This is a staple of classic horror, and yet, this is the first time I’ve seen it. I saw a small bit of it on TV once, but it never called to me.
During my senior year of high school, I took a brief film class. It was terrible, and the teacher wasn’t especially knowledgeable. But she did say that she thought this movie was completely terrifying. It seems that the effectiveness of it depends on how religious you are.
I don’t think that’s entirely true. I found myself wondering how effective some of these scenes would be if I hadn’t seen them parodied before. There is an unpredictable element to the movie, in that the demon’s behavior is designed to put others ill at ease. That erratic behavior was kind of interesting.
The biggest surprise is how slowly the movie is put together. The introduction is very nice. Good location, there’s a great atmosphere to it, but then once it moves into the main plot, it feels like so much time is spent padding things out. The exorcism only starts during the last act, and it seems surprisingly short. Of course, we don’t know how long the entire procedure would take.
That brings me to the ending. I honestly didn’t see it coming. I like it. It was quick, a bit brutal, and it tied the story up neatly.
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