CaptainHowdy.com The #1 Exorcist Fansite Since 1999
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Another elementI liked about that particular scene was that the first time I saw it,(I hadt read the book yet) when Kinderman walks in the room and Regan is in the corner crying, I wasnt 100% sure it wasnt a trick. Ellen Burstyn’s hesitant, questioning initial entry into the room beautifully mirrored my own fear-is this REALLY over?
Im with Etrigan69- everytime I read the book or watch the film, I seem to notice some new layer. Another thing that fascinates me abou the film is what a “perfect storm” (for lack of a better term) it is…the film that exsists today could never be made at any other time…it has a tone that speaks of the time it was filmed…a dread that a lot of the films of the 70s seem to have. That coupled with the perfect director, perfect cast, perfect writing…
Welcome!
I could be wrong about this- but I think that the demon being refered to as Pazuzu was thanks in large part to the horrible sequel. In reading the book and watching the film-I always felt that Merrin knew that he had encountered the Demon based on other signs- not an identifying name or anything. Plus theres he part in the book when he walks into the room and Regan says “this time your going to lose”
hey Ryan-i just checked my BFI modern classics…I have the second edition and the revised second edition. Did a third edition come out or are you refering to the revised 2nd edition?
God, I couldnt agree more. It annoys me because based on previous issues, I felt fully confident in recomending this issue.
I was wondering today…anyone googled Linda Hager to see if she has a myspace page or something? We coud get our answer straight from the horse’s (bloody) mouth!
I too have enjoyed this debate immensly…I could totally get behind the theory of that close up being shot present day…it was the whole CGI blood debate that I disagree with. Still though…it looks to me like the same style night gown and same pictures hanging on the wall, at the same levels. That coupled with the staircase behind her make for a pretty expensive insert shot if it was new.
Less encouraging was the reaction of the evangelist Billy Graham, who saw The Exorcist as somehow aligned with the forces of darkness, and took to enthusiastically denouncing it in public. “Billy Graham said something like, ‘There is a power of evil in that film, in the fabric of the film itself,'”recalls Blatty with a genuine sense of bemusement. “Now I don’t know what he was talking about. I mean, I have great respect for Billy Graham, but I thought that was one of the most foolish statements I have ever heard. I would have attributed it to senility except he was only 39 or 40 at the time. But to this day I still have no idea what he meant by that. I mean, obviously there is a power in the film to move you, to have a disturbing effect upon the viewer which is greater than the sum of its parts. It’s mysterious, yes. But my God, it’s not evilÖ”
Yes I do- I kinda always liked the statement as a powerful part of the “legend” of the Exorcist…for someone as well known (and in some circles quite well respected), to say that gives the film that much more…i dont know…weight I guess.
It reminds me of what Billy Graham once said about the film- that there was ” an evil in the very celluloid itself” (Something like that-im paraphrasing) I dont believe there is evil in th film- but a lot of elements came together at the same time to create that piece of art- not just the cast and crew-but even the time period in which it was filmed.
This discussion got me thinking about my introduction to The Exorcist and why it has the impact on me that it does.
First and foremost, Im Catholic, so nuff said.
As a child I can still remember how scary I thought the commercial for the movie was. I guess they were playing it on whatever movie channel we had, and although it never showed anything, I was disturbed by that one scene where Chris runs up to the room-the camera freezes on her face and you here Regan’s possesed voice.
I asked my mom about the film andfound out that her and my father went to the theater to see it and it had the effect on her that you always read about…it deeply scared her and she absolutely wanted nothing to do with ever seeing it again. A funny side note: this answered a question for me…when I was younger still, when I would have a nightmare, I would wake up and call for my mom, because I was to scared to get out of bed. I would lay there and call out “Mommy…mommy” and she would not come, she would always call to me to come to her room. Even as a child I thought it was odd that I had to come to her. Years later, I realized that she had just seen the Exorcist and there was no way she could bring herself to walk down a dark hallway to a kids room. It makes me chuckle now.
My mothers experience and what she would tell me about how the film was too terrifying to take began making the film into a sort of boogie man for me. I remember when it would be on TV I would flip the channel real quick to it, just for a second, to see if I could take it. Usually there was nothing happeing of consequence…except one time when I flipped to the scene where Karras meets Regan tied to the bed for the first time. I didnt leave it on long enough to even completely register what I was seeing…but it was long enough to feel like I had seen something a kid shouldnt be seeing.
Ah, to be able to be that frightened my a movie again…anyway it was years before I officially sat down and watched it-aware the whole time that this film was “the boogie man”
