Horror | Auteur Theory

Directed by: William Friedkin

Cast: Linda Blair [Regan MacNeil], Ellen Burstyn [Chris MacNeil], Jason Miller [Damien Karras]

When Regan starts acting odd her worried mother seeks medical help, only to hit a dead end with the expertise. A local priest, however, thinks the girl may be seized by an evil entity. The priest makes a request to perform an exorcism on the girl and the church sends an expert to help with the task, though it does not go how they would hope for it to be.

Based on: ‘The Exorcist’ by William Peter Blatty

Inspired by: The real exorcism of Roland Doe

My rating: 7.5/10

The-Exorcist-1973-800x450

Narrative aspects

‘The Exorcist’ explores the real-life exorcism of Rolan Doe, a horrific event that this film contains many detail parallels to. This film contains different storylines and follows the characters from different parts

Northern Iraq – Father Merrin, a priest and archaeologist, is unearthing ancient objects that are believed to hold some evil powers.
Georgetown, D.C – Chris MacNeil, actress, is working on a new script she has received for a film. She is seen spending time with her daughter Regan and investigating the sounds coming from the attic.
Georgetown – Father Karras walks out from Georgetown University where the film is being shot and heads towards visiting his ill mother.

These characters are seen in different settings and completing different tasks that seem to not relate in any way. It makes an audience wonder what their significance is to the film and its plot until Regan MacNeil gets possessed by an evil entity and all the varying storylines start to piece together and connect with one another. This assures the audience that nothing in the film is shown or said for no reason, everything serves a purpose and every character plays a part in the broader story leading towards helping Regan get better. The different strands of storylines help keep the film engaging as it does not overly focus on one or two characters or a particular scene alone. It involves an audience to figure out the mystery element in the film while characters on screen do so as well.

To add on, the film contains the main themes of family and religion prominently which both complement the story and add the rationale and emotion that helps drive the story forward:

Family – This film explores the concept of family through the relationship between characters, especially Chris and her daughter Regan where she goes to great extents to help her and make sure the young girl goes back to being her normal self after the possession. It is the innate maternal affection and protection that is seen in Chris and would probably resonate with mothers in the audience that would do anything to keep their children safe. The interaction between characters also gives a sense of familial ties even though they may not be biologically related, like with Chris and Father Karras who ends up helping her with the demonic exorcism of her daughter. These kinds of relationships help enhance the emotions created by the story and allow the audience to feel sympathy, happiness or despair for these fictional characters
Religion – A major theme in this film is the relation of the plot towards religion, which is a factor that triumphed over all the other methods of making Regan better. Throughout the film there are multiple schools of thought or explanations to help Regan out that her mother exhausts, starting from science and biology by visiting a medical doctor, then psychology by visiting a psychiatrist for therapy then finally settling on faith, religion and the act of exorcism carried out by priests from the Catholic church. In the end, the spiritual belief system ended up doing the most good and in conclusion supports religion as an ideology that should be considered in situations, which nowadays is mostly seen as a coping mechanism or myth in a time where science rules the way in which we lead out lives for explanations.

Infer & Deduce: According to www.cambridge.com, an ‘Exorcist’ is “someone who forces an evil spirit to leave a person or place by using prayers or magic”. Clearly, this would refer to the priests who, in the end, make the most difference to young Regan’s possessive state. For the film’s title, it could refer to both the act and the person as a final resort that turns out to work the best than any other researched areas of expertise. To add on, the film’s title directly refers to the novel it is based on so the choice of name could be to make the relation between film and book easier.

Technical Aspects

‘The Exorcist’ is probably the most famous horror film in history, and will likely remain to be in the future. Other than the story and the trials faced by characters, for the film’s time of creation in the 1970s the techniques used to make it are quite phenomenal. It contains a variety of elaborate set designs with a large group of extras, like the setting of Northern Iraq in the beginning scene, and the movie shoot sequence with Chris Macneil. This allows the scenes to look more realistic as well as it provides further context for the characters’ personality and actions, and the plot. Further on in the appearance category, this film without doubt heavily depends on special effects like editing and makeup to convey certain emotions or plot points in the story. Special effects like the appearance of the demon’s face in the shadows when Regan’s mother opens the door to her room are used to subliminally imply fear and dread, while the obvious use of special effects makeup is used on Regan while she is possessed for her flaky and bumpy skin, cuts on her cheeks and the contact lenses to change her eyes to a bright yellow colour.

