Exorcist, The (1973)

I agree with everything in Pauline Kael's negative review: "slugging, coercive style", "piles up points like a demonstration", "there's nothing the actors can do with the juiceless stock roles", "if the audience ever started giggling at the sounds and tricks, the picture might collapse, because it's entirely mechanical and impersonal".

But: Friedkin is also right about the film's documentary quality, that this very processional style somehow helps gives the narrative the weight of truth. Scenes such as Regan (Linda Blair) with the crucifix still seem shockingly transgressive almost 50 years later; reeling from that surprise, more risible twists (e.g. rotating heads) are easier to accept. I'm inclined to think that these transgressions are the only reason that the film works at all, and so tend to agree with criticisms that the director's cut is strictly worse, with added scenes (like Regan's backwards crab-walk) at best unnecessary.