 * 11) The film is a provocation about the nature of good and evil.
 * 12) The film's quiet and suspenseful moments keeps you on edge.
 * 13) Special effects that still hold up to this day and this was when CGI was FAR in the future.

The Only Bad Quality

 * 1) For some people, if they already know what Regan looks like when she's possessed, all shock value will be gone.

Reception
On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film has an approval rating of 84% based on 76 reviews, with a rating average of 8.07/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "The Exorcist rides its supernatural theme to magical effect, with remarkable special effects and an eerie atmosphere, resulting in one of the scariest films of all time." On Metacritic, the film has an average weighted score of 81 out of 100, based on 21 critics, indicating "universal acclaim".

Trivia

 * This film has four sequels such as Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Exorcist III: Legion (1990), Exorcist: The Beginning (2004) and Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2005)
 * In Regan's possessed state, she was infamously used as a screamer in the viral flash game, the .