[NOTE: This review is based on the “Version You’ve Never Seen Before” DVD.]

I can see why The Exorcist is held in such high esteem. The film has some terrifying visuals, assisted by wonderful acting, great cinematography, creepy makeup work and some beautifully used special effects. There is so much of this movie that could make an audience’s skin crawl.

Too bad I had to go through the first act to get to it.

This film is proof that the ’70s were some bad years in film editing. My aggravation with this film’s pacing started at the very beginning, when the film goes into a lengthy prologue with Father Merrin at an archaeological dig in North Iraq. This segment takes ten freaking minutes to set up what should only have taken two. Five, tops. This first act is loaded with such overlong and redundant scenes that the Ouija board — the catalyst of the whole damn story — doesn’t come until 20 minutes in. Young Regan MacNeil doesn’t show any signs of possession until well past the half-hour mark. If that’s not a sign of godawful pacing, I don’t know what is.

Things do pick up a bit with the second act, but even that comes with some caveats. For example, the second act begins with Regan undergoing a sizable medical checkup. The problem is that up until that point, there hasn’t been anything to warrant such extreme preventive behavior. She claimed her bed was shaking, but that’s it. Why the hell was she getting blood work done for that one isolated incident?

There are a lot of creepy moments in the second act, in which all the various and unpredictable psychotic episodes wonderfully build on each other. Unfortunately, even these are set back by lousy editing. Consider this famous scene, for example. In literally the very next scene, we see Regan’s mom on a bridge, bruised up, talking with Father Karras. What happened in between? How did Chris MacNeil subdue her daughter long enough to strap her onto the bed and get away safely? Seriously, I really would like to have seen that. I’m sure it would have been fascinating to watch.

Also in the second act, we get a homicide detective who’s investigating a very grisly murder. It’s heavily implied that Regan committed the murder, though the crime is described entirely through dialogue and none of it is ever shown onscreen. The real problem, however, is that this murder investigation ultimately has zero relevance to the overall story. The detective takes up a huge amount of screen time while contributing fuck-all to the plot.

Then comes the third act, when Father Merrin finally enters the story in a meaningful way. He’s an awesome character and Max von Sydow makes the role iconic. However, he’s been completely absent from the movie up to this point — aside from the overlong prologue — which really weakens the character. It’s a stupid problem that could easily have been solved if the lead exorcist had instead been one of the many priest colleagues that Karras had gone to during his crisis of faith.

Then there’s that horrid denouement. The ending that goes on way longer than it needs to and is pointlessly extended by that worthless detective. Gah.

Still, I need to say that this movie isn’t all bad. In particular, I think it’s fascinating how the movie showed Regan being subjected to medical and scientific treatments that were every bit as grotesque and ineffectual as the religious means of doctoring. Science can’t find anything wrong with Regan and the preachers don’t seem to know exactly what they’re dealing with or how to fight it in a way that’s guaranteed to work safely. Both schools of thought are trying to diagnose and cure something that neither can fully understand.

There’s also a lot of interesting subtext here about the relationship between mind and body. All our scientific advancements can prove that disorders of the brain can affect the body, but we still don’t know exactly how. This is sadly just as true now as it was in 1973, though there’s been a lot of progress made over the decades. Such progress is why exorcism has fallen out of favor — according to Karras — since most “possessions” can be easily explained and treated as psychosomatic illness. The whole film in general and the character of Father Karras in particular is about the contrast between science and religion, both working in their own different ways to enlighten and protect humanity against that which we don’t completely understand.

As great as Jason Miller is in the role of Damien Karras, it’s Ellen Burstyn in the role of Chris MacNeil who carries most of this movie. Chris really is our protagonist, as she dictates where the movie goes by deciding which methods of treatment to pursue for her daughter. As such, Chris is onscreen for the vast majority of the film and given her predicament, she’s usually crying and/or screaming. Fortunately, Burstyn somehow makes this bearable. There’s a clear strength to Chris beneath the understandable panic and terror, which keeps her relatable and sympathetic throughout.

But of course, everyone comes to this movie to see Linda Blair. I cannot possibly imagine the stress and trauma that this role would have forced onto a 14-year-old girl, but Blair carried it all like a pro. Regan is adorably sweet in the first act and that did a lot to make her sympathetic. Moreover, Blair has an uncommon screen presence that always keeps her descent into possession amazing to watch. Her performance, coupled with the wonderful special effects and the dubbed voice of Mercedes McCambridge, made for one of the most memorable screen monsters in cinema history.

Another iconic part of the movie is undoubtedly its theme. Pity, then, that the theme is so woefully misused in the movie itself. We first hear it when Chris is walking down the street, as unimpeded and unthreatened as can be. We don’t hear it again until the end credits. To be fair, the film’s scarier segments were presented without score and I found that approach to be much more tense. Still, it pains me to see such a beautiful piece of music put to such waste.

To me, The Exorcist is kind of like an intricate and expensive model car put together by someone who didn’t read the instructions. All the parts for a great movie are there, but they’re broken, misused and put together improperly. However, it’s important to remember that this film came out before such landmark horror pictures as Jaws, The Omen and Nightmare on Elm Street. Clearly, the modern horror film hadn’t yet been perfected when The Exorcist was released, yet there’s little doubt that the film played a significant part in the genre’s evolution.