FilmRDemonic & Possession Supernatural Psychological

The Exorcist1973

Name: The Exorcist
Genre: Demonic & Possession, Supernatural, Psychological, Gothic
Released: 1973-12-26
Rating: 8.1

“Something almost beyond comprehension is happening to a girl on this street, in this house…And a man has been sent for as a last resort. This man is The Exorcist.”

Directed by William Friedkin

8.1

Crypt Score

Blended from 4 sources

IMDb 8.1Rotten Tomatoes 78%Metacritic 83TMDB 7.7

✍ Review

On the charts

#3·Top Demonic & Possession Films #3·Top Horror Movies of the 1970s #4·Top Supernatural Films #5·Top Gothic Films #9·Top Psychological Films #13·Top Horror Movies of All Time

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Year

1973

Runtime

122 min

Box Office

Budget

$12,000,000

Revenue (worldwide)

$441,306,145

Domestic

$233,005,644

🏆 Won 2 Oscars. 18 wins & 21 nominations total

The premise

When a mysterious entity possesses a young girl, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.

Horror Vault's take

A Washington D.C. mother watches in mounting horror as her twelve-year-old daughter undergoes a terrifying and inexplicable transformation — one that defies every medical explanation doctors can offer. Desperate and out of options, she turns to the Catholic Church, setting the stage for a collision between faith, science, and something ancient and malevolent. William Friedkin's landmark film builds its dread methodically, grounding the supernatural in raw human emotion before unleashing sequences that remain genuinely shocking decades later. Few horror films have so effectively weaponized the vulnerability of a parent's love against the audience.

Content: Graphic Depictions Of Demonic Possession, Disturbing Content Involving A Child, Religious Blasphemy And Sacrilege, Graphic Violence, Intense And Prolonged Sequences Of Body Horror, Jump Scares, Psychological Distress