Linda Blair in "The Exorcist."

MOVIE INFORMATION

With 10 as a must-see, Jack gives this film a: Stars: Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair Director: William Friedkin Rated: R, with rough language, sex references and violence Length: 132 minutes

ROCHESTERCRITIQUE

Having seen this film, how would you rate it? 10 5 9 4 8 3 7 2 6 1

By Jack Garner
Democrat and Chronicle

(October 13, 2000) -- The Exorcist, William Friedkin's classic film of demonic possession, scared the hell out of a lot of viewers when it first hit theaters in 1973. It also scared up an eventual worldwide box office of more than $310 million.

Now a revised edition is in theaters, introducing a new generation to its deep-seated terrors, adding 11 minutes to the saga and adding more cash to its coffers.

Upon the film's initial release, the demonic impact was so strong that the Rev. Billy Graham said he believed that Satan himself was imbedded in the frames of the film.

How literally you should take that belief is up to you, but Graham may have been onto something, figuratively speaking: This portrait of good and evil possesses a deep-seated reality, mostly because we get to know the characters, and we care about them.

That makes our suspension of disbelief more possible -- and more powerful. (Here's a movie rule of thumb: It's not important what you believe, only that you believe the characters in the film believe it.)

Indeed, we spend so much time learning about the lives, desires and fears of the characters, we're 90 minutes into The Exorcist before the concept of exorcism is even raised.

By then, we know Regan (Linda Blair) as a smart, sweet-natured 12-year-old, troubled with ever-increasing mood swings and a bed that goes bump in the night. And we know her mother, Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) as a respected actress who's frustrated when doctor after doctor can't discover what ails her daughter.

We also know the priests who'll eventually go toe-to-toe with the devil. There's the Rev. Damian Karras (Jason Miller), a skeptical psychiatrist who's torn with doubts about his faith and guilt about his elderly, infirm mother.

And there's the master exorcist, the Rev. Merrin (Max von Sydow), whose faith is unshakable but whose elderly body threatens to betray him.

Once the characters have been established by William Peter Blatty's Oscar-winning script and Friedkin's expert direction, the stage is set for an epic battle over the soul of a 12-year-old girl.

The result is a story of surprising intelligence and spiritual power, undiminished over 27 years.

It extends well beyond the memory of Regan's revolving head or the epic spurts of pea-soup vomit.

Though many satanic pretenders have followed Friedkin's film to the screen over the nearly three decades since, The Exorcist remains the standard.

The additional 11 minutes of footage is material writer Blatty missed most when Friedkin made his 1973 edit.

Additional early scenes show Regan being examined by doctors, as well as a fabled and frightening special effects moment when the possessed Regan scurries down a flight of steps, inverted, like a spider.

More important is an extended ending, in which the Rev. Dyer (the Rev. William J. O'Malley) and the policeman (Lee J. Cobb) have a friendly talk about going to the movies and lunch. It's an appealing epilogue, a moment of calm after the storm, suggesting a return to normality.

The film won an Oscar for its original sound -- no doubt for the amazing range of animal grunts, dog growls, gutteral voices and multitrack ramblings we hear from the possessed.

But you've never heard Satan speak as frighteningly as you do now on a retooled soundtrack. It's an apt example of how the devil is in the details. Rev. Graham, take notice.