In terms of the more visually technical aspects in the film, interesting camera movements and angles are used for certain shots to capture a certain mood. While camera pans and tilts track the characters’ movements across the scene to keep the audience on their feet and let them view the entire set as a whole affecting the plot, low and high angled shots allow the perspective of different characters to be seen by the audience. Another interesting technique this film uses is zooming in and out. While this keeps a shot ever-moving and avoids the scene from distracting the audience from the lack of movement, it also narrows down the attention and field of vision as the camera focuses on a particular person or object in the shot. To add on, it gives the scenes a feeling as if the audience is secretly eavesdropping and watching the characters converse, completing the mystery and eeriness of the film. On the other hand, the technique of lighting also aids the story’s perception by the audience. The film plays with illumination and shadows, especially in scenes that take place at night as it enhances the element of mystery and the unknown that triggers the feeling of fear and anxiety in the audience that is much needed in a film of the horror genre. A lot of realistic lighting sources are used in scenes light lamps or candles that the audience can see in the film. This compliments the realism of the film, which makes the story and the emotions depicted by characters more convincing.

Another interesting point of play by the director is the use of sound in the film, which is a significant tool for the horror genre to portray added control over the emotions of the audience. The score in the film is very limited, mainly appearing for the title sequence and at some heightened moments of tension. Though, however, the lack of music complimenting the film is even more intriguing. There is a sense of naturalism and a realistic vibe that immerses an audience into the film and gives it a sense of non-fiction since in real life, there is no such thing as a background score. Furthermore, characters are seen playing music too, like in the scene where Chris MacNeil holds a party at her house with the member of the movie she is acting in. A man plays the piano and everyone standing around him sings along, associating music with an activity of leisure and entertainment. It compensates for the lack of soundtrack in the film and adds the music element in a more realistic way, through characters providing it. Other than music, the sounds of cars driving, people chattering and the wind blowing all are part of the soundscape in the film and create a naturalistic ambience and a greater depth to the scenes.

Favourite Scene

As Damien enters the possessed girl’s bedroom after calming his nerves, he finds Father Merrin on his knees with his head on the bed, dead. Bursting with anger, Damien charges for the Regan and attacks her, finally asking the demon to “take him” instead of her. He gets possessed and then sacrifices his life for the girl by jumping out of the window and presumably ending the demon.

This scene acts as the finale and climax of the film, giving the audience a sense of closure that the plot has come to an end and has been resolved. The ambiguous ending can be interpreted from various angles since a clear indication is not given to the audience, other than Damien sacrificing himself then jumping out of the window and dying. It allows an audience to remain entertained and involved in the film much after the film is over and the credits start rolling. My take on the end is that:

Damien had been reminded of his dead mother by the demon as it had imitated her and caused him to step out of the room, letting Father Mirren continue on his own
Damien allows the demon to possess him mainly because that it would help save the young girl but moreover, he would feel guilty for causing Father Mirren to die as he wasn’t in the room, as well as, feeling emotional about the loss of his mother.
Damien jumped out of the window to perhaps have a chance at killing the demon (even though demons can’t be killed and can transfer themselves into another vessel) and also since being a priest, having been possessed by a demon is as low as reputation can get. To add on, since the expertise of Father Mirren in exorcism did not work on the girl who is to say that there would be any luck with Damien, which ultimately probably led to him committing suicide.

Moreover, special effects on characters like makeup add another layer of realism and convince an audience that whatever is happening in this fictional film (in this case based on a true story) is an actuality for the characters but also could be an actuality for the audience themselves. Makeup also helps an audience clearly understand the horror of the demonic possession by the way the girl looks and how different it is to normal human beings, as well as the bruises and cuts on a character’s face, display the pain they would be going through. To add on, the effects created with camera angles and movement also enhance the atmosphere created for the audience to be impacted from. Low and high angle shots give a particular perspective and sometimes portray what the viewing field of the characters are while tracking the movement of a character in the room in this scene impacts the pace and tension as Damien starts to panic and fight with the possessed girl Regan.

What would I do differently?

The film has aged surprisingly well for one from the horror genre, though of course, visual effects have grown to be better with time due to the progression of technology. I would personally work on furthering the realistic outlook of the demonic-possession and not depend on make-up alone for the look and perhaps use the motion-capture technology or some degree of CGI for it. This would allow a modern day audience to enjoy the film much better since it would be up to the visual standards of the current film industry and production. Moreover, I found the opening scene quite interesting since it explained a hint of backstory history for the artefact that could have caused the demon possession to take place, however, this plot point isn’t explained explicitly in the film. Some symbols do appear in the scene that are shown once again later on, as the demon statue, though the direct link between everything is not given to the audience clearly.