{"id":69445,"date":"2023-12-17T00:21:33","date_gmt":"2023-12-17T00:21:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/rapidcelnews.com\/?p=69445"},"modified":"2023-12-17T00:21:33","modified_gmt":"2023-12-17T00:21:33","slug":"the-exorcist-pure-evil-or-the-greatest-horror-film-ever-made","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rapidcelnews.com\/tv-movies\/the-exorcist-pure-evil-or-the-greatest-horror-film-ever-made\/","title":{"rendered":"The Exorcist: \u2018Pure evil\u2019 or the greatest horror film ever made?"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\u201cOn December 26, a movie called The Exorcist opened in theatres across the country…and since then all Hell has broken loose.\u201d<\/p>\n

That opening sentence from a Newsweek article 50 years ago was written barely two weeks after the film\u2019s opening night in America on Boxing Day 1973. It captured the mass hysteria sweeping audiences across the country.<\/p>\n

Many viewers fainted, several were carried out on stretchers and a woman in New York reportedly miscarried a baby during a showing.<\/p>\n

So many people fled auditoriums to be sick the manager of Toronto\u2019s University Theatre said: \u201cWe have a plumber practically living here now\u201d to unblock bathroom sinks.<\/p>\n

Some fans were in such a frenzy fights broke out in cinema queues.<\/p>\n

The genre-shattering horror film was directed by William Friedkin \u2013 who had won an Oscar two years earlier for his crime thriller masterpiece The French Connection.<\/p>\n

In Britain, the hysteria surrounding The Exorcist \u2013 about the demonic possession of a schoolgirl \u2013 arrived weeks before the film itself.<\/p>\n

Both local councils and priests called for it to be banned.<\/p>\n

Conservative campaigner Mary Whitehouse joined the chorus of condemnation, claiming there was a \u201creal danger\u201d the movie could cause lasting psychological damage \u2013 and even \u201copen the door\u201d to genuine cases of possession.<\/p>\n

I was one of the first to see a special preview screening as a cub reporter on a local paper.<\/p>\n

I took with me a white witch, an Irish Catholic priest and a member of the Bahai Faith.<\/p>\n

For 122 relentless white-knuckle minutes we watched as 14-year-old actress Linda Blair was transformed into an ever-more hideous creature.<\/p>\n

With yellow eyes and open facial sores, she spewed foul-mouthed obscenities at the two priests trying to save her soul.<\/p>\n

Blair\u2019s tormented character Regan MacNeil spewed projectile green vomit, rotated her head 360 degrees in a display of demonic power and contorted her body to \u201cspider walk\u201d backwards downstairs.<\/p>\n

Long before computer-generated imagery had arrived in Hollywood, we also watched a chilling levitation scene and a sickening sex act involving Regan and a crucifix.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Even today, US film critic Nicholas Joel Ilano says: \u201cThe movie\u2019s special effects and captivating performances still make it a horror classic.\u201d<\/p>\n

He explains: \u201cThe image of a demonic presence taking control of an innocent child\u2019s body leaves an indelible mark on viewers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe gradual deterioration of her innocence is profoundly disturbing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an unnerving portrayal of the depths of evil.\u201d<\/p>\n

Outside the cinema after our special screening, the Irish priest, looking visibly shaken, blurted out: \u201cThis is pure evil and pure ******* **** \u2013 and you can quote me on that.\u201d<\/p>\n

His reaction may have been echoed by numerous critics worldwide.<\/p>\n

But the controversy that raged over The Exorcist merely served to swell the queues outside cinemas.<\/p>\n