Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #2575 in DVD
• Released on: 1999-10-25
• Rating: Suitable for 18 years and over
• Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: PAL, Widescreen
• Subtitled in: Arabic, Bulgarian, English, Romanian
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 117 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
Director William Friedkin was a hot ticket in Hollywood after the success of The French Connection, and he turned heads (in more ways than one) when he decided to make The Exorcist as his follow-up film. Adapted by William Peter Blatty from his controversial best-seller, this shocking 1973 thriller set an intense and often-copied milestone for screen terror with its unflinching depiction of a young girl (Linda Blair) who is possessed by an evil spirit. Jason Miller and Max von Sydow are perfectly cast as the priests who risk their sanity and their lives to administer the rites of demonic exorcism, and Ellen Burstyn plays Blair's mother, who can only stand by in horror as her daughter's body is wracked by satanic disfiguration. One of the most frightening films ever made, The Exorcist was mysteriously plagued by troubles during production, and the years have not diminished its capacity to disturb even the most stoical viewers. --Jeff Shannon

Video Description
DVD Special Features

Interactive Menus
Scene Access
The Fear Of God Documentary
8 Trailers (Nobody Expected It, Beyond Comprehension, Flash Image, Exorcist 2:The Heretic, Fallen, Interview With A Vampire, Beetlejuice, Devil's Advocate)
6 TV Spots (Beyond Comprehension, You Too Caan See The Exorcist, Between Science and Superstition, The Movie You've Been Waiting For, Nobody Expected It, Life Had Been Good)
Interviews (The Original Cut, Stairway To Heaven, The Final Reckoning)
The Original Ending
Separate commentaries by Friedkin and Blatty, sketches and storyboards
Language in Dolby Digital 5.1: English
Subtitles: English/Arabic/Romanian/Bulgarian/English for the hearing impaired

Synopsis
With THE EXORCIST, William Friedkin (THE FRENCH CONNECTION, THE BOYS IN THE BAND) rivals Hitchcock for heart-stopping terror in this deeply horrifying
masterpiece that led to religious boycotts, fainting and nauseous audiences, and a commercial success that forever changed Hollywood. Linda Blair plays Regan, a 12-year-old girl possessed by the devil. After exhausting all the options of science, psychology, and medicine, Regan's mother (Ellen Burstyn) realizes the supernatural nature of her daughter's condition and resorts to a religious solution, turning to Father Karras (Jason Miller) for an exorcism. Aided by the mysterious Jesuit exorcist Father Merrin (Max von Sydow), Karras must confront not only supernatural phenomena but also his own inadequate faith and displaced guilt over his mother's recent death, a personal torment Regan uses to manipulate him, but with disturbing results.
Like THE GODFATHER before it and JAWS soon after, THE EXORCIST enjoyed
tremendous commercial and critical success that directly transformed Hollywood into the blockbuster behemoth of American culture.

Customer Reviews

STILL THE BEST
Just watched this again on TNT and a thought struck me. It's 35 years since this film was made, and despite all the talented writers, directors, actors and FX experts out there, nobody has even come close to bettering this movie. Question is, with all those resources out there, WHY??

Not for the faint hearted. Not for the weak minded.
35 years on and this film still has the power to shock. Often panned by critics, this story of good vs. evil is gripping from beginning to end, if one can bare to persist with the graphic depictions of vomit, bile, urine, and the foul language and hardcore blasphemy coming from the mouth of a 12 year old girl complete with vulgar acts performed with a crucifix! These depictions are far from subtle and the viewing experience can hardly be described as comfortable.

The main character, a priest (Jason Miller) is faced with a huge test of faith, one that he admits that he may be loosing partway through the film. Of course, the most important thing to note is that good triumphs over evil, although unfortunately at the sacrifice of our main character. Max von Sydow (the exorcist), performs his role to the level of perfection that can be seen in all his performances. The young Linda Blair is dynamic and does not always receive the credit she deserves due to the fact that it is not always her that we see playing Regan. However, when she is on-screen, she skilfully convinces us that this is not a girl who is simply mentally disturbed, but a girl truly possessed by an evil force.

Not a pleasant film and despised by many, but it has to be said that this Oscar-winner was one of the most important landmarks in cinema history.

DONT BUY THIS VERSION
Ive always been a big fan of this movie,and couldn't wait to see the directors cut. Unfortunatly ive come to find this version irritating because of the silly optical effects of demons included which look like something you see on a ghost train, and not the least bit scary. They even mess up the famous spiderwalk sequence, in the original she comes down the stairs, tounge flicking and chases after the nanny, which is creepier than what they do instead, which is her stopping on the stairs with a blood red mouth and going AHH!(Probably filmed recently) So Why is her mouth red? She's not Dracula. Oh and the extra scenes are boring and slow the film down. Perhaps ive seen this film too many times but if youve seen the original you might agree with me.