Director: William Friedken
Rating: 10 out of 10
Let me first ask this before I begin: if you were going to war with any one actor based on his or her film resume of asskickery, who would you take? Some popular answers might be Schwarzenegger, Sly Stallone, John Wayne, Charles Bronson, Clint Eastwood. All of them perfectly capable men, without a doubt. But my answer would be Max Von Sydow, an actor whom I'm sure most people wouldn't normally recognize, especially not as a bad-ass. But let me just lay this out there: he's the only actor in film history, that I can think of, to dance with both the Grim Reaper and the Devil on screen. I'll also point out that he doesn't exactly have a winning record against these fiends, but I'll take that kind of bravery any day.
Ok, now to the flick. Well, it's another demon child story (I watched The Omen prior to this) but instead of the child being innately evil, as was the child Damien, this little girl is being subdued and controlled by an evil demon, or the Devil (it's a little unclear). Most people know the story, even if they haven't seen the flick, or at least they've seen one of the innumerable parodies. It's even been tagged "the scariest movie of all time" by numerous publications, plus it says so on the DVD case, so it has to be true, right? The DVD case wouldn't lie!!!
Happily, in this instance, the case could be made for such a claim, even though it's such a subjective medium. The story is pitch-perfect, the acting is sensational, the mood is creepy when it should be, and that Goddamn kid is beyond terrifying. That little girl just knocked that role out of the park. The make-up is realistic and brilliant, the voice is otherwordly, and when "help me" rises out of her stomach....let me tell you, the "help me" fingerprints scene in Se7en has nothing on The Exorcist. The music is minimal, but most people would recognize "Tubular Bells" as the main theme song, and it's effectively creepy. The funny thing is, during the climax, the music is almost nonexistant. Most times, especially during the climax, a moment of heavy emotional scope coincides with blaring music to bring the ocassion to it's utmost boiling point. But in this film, you've invested so much in the characters and the story that the moment alone serves at the emotional apex, even without the music. I think that's a testament to William Friedkin's direction, he crafted a film that doesn't need any outside tricks to coerce the audience into a reaction, he did it with the strength of the images presented. Damn fine work here.
Next up.......
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