The Exorcist (1973)

The Exorcist is a 1973 American horror film and an adaptation of the novel by William Peter Blatty of the same name. The Exorcist is considered a cult classic, ranked as the scariest movie of all time. It won 2 Academy Awards and was nominated for 10 of them, and inspired two sequels and two alternate prequels.

Plot
At an archeological dig at the ancient city of Hatra in the Upper Mesopotamia region of Iraq, veteran Catholic priest and experienced exorcist Father Lankester Merrin finds a stone amulet resembling the statue of the Assyrian demon Pazuzu, whom Merrin dealt with before.

Meanwhile in Georgetown, young Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) plays with a Ouija board found in their basement. After she suddenly started showing signs of psychotic behavior, Regan's mother, Mrs. MacNeil, takes her to several doctors to have many tests, some proving painful. After showing no signs of mental disturbances in the brain the doctors recommended having an exorcism performed. At this point the demon realized their plan and turned up its level of violence.

Father Merrin, and an assistant priest named Father Karras came and tried to deal with the demon, now in complete control of the girl. The exorcism turns into a completely terrifying failure for both priests, who struggle against the many powers of the evil spirit. The Demon psychologically tortures both priests and it actually causes Karras to back out of the exorcism. Merrin attempts to exorcise the Demon by himself, but he dies from a heart attack due to the demon´s power. When Karras returns, he attempts to revive the priest, but when he fails to revive him, the possessed girl just giggles. This enrages Karras, who then hits the Demon many times in the face and challenges it to enter his own body. Pazuzu takes the bait and takes near full control of the priest and attempts to kill Regan, but Karras gains control again and remains in control enough to leap from the window and down a flight of stairs, mortally wounding himself and driving Pazuzu out of his body and back to Hell. Whilst the dying priest is accompanied with his friend giving him his last rites, a local police chief, who doesn't believe in Demon possession, begins revealing his theory of the situation and that Regan is a murderer. None seems to agree with him.

With the demon banished, Regan and her family move from the house and try to forget about their awful past. Regan, however, shows gratitude for the church´s effort in saving her by giving the priest´s friend a goodbye kiss, when he appears to say goodbye to them all. After that he looks at the scene a last time and moves away, too.

Cast

 * Ellen Burstyn as Chris MacNeil
 * Linda Blair as Regan MacNeil
 * Jason Miller as Father/Dr. Damien Karras, S.J.
 * Max von Sydow as Father Lankester Merrin
 * Lee J. Cobb as Lieutenant William F. Kinderman
 * Kitty Winn as Sharon Spencer
 * Jack MacGowran as Burke Dennings
 * Father William O'Malley as Father Joseph Dyer
 * Pazuzu