It really is the high priest of horror. In the face of all others I'd nominate as modern shockers ('Psycho', 'Halloween', 'Alien' and 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' come to mind); 'The Exorcist' has the most devious and wonderfully over-the-edge methods of thrilling you that the other three, which rely primarily on outside devices (music, imagery or technical tactics) simply do not hold in spades.

     The new sequences are somewhat interesting. Regan's first visit to the doctor (which feels
premature in this completed film) has a few great moments, namely when the doctor explains to Regan's mom quite precisely what expletives Regan uttered to him. There's a vision of Damien's mother, dressed in white and seated where the demon resides on the bed (its a hallucination); a contrasting moment that also interrupts the film's natural momentum. The rest of the "new" consist of some visual additions - most of which look like black light posters strategically placed to stand for something - couldn't tell you what. The real deal, and the image that will stay with you as you walk to your car upon concluding your time in scare-ville, is the backwards spider walk that Regan adopts, spilling blood from her mouth as she reaches the base of the stairs. Independent from the images released in the recent video re-issue/documentary 'The Exorcist : Special Edition', which boasted some - not all - of the images seen in the film; this is an biting and genuine image of fright and almost worth the necessity to add all of this hocus pokus, particularly the "new" ending, which I'm willing to forgive as perhaps the point that pushed over the edge a need to re-release the film. (Let's face it. I don't get the jokes in the cop is making about goofy actors playing in upstanding Hollywood remakes.)

     The sound, of course, is what's really worth another viewing. Seeing it in the theater was almost
an entirely different kind of exhilaration than watching it at home - even amped up on surround sound,
digitized by the marvel of DVD. Something about audience reaction tends to be slighted by how loud and how clear we can hear the demon, the background noise and especially those subtle scenes that take place in Iraq. Everything kind of follows from these scenes - which my audience certainly wasn't prepared for as the opening twenty minutes are methodical and exacting without being particularly stimulating - and the necessity of our belief that, say, Father Merrin believes in and has the gumption to stand up to and face the devil (or demon, as its eventually elaborated to reveal) rests on these scenes. They're mood enhancers even if you don't know that many of them contain biblical references. Which I don't.

     Finally, I was amazed at the contempt young viewers had this film. A masterpiece of tinkering and method directing (Friedkin was in the habit of slapping his performers, firing a gun around the set to ensure tension and allowing stunts to play out - sometimes dangerously - at the actors' expense), 'The Exorcist' is also one of the most popular horror films ever released. I have heard a ton of people I'd known, disgusted at how goofy it all felt to they - a generation spoon-fed on the antics of cheap schlock and mediocre production values. As a personal opinion giver, I was absolutely taken with how effortlessly the film grabs the viewer and forces them onto a thrill ride of sorts. I also think it has become such a grave disaster for filmgoers to admit their fear at the mercy of any film - God forbid - and are in the habit of talking up how little the film effected their sleep that night. Christ, 'Apocalypse Now' scared the bejeezus out of me. True cinephiles love the idea that movies might move us into absolute fright.

     There's a great moment when Father Damien Karras is listening to a recording of the demon speaking backwards English. He is alone, with only one source of light and he has that intense, compulsive look on his face. And the phone rings. Loud.

    And the irony of that moment, when the audience jumped, tensed and jumped again, is a testament to how little control you have when watching a film this mechanically sound and sharply visceral. They'll deny it on the way out - but 'The Exorcist' is scary. And relentless.