The Director's Cut: Starring Linda Blair, Jason Miller, Ellen Burstyn, Max Von Sydow and Lee J. Cobb. Rated R.

"Ohmugod!!! How can you watch that? It's terrible."

"Have you seen the original?"

"Oh no, I couldn't bear it."

Well how do you know you couldn't bear it if you never saw it? Really, some people.

The Exorcist was pretty scary in its day, but to be honest, by today's standards it's pretty tame. In fact, its heavier in the shock/blasphemy categories than the scare factor. No wonder the church kicked up a stink when it first appeared. And surely, much of the success of this movie must be attributable to the tonnes of free publicity dished out thanks to the church. Funny though, I didn't hear much out of them with the advent of the re-release.

I saw the original way back when and went along for the re-release just for old times sake. It was worth the effort if only for the nostalgia, but, accustomed as I am to going against the grain of popular critical opinion, I must stick my neck out again and say that the re-release is of little value in the modern cinematic age save for those people like me who want to have a second look on the big screen. The extra footage (at least that which I recognised as new) was certainly worth the effort of inclusion, but at the end of the day, The Exorcist doesn't really stack up any more.

Linda Blair did a reasonable job as Regan MacNeil, the 12-year-old with the swivel head, the projectile vomit and the deep-voiced linguistic skills. But how could she have remained psychologically unaffected by the brutality of the role she played at such a sensitive age (and who am I to say she didn't?).

Jason Miller's performance as Fr Carras, the cleric wrestling with too much self doubt to be an effective exorcist, was less remarkable.

I did, on the other hand, like Max Von Sydow for his sheer screen presence and for the power of his quietly lethargic demeanour. Equally so for Lee J. Cobb.

See it if you dare -- it's not as scary as you fear - but bring plenty of coins for the swear box.