The 100 best horror films - the exorcist

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Number 1: The Exorcist

By Derek Adams, Dave Calhoun, Cath Clarke, Sarah Cohen, Nigel Floyd and Tom Huddleston, with the generous support of everyone at FrightFest and Cine-Excess. Explore the individual top tens of every contributor.

| 100-91 | 90-81 | 80-71 | 70-61 | 60-51 | 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 | | No 10 | No 9 | No 8 | No 7 | No 6 | No 5 | No 4 | No 3 | No 2 | No 1 |

The Exorcist (1973)

Dir William Friedkin (Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Jason Miller, Max von Sydow)

Forty years of sucking cocks in hell

By the ’70s, horror had divided into two camps: on one hand, there were the ‘real life’ terrors of ‘Psycho’ and ‘Night of the Living Dead’, films that brought horror into the realm of the everyday, making it all the more shocking. On the other, there were the more outrageous dream-horrors popular in Europe, the work of Hammer Studios in the UK and Mario Bava and Dario Argento in Italy, films that prized artistry, oddity and explicit gore over narrative logic. The first film to attempt to bring the two together was ‘Rosemary’s Baby’, but Polanski’s heart clearly belonged to the surreal. The first to achieve that blend with absolute certainty was ‘The Exorcist’ – which perhaps explains its position as the unassailable winner of this poll.

In cutting from the clanging bazaars of Iraq to the quiet streets of Georgetown, in blending dizzying dream sequences with starkly believable human drama, Friedkin created a horror movie like no other – both brutal and beautiful, artful and exploitative, exploring wacked-out religious concepts with the clinical precision of an agnostic scientist. And make no mistake: whatever its creator may say, ‘The Exorcist’ is most definitely a horror film: though it may be filled with rigorously examined ideas and wonderfully observed character moments, its primary concern is with shocking, scaring and, yes, horrifying its audience out of their wits – does mainstream cinema contain a more upsetting image than the crucifix scene? That it still succeeds, almost four decades later, is testament to Friedkin’s remarkable vision. TH

Read our interview with William Friedkin, director of 'The Exorcist'

Buy this film on DVD Rent this film from Lovefilm

What the experts said

‘Still the best exorcism movie ever made. It's still hard to believe that a mainstream Hollywood film could get away with depicting the deeply sexual and disturbing possession of a barely pubescent girl in such graphic detail.’
Bruce LaBruce
‘They captured something shooting this film that just wasn't right.’
Eduardo Sanchez
‘The Catholic religion has always been a source of inspiration for horror and this is one the finest examples... It’s a fascinating and powerful horror one cannot escape from.’
Coffin Joe
‘I have fond memories of seeing it on the day of its release, with priests walking the queue handing out flyers with details of ‘after care’ for those disturbed by the film...’
Billy Chainsaw

Watch a film inspired by 'The Exorcist'

Check out the hilarious Turkish film ‘Seytan’, a low-budget shot-for-shot remake of Friedkin’s masterpiece

| 100-91 | 90-81 | 80-71 | 70-61 | 60-51 | 50-41 | 40-31 | 30-21 | 20-11 | | No 10 | No 9 | No 8 | No 7 | No 6 | No 5 | No 4 | No 3 | No 2 | No 1 |

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Comments & ratings

(0 ratings)

great list exorcist deserves top place for the scariest movie ever and i will stand by that till the day i die, no opther movie can scare me like that one especially with the faces that popped up randomely

phillip Tue Mar 5
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Nah man. Overrated by a mile. The Shining, Wicker Man, Halloween are all better horrors by far. The Omen, with a similar religious overtone is a superior movie. Do your poll again, this ones clearly a horror all of it's own.

Bury Bob Thu Feb 28
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No wicker man?

trigg Tue Feb 26
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maa chudalo apni

ashish Thu Feb 21
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No scream? friday the 13th? come on man

jack s Thu Dec 27 2012
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fabulous

amy and jenna Fri Dec 14 2012
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Okay, I'm not bashing the Exorcist in anyway. The Exorcist is a great film, but there is one film that is no longer a "lost" film that should be recognized as a horror film that is not getting the recognition it deserves. L'Inferno (Dante's Inferno) 1911. I was blown away by the imagery and effects in this film. It's so simple and so effective. I have watched this film three times already and no film in any era can match the sheer awesome magnitude of what this film has achieved. Dante's Inferno is my personal template of how I measure every horror film I watch and it also appears to be the first feature length movie ever made, and any movie that is the first of something deserves big points.

Justin Tue Nov 6 2012
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I saw the movie in 1973 (I was a college student), and felt the film was somewhat cliche and boring, with no suspense at all, and the fine makeup job on Linda Blair was cute, but not scary. I later saw a TV documentary of the original story: a boy who lived in St. Louis in 1949 and was possessed. This program was much more interesting than the movie adaptation. Definitely not a #1 choice.

Hal Wed Oct 31 2012
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Really on this entire list, and how lame of a list it was, there is no Friday the 13th? How come exorcist is #1? It was not scary, the acting was suckish, and the script was way off. Was this based off of other horror lists, or was this your own opinion. I will give you credit for one thing and that's that this is the only list so far that I've seen that doesn't have zombieland in the top 100 list. Thank God for that.

BJ Fri Oct 26 2012
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The mere fact that The Descent is several places above the Wicker Man basically voids this chart. How can we possibly take you seriously?

MiJoDo Fri Oct 26 2012
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The 100 best horror films - the exorcist

The Exorcist (1973)

What the experts said

Watch a film inspired by 'The Exorcist'

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