Faith

The Exorcist could quite possibly be the best example of religious-based horror. There seems to be a conflict between religion and science in this film that gets resolved in the final scenes. Not only non-believers, but also those in practice of it question faith throughout the film.

The main character, Chris MacNeil is not a religious woman. But when her daughter Regan becomes “sick,” and medicine cannot cure her, Chris is forced to turn to religion.

In her struggle to find a cure for her daughter, Chris finds Father Karras. Father Karras is experiencing a debate about his own faith when Chris comes to him. He is constantly struggling between religion and science. The noticeable conflict would be that he is not only a priest, but he also is trained in psychology. Though his practice is in priesthood, he relies heavily on medicine over faith. He feels at a loss when someone comes to him with problems that have to do with religion. In the scene involving Father Karras during mass, it shows his strain and doubt of faith when he labors through the words of the consecration.

In the Exorcism sequences of the film, Father Karras’ doubts about his faith are wiped away when he confronts the demon in Regan. He leaps on the devil-possessed Regan and then leaps through the window before the demon could fully possess him. This ritualistic sacrifice comments on the relationship that exists between exorcism and the Mass. Father Karras commits suicide, a moral sin that means automatic excommunication and external damnation in the Catholic Church.

By the conclusion of the film, Father Karras has absolved his sins before his selfless sacrifice, so he dies faithful, guiltless, and redeemed. His sacrifice and successful exorcism has instilled in Chris a sense of faith, which shows the simultaneous reestablishment of faith in both man and God.

The overall message of this film: If we have faith in nothing else except man, then there is no possibility of salvation. If faith in man is gone, the only thing left to save us is the belief in something higher.