The Exorcist (extended cut with 4K restoration) returns to cinemas with a 50th-anniversary rerelease from Fathom Events, hosted by TCM's John Mankiewicz.
The movie, based on William Peter Blatty's moralistic novel (and scripted, no less, by the author), spewed shockwaves upon its day-after-Christmas, 1973 advent, leading it to become a revered blockbuster.
The Exorcist's cast is eponymous with the terror tale: Linda Blair, Jason Miller, Max Von Sydow, Ellen Burstyn, Lee J. Cobb ... Mercedes Cambridge. Its foreboding, theme music, Mike Oldfield's "Tubular Bells," remains one the most recognized pieces in movie history. Indeed, from every vantage and from start to end, The Exorcist is the epitome of a thought-provoking, pop-cultural breakthrough.
Thanks to Blatty's allegorical angle, The Exorcist also plays like a religious rendition of Rocky, with underdog Father Damien Karras tapping his fractured faith to liberate the abused Regan MacNeil from the figurative, supernatural pedophile, Pazuzu. Director William Friedkin stirs the suspense, using pensive, slow-burn shuffles that engage one from the earliest, mysterious frames, only later to pepper one's soul with pugnacious, round-after-round, good-vs-evil jabs.
The Exorcist revival acts as a memorial to the late, great Friedkin, who passed away this August. Many consider The Exorcist his greatest achievement. To re-experience his jarring jewel seems a respectable gesture, as it repossesses theaters Oct 1 and 4.
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