I had a lot of trouble trying to come up with a best horror movie list. The best I could do was just randomly list my favourites, although it feels like I’ve missed some — actually I’m sure of it. My other problem was coming up with a movie to end this year’s 31 Days of Horror on.
I was originally going to end with The Exorcist. It’s one of my favourites, it’s still terrifying and it’s universally considered one of the best horror movies of all time.
But… I thought of another movie so I moved The Exorcist to today.
Actress Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) is living on location in Georgetown while shooting her latest movie. Her young daughter Regan (Linda Blair) has been playing with a Ouija board contacting someone called Captain Howdy. Soon, strange things begin happening. Regan starts acting weird. Things get worse.
Unable to find a medical reason for Regan’s behaviour, Chris turns to Father Damien Karras who believes Regan is possessed and needs an exorcism. Karras gets approval for the ritual, but only to assist Father Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow).
This movie is a brilliant and terrifying. It sadly started a craze of exorcism movies that is still going on today but nothing compares to the original. Like many movies in this year’s series, I’ve written about The Exorcist before. Here’s my original post from 2012.
