4The Exorcist (1973)
The Exorcist is one of the all time best horror movies ever made, as relentlessly terrifying as it is a quiet meditation on the necessity of faith and kindness. Director William Friedkin might have made the strongest possible argument for Catholicism ever captured on film when he showed the world the demon Pazuzu, who possesses a little girl and makes her say horrible things no one should know, spitting profanities out like acid. Part of the horror comes from the sheer viciousness with which Linda Blair plays Pazuzu—it’s hard not to see the young girl as a genuine embodiment of evil.
While later exorcism films would dabble with the uncertainty of whether the victim is truly possessed or just insane, The Exorcist leaves no doubt that evil is alive and well in the world.
