Horror films are designed to do one simple task—scare the audience.
The Exorcist scared the hell out of people when it was released in 1973. Based on William Peter Blatty’s novel of the same name, The Exorcist left audience members sick with terror, with some fainting once they escaped the theater.
Most fans of the horror genre believe that The Exorcist is one of the greatest horror movies ever made. The nightmare brought to life by director William Friedkin and screenwriter William Peter Blatty is a visually graphic, supernatural trip disguised as a family drama, ranking next to Hellraiser in its gruesome depictions of desire, hope, and complex relationships.
But if you were to ask film critic Pauline Kael what she thought about the movie, she would say that it is “the biggest recruiting poster the Catholic Church has had since the sunnier days of Going My Way and The Bells of St. Mary’s.”
Author: Alyssa Miller
This article comes from No Film School and can be read on the original site.
