The Exorcist (1973): My Favorite Easter Movie

With Easter now upon us, it got me thinking of something I did around this time last year – the day before Easter, I decided to watch one of my favorite movies, The Exorcist, just like any other day and completely unaware of the holiday coming up. It wasn’t until after the fact that I realized the irony of my actions, but after some thinking, it made me want to start a new tradition of watching it every Easter, much like how I watch Gremlins (1984) every Christmas, because it’s just the perfect movie for the holiday.

While I love chocolate and bunnies as much as the next guy, I was always taught as a Catholic that Easter was about the resurrection of Jesus and the triumph over death and evil. There are obviously a lot of religious themes and iconography due to the subject matter of the plot, but at its core, The Exorcist is a classic story of the battle between good and evil. In the spirit of Easter and revival, there is a happy ending of sorts (spoiler alert, but at the same time, it’s been 49 years, so if you haven’t seen this masterpiece of a movie yet, then that’s on you) that shows that faith prevails over the malevolent. Aside from the actual exorcism of Regan MacNeil (played by Linda Blair), I find myself most invested in the character of Father Damien Karras (played by Jason Miller). Seeing a priest in the midst of losing his faith is very interesting, and it’s even more captivating to see that faith renewed in the second half of the film when he sees what’s going on with Regan and attempts to find a solution. His character personifies a central aspect of the film’s message as a whole, which is the power of belief during times of adversity.

Ever since its release on December 26th, 1973 (which by the way, can we just talk about how much of a power move it was to release a movie like this in theaters the day after Christmas? I love that), The Exorcist has been hailed as ‘the scariest movie ever made,’ which is a fitting title given to a deserving contender, but what’s great about the movie is that it scares people from all walks of life. This film doesn’t care what your religious beliefs are, if you’ve ever been to Church, if you’ve ever touched a Bible, or if you’ve even heard of Jesus Christ – it will scare you into believing. The more it unravels, the more shocking it gets, and it doesn’t let up until the very end. There are so many layers to the film too, between Regan’s affliction, her mother’s (played by Ellen Burstyn) reaction to the circumstances, Father Karras losing his faith and dealing with the loss of his mother, the declining age of Father Lankester Merrin (played by Max von Sydow), it’s hard for one to not feel some sense of hopelessness as the film unfolds. It’s not until the conclusion that the audience can finally see the light, which has contributed to the lasting legacy of the film and helped it hold up almost half a century later in terms of terror.

Aside from the spectacular and groundbreaking special makeup effects, thanks to the genius of makeup artist Dick Smith, what makes The Exorcist so scary is how real it feels. There are moments you almost forget you’re watching a narrative film, and it instead feels more like having real-life moments played out in front of you. This is, of course, due in part to the stellar and convincing performances given by the entire cast, but I always felt like a big reason this effect of authenticity is achieved is because of the lack of music throughout the film. Don’t get me wrong, the main theme of Mike Oldfield’s ‘Tubular Bells’ is one that’ll be stuck in your head in some capacity for years after you first hear it, but other than that, the music score is so limited and sparingly used that you almost don’t even notice it. It’s used as more of a transitional element between scenes than an emphatic one during certain events. For example, during the exorcism scenes, most movies would probably have some kind of music in the background during intense moments like those to try to amplify the energy of the situation. Here, however, it’s perfect without any music. If anything, I think adding music would’ve diminished the eeriness of those scenes and they wouldn’t have been as effective in scaring people. It’s terrifying without music because it makes everything feel more real, like the dialogue being spoken goes beyond simply being words written in a script and the lacerations on Regan’s face and body are more than just cotton and latex.

There is, however, an alternate theme by musician Lalo Schifrin that’ll send chills down your spine without question but ultimately went unused in the final film, and while it definitely is petrifying, it’s also hard to imagine what parts of the film this score would appear in because the movie does such a good job being able to function and deliver scares to its audience without the reliance on spooky music and/or loud noises. That type of self-sufficiency speaks volumes to me, and I can’t imagine how watered down the film’s most frightening points would’ve felt had there been a score added to them.

As a fan, I can’t exaggerate how much I love The Exorcist. As I previously mentioned, there are several layers to it and I love exploring every one of them, but there is also a sense of comfort that I get from watching it. I know that sounds weird, given how scary and gruesome it can be, but the movie’s been a part of my life for a long time now. I remember when I was first getting into the horror genre as a pre-teen and learning about different films at a very young (maybe even too young, for some movies anyway) age, with this being one of those examples. I was immediately interested in it after hearing about its reputation as ‘the scariest movie ever made,’ but I was too young at the time for my parents to let me watch it. So, what did I do? I did some research – I read everything I could about the movie, from the plot synopsis on IMDB to reviews in horror compilation books, anything I could get my hands on to learn as much as I can about what makes it so scary. It got to the point where I could talk to anybody about the movie as if I’d actually seen it, because I just knew that much about it.

Once my parents felt I was mature enough to finally see it, even though I knew everything about the movie by that point, I was blown away by what I saw. I understood why it scared so many people, especially at the time it was first released, but I couldn’t get enough of what I was seeing. I found myself extremely invested in the characters, fascinated by the special effects (especially the gradual progression of Regan’s face becoming more and more mangled as the possession took its course), enthralled by the story, and I just fully embraced being a fan of the movie because of how amazed I was by it. Now, I own multiple copies of the movie, posters on my walls, books on my shelves, and after recently finding out that they actually make replicas of that statue that’s in the beginning of the movie, I’m trying to get one of those for the shelf too. No, I’m not ashamed.

Even past my fanboy self, it’s impossible to deny the impact The Exorcist has had on pop culture as a whole. One thing I love to do is watch videos from when the movie was first released in 1973, to see the audiences’ expectations while waiting in line to see it as well as their reactions while leaving the theater. It’s one thing to hear about how people reacted to something when it first came out, but it’s completely different to see it with your own eyes, and I’m glad there are videos out there that give us the benefit of going back in time to see how people really reacted to something like this. The film is still relevant even today, with people continuing to make references to spinning heads and vomiting pea soup, and it’s still the standard point of comparison when talking about how scary new horror movies are. It’s also been the subject of inspiration for metal songs, a TV show for two seasons in 2016-2017, and now there’s even a new trilogy of sequel films on the way from Universal Studios/Blumhouse, with the first one being released October 13, 2023. Say what you want about the new movies coming out, but you best believe I’m excited for them and I only hope they turn out better than the absolutely atrocious attempt at a sequel that came in the form of 1977’s Exorcist II: The Heretic. We shall see in about a year and a half (give or take a couple days, but who’s counting?).

To sum things up, The Exorcist continues to be an important piece of both horror history and film history, with imitations and continuations still popping up today, and it just might be the best movie to watch during a holiday like Easter. Give it a watch and let me know what you think.

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