The Exorcist poster
The Exorcist

What’s Aged the Best?

Title and presentation; poster arrival; theme music; attic suspense; makeup; ascent imagery; dirty language; sound design; Jason Miller casting

In the discussion (6)
Approx. transcript time · 00:41:45Read transcript
  • The title, lettering, poster and carefully lit arrival of the exorcist are praised, including the delayed entrance of the title character.
  • The theme music and classic attic investigation remain effective sources of tension.
  • The aging makeup on the forty-four-year-old actor playing the exorcist and the detailed wounds on the possessed child are praised.
  • Repeated stairs and ascents are read as heaven-and-hell motifs; the demon’s dirty language also provides humor.
  • Loud ambient dogs, invasive medical-machine sounds and a wallet used for neck-cracking sound are praised.
  • Casting playwright Jason Miller over famous actors is praised as perfect and less distracting.