October 3, 2000 -- "The Exorcist" is a very unusual horror film. For one thing, it is well-written and well-directed. That puts it in the top 1 percent of all horror films right away. In addition, it is understated and thoughtful and it has believable characters. It also uses a minimum of the standard horror film stock shock clichés.

This movie is about demonic possession and it gets right in your face with that concept, an evil spirit possessing an innocent child. The horrible corruption of the demon, its brutality and viciousness are still shocking, even though movies are much more violent now than they were in 1973, when this film first came out.

Linda Blair plays the 12-year-old Regan MacNeil. She begins to show changes in behavior and doctors begin to perform a series of tests on her, thinking she has a brain lesion. The series of tests are about as awful as anything else that happens to her. The tests are gruesome. Her mother, Chris, (played by Ellen Burstyn) tries doctors and psychiatrists. They have no answers. Finally, she turns to a priest and asks for an exorcism.

The priest, Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller), is a man tormented by demons of another kind. He is depressed over the recent death of his mother and feels he has lost his faith. He seems to be a symbol for the secularization of society. In stark contrast to that, and in one of the most haunting images in movie history, the exorcist appears, silhouetted against fog and light, in front of Regan's house. The exorcist is Father Merrin (veteran actor Max von Sydow). Where Father Karras is confused by doubt, Father Merrin sees clearly, not with his considerable intellect, but with his faith.

Tall, gaunt and fearless, Father Merrin is like a knight from the ancient past, come to do battle against evil armed only with books, a crucifix, holy water and faith. Merrin's faith is juxstaposed against Karras', paralysis. Father Merrin remains calm. He's seen it all before. He does his job.

In a way, "The Exorcist" is about this glaring contrast between Merrin and Karras. The ancient priest from another time, versus the modern, secular priest. Merrin's religious faith seems like a quaint anachronism in a Godless time, the butt of jokes by those who think faith is the sign of a weak mind. Karras looks like he ought blend in with society, but he's miserable. Chris MacNeil, an actress, and the Hollywood types around her, are definitely not religious people. Merrin sticks out in this group like an Amish minister on a space shuttle.

The past has a way of coming back to haunt us, according to the movie. An ancient amulet unearthed in northern Iraq, "evil against evil" observes Father Merrin. A scuffle breaks out at a dinner party between a Jew and a German, old Holocaust scores to settle. The past refuses to go away. Modern medicine and modern psychiatry are powerless to stop the ancient evil because they can't comprehend it or even acknowledge its existence. That would imply the existence of the supernatural. Doctors aren't ready to make that kind of a leap of faith.

We're left to wonder, at the end of the movie, just where did that spirit go? The movie doesn't really tell us anything. Was it a demon, or the devil himself? Did it pass on to another body? Where did it come from? An ancient artifact? The movie doesn't say, it just suggests things, like the sexuality of the pubescent Regan. We are left, like detective Kinderman (played by veteran actor Lee J. Cobb) to wonder what the truth really is. Does he wind up having a lunch date with the devil? The movie makes sure we don't rush off thoughtlessly. It gives us plenty to consider.

By today's standards, this film is very slow-moving. It is deliberate and thoughtful in the way the story is set up. Apprehension grows as Regan's symptoms grow worse. Veteran director Friedken ("The French Connection") is a master at building suspense. Makeup artist Dick Smith's creations are disturbingly effective. The special effects by Marcel Vercoutere, including the now-famous spinning head, are also very disturbing. The music, especially the Tubular Bells theme is among the most unforgettable in film. I noticed a little overacting by Burstyn, Lee J. Cobb was really solid, as was Von Sydow and Miller. This film rates a B+.

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