The Exorcist - Re-release 2000
This classic horror flick from 1972 was remastered into surround sound, and previously cut scenes were restored. Despite being a bit dated in appearance, this masterpiece still managed to deliver chills and screams in key scenes. A lot of the restored footage was "character development," lending the film a rather slow pace, but ultimately this allowed a longer development for suspense, so that when something actually did occur, the audience was well primed. A few of the restored scenes contained serious chills, so all in all, the remastered version is better than the original and the subsequent video releases based on that version. (If you have only seen it on TV, you have not seen the movie.)
The movie contains some subtle, almost subliminal imagery, that you have to be quick to recognize. Reflections and shadows often contain disturbing images that enforce the growing sense of horror and suspense. Unlike many of today's horror films, some of the most frightening things happen without any kind of musical warning.
An interesting sociological observation: dialog and scenes that would have shocked audiences in 1972 elicited laughter from a rather jaded year-2000 audience of teens and twenty-somethings, inadvertently turning the movie into something of a horror-comedy. There were still enough genuine screams and goosebumps to keep it from turning into a farce. But even though the movie doesn't have quite the same impact it had in 1972, it is well worth seeing... again.
