‘Rosemary’s Baby’ is a fine chiller, but I always find Farrow’s characterisation histrionic where Burstyn communicates real and palpable desperation. Polanski’s direction is clever and you’re absolutely right, Joe, in describing the dream sequences as “tiny art films in their own right”. And I think that tinges ‘Rosemary’s Baby’. It comes across as very much an art form, very much imbued with a European aesthetic. Ordinarily this would have me championing a movie to the hilt, however when I watch ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ I can never shake the knowledge that I’m watching a movie. The blunt documentary sense of realism that Friedkin brings to bear makes ‘The Exorcist’ all the more frightening. And if the dream sequences in Polanski’s film are beautifully designed, let’s not forget how brilliantly, how disturbingly Friedkin’s dream sequence works, how chillingly it resonates on a psychological level.

Moreover, ‘The Exorcist’ represents a staggering improvement on its source material. Blatty’s novel, while thought-provoking, lurches into aesthetic absurdity with its purple prose, screaming capital letters and explosions of exclamation marks.

My vote goes for Merrin and co.

Patricia: Thank you so much for that compliment. As always, you summarize things succinctly, in language I can understand. The Exorcist is a freak show and I’m a little surprised feminists aren’t as upset by it today as they were in the early ’70s.

Chuck: Thanks for this erudite observation: “that blunt, broad ugliness that is frequently off-putting in Friedkin’s work “. Hmm, now I know why I don’t like his movies. Friedkin seems more like an art film documentarian who briefly entertained the notion of making prestige, mass appeal movies. The end results — Sorcerer, Cruising, To Live and Die In L.A., Bug — hit neither mark for me.

Amanda: I feel a Roman Polanski love fest coming on. Polanski was an actor first and foremost and seems to genuinely love actors, if not people in general. This may have gotten him into a legal brew in California later on, but has a positive effect in his films. Friedkin I just don’t feel gives a shit about actors or people in general. Brilliant effects and camerawork. Emotional resonance, not so much. Thanks for commenting!

Ray: I can also remember movies being “held over” and later, being re-issued. I think the last major “re-issue” was Return of the Jedi in 1986. These days, going to see a movie in a theater is just not the same. Exhibitors have really let things go to pot.

Rosemary’s Baby is undoubtedly a better film, artistically and dramatically.

One thing that’s gone for good: both of these pictures played in first run to packed houses for months. The Exorcist was a summer movie but it was still playing in first-run theatres by Thanksgiving. I miss pre-home video movie exhibition.

Though I’ve watched The Exorcist several times, I always end up forgetting multiple importmant elements as time passes between each viewing. However, I’ve only seen Rosemary’s Baby once and it truly stuck with me. Of course, I myself was trying to get pregnant at the time, so for obvious personal reasons, it completely freaked me out.