The Exorcist rated R for disturbing images and strong language

I watched this movie with a group of friends when we were all teenagers.  I was glad that I watched it with them and with the lights on.

This movie is basically two movies in one with two intersecting stories.  At the beginning we meet the "tie that binds" the two stories in the form of Father Merrin (played by Max von Sydow) who is taking part in an archaeological dig somewhere in Northern Africa possibly the Middle East.  He comes across an artifact  that obviously makes him uneasy.

Off we go to Washington D.C. where an actress named Chris MacNeil (played by Ellen Burstyn) who is filming a movie.  She has brought her young daughter Regan (played by Linda Blair) along as well as the servants in her household.  While they are staying there Chris starts to observe strange behavior in her daughter.  After Chris takes Regan to the doctor for treatment, Regan's behavior rapidly becomes frightening rather than just strange.  When the doctors are unable to successfully treat Regan's condition, Chris turns to the church for help.

While Chris and Regan are going through their ordeal, another priest named Father Karras (played by Jason Miller) is dealing with the loss of his mother and the fact that he didn't make time to visit her before she died.  As a result, his faith is shaken.  It is at this time that Chris gets in touch with him.  After witnessing Regan's suffering, Father Karras reaches out to Father Merrin as Father Merrin is an official Church sanctioned exorcist.

And so Father Merrin and Father Karras struggle to free Regan from the possession of the demon.  While the exorcism is going on Father Karras struggles with his lack of faith.

In my opinion, this movie is simultaneously very scary and very boring.  I didn't finish the book because I got bored with the sequences involving Father Karras and him dealing with his mother's death and diminished faith.  The book didn't do a very good job of keeping me the reader orientated with what was going on.  The movie was kind of choppy to me going back and forth between Regan, Father Karras, and, to a smaller extent, Father Merrin.

The acting was great.  The special effects were great.  The story was good.  I can see why this movie is considered to be one of the scariest pictures of all time.  Worth watching if you are curious but I would recommend not watching alone.