The Exorcist proves to be a massively compelling and thrilling horror film that is famous for transcending the genre. This story revolves around an exorcism, one that changes the lives of those that conduct the ritual and those directly in the exorcism. The movie revolves around Regan, a young girl that slowly begins to act very strangely. Regan starts to levitate occasionally, speak in different voices and different languages, and this causes plenty of panic and fear amongst those around her, especially with Regan's mother. Regan's mother, Chris, is extremely panciked and worried, and the entire situation makes her feel incredibly nervous. This is like nothing she has ever dealt with before, and when Regan's mother takes her daughter to plenty of different doctors and medical specialists, no answer can be found to explain what's going on. This makes Chris only more paranoid about the situation, and as time goes on, whatever is going on with Regan seems to become further and further away from improving. In fact, Chris then tries to fix this issue in an unlikely source. Through the help and information of a local priest, Chris and Regan begin to question if this is even a health problem at all, or if it's something more religious and sinister. Explaining how Regan might actually be possessed, which would explain why she sometimes speaks in a different voice, and sometimes shouts in Latin, the priest unravels a threatening rationale behind the actions by suggesting that the devil may have possessed Regan. Realizing that there may be no other choice but to try to free the young girl from the devil's hands, the priest convinces Chris and Regan to try to perform a potentially dangerous ritual to finally free Regan and allow her to be a normal child once again. The priest attempts to perform an exorcism, a deadly and sacred ritual that is used to banish demons from human hosts, and in doing so, the priest gains the assistance of an exorcism expert to help as well. Together the priest and expert try their very best to free Regan from forces beyond her wildest imagination, but in doing so, they begin to interact with something that might be far more dangerous than what they could have ever expected. 
 The Exorcist is a notable work of classic horror cinema, and this is all because of its ability to completely reinvent the genre as a whole. Exuberant and detailed in its capacity to demonstrate true unnerving horror, the movie is completely determined to showcase plenty of fear-producing scenes that were made famous when the movie was first released. Horrifying enough to genuinely put chills down the backs of some of even the most fearless of viewers, this story of an exorcism is clever enough to produce a riveting and well-written movie that combines together mystery and intense horror to form the framework that all modern horror films are based off of. There would be no possessing of characters by demons without this film, and the concept of involving religion and horror became a staple through this adventure. This core idea is made a focal point of the film, constantly begging questions about the true nature of good and evil, the implementation of morals and ethics, and what an abomination can look like in its crudest form. In fact, the movie was so gruesome during its time period that many actually fainted in theaters after seeing it. While some of the movie's largest scares may slightly feel outdated from a modern perspective, especially due to how much visuals and special effects have improved, there's no denying the film's talent and skill to completely change how society views pop-up scares.  

 The Exorcist is a true classic that not only revolutionized the horror genre as a whole, but it is so triumphant of a film and story that it is deserving of being considered a classic film in general, regardless of genre or type. Acting as essentially the original horror movie, there are plenty of spine-chilling moments filled throughout the plot. Considering that the movie came out over forty years ago, the fact that it has stood against the test of time to remain one of the most cohesive and consistently-acclaimed horror films is nothing short of a testament of its greatness. Rotten Tomatoes gave the movie an impressive 84%, and it's easy to see why the movie received so much hype back in the day. This might not be for everyone, due to its commitment to being viciously and deliberately horrifying, but it's still considered by many to be a must-see.