In which the Mister joins me in reviewing THE EXORCIST (1973), which is currently streaming on Netflix. Written for the screen, from his novel of the same name, WilliamPeter Blatty’s story is one of faith and sacrifice. Exquisitely directed by WilliamFriedkin, this film was the first horror movie to be nominated at the Oscars and won awards in the Adapted Screenplay and Sound categories. The story is based on real life events and in the novel we follow Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), an actress who finds herself in Georgetown working on a film. She is there with her daughter, Regan (a stunning performance by Linda Blair), who is suddenly afflicted by what doctors initially believe to be somephysiological disorder but nothing comes from the medical tests. Completely baffled, the doctors suggest Chris get an exorcism, the rational being that the afflicted person believes they’ve had the demonic presence removed from them and this enables their healing. We come to find out that there’s more to this story and Chris enlists Father Karras (Jason Miller) and Father Merrin (Max von Sydow) to expel the evil that resides in Regan and hopefully heal her daughter.The film has a run time of 2 h 2 m and is rated R. Please note there are SPOILERS in this review.

This review is dedicated to my BFF, Leo Randazzo, on his special day – love you brother!

Opening intro music: GOAT by Wayne Jones, courtesy of YouTube Audio Library.