CaptainHowdy.com The #1 Exorcist Fansite Since 1999
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Oh “goodness, gracious sakes alive!” I think they should sell Mary Jane at every movie theater. The sales at the concessions would skyrocket and we would all love ANY movie we were about to see. Legalize, legalize, legalize!
dsea, Rob Doe and Ronald Hunkeler are one in the same.
The supernaturally possessed portrayal of Anneliese Michel occurs in the American film, “The Possession of Emily Rose.” The best online “featurette” I could find is below. The movie version challenges the medical society against the religious society. The filmâs bottom line philosophizes the terms of Aristotleâs Virtue Ethics versus those set forth by God in the Bible.
Anneliese was indeed a victim on both counts – from both philosophies. If Anneliese was a paranoid schizophrenic deprived of her medications by the priest while under a physicianâs care at the same time, who is to blame for her demise? In this theory, the priest is wrong and the attending physician is wrong.
Theories, theories, theories. I would have to examine the case more in-depth, but I believe her âpossession,â or more instinctively, her mental ailments are all a part of the unloving, self-interested individuals who did not act rationally on either end of the scale.
Dying from malnutrition in the mid-1970âs is a disgrace regardless of Annelieseâs circumstance, either medically or religiously. To stipulate if a person has a mental condition or is legitimately possessed leaves the door wide open, in my opinion, for the obvious: medical intervention was a necessity and everyone turned a blind eye to Annelieseâs physical condition. She did not die from the demons within her; she died from the demons in the form of irrational human beings surrounding her.
Look here.
From the official The Exorcist 25th Anniversary website:
“Throughout the filming of THE EXORCIST, with all the visual challenges entailed, one issue had never been resolved â how to make Regan MacNeilâs voice sound as powerfully horrendous as Blattyâs screenplay demanded. Even before shooting began, sound recordist Chris Newman and audio expert Ken Nordine had attempted to find a way to distort Blairâs own naturally childish tones and twist them into something demonic and overpowering. The results were poor, producing merely an electronic growl with none of the threatening subtleties implied in both the novel and script.
As Friedkin now candidly admits; “When I started making THE EXORCIST, I had no idea how we were going to do the demon voice. Bill Blatty gives you a clue in the novel, saying that itâs something horrific, horrendous, shattering, booming, whatever…but how do you actually achieve what those adjectives suggest? When we were filming those scenes, Linda Blair did all the original dialogue, which Chris Newman recorded. Then we went back and forth with Ken Nordine doing some experimentation, both with Lindaâs voice, and with his own voice, fed through a computer, distorted and amplified. When I listened to the result I was extremely disappointed because it just sounded like a manâs voice dubbed onto the face of a child. I just couldnât figure out how to fix it, because I knew I wanted a voice that was neutral, neither male nor female, but with both male and female characteristics. Who the hell sounds like that? Who has ever sounded like that? In the end I just threw myself on the mercy of the movie god and the name Mercedes McCambridge came into my head.
“McCambridge was a great actress who had won an Academy Award⢠for her work in ALL THE KINGâS MEN but before that she had done a number of memorable radio programs for people like Orson Welles. It turned out she was in Dallas, Texas, doing WHOâS AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF on stage. I spoke to her on the phone, and to my joy she sounded exactly as she had sounded thirty years earlier on the radio. I told her about this project that I was working on, and she agreed to come and see it.”
“We flew her out to Los Angeles and she watched the picture and said; âOK, Iâll have a crack at it. In fact I think I can do most of it with my own voice.â So then we went into a sound-stage at Warner Bros. where she worked for maybe three weeks doing the demon voice. And she really went for it. She was chain-smoking; swallowing raw eggs; getting me to tie her to a chair; all these painful things just to produce the sound of that demon in torment. And as she did it the most curious things would happen in her throat. Double and triple sounds would emerge at once, wheezing sounds, very much akin to what you can imagine a person inhabited by various demons would sound like.”
“It was really something else. Sheâd just sit there in that chair looking at the screen and go âAaaaaaaarghhâ and you would hear these things multiplied in her throat; these strange counterpoint noises; little skittering whistles and strange creaking rattles. When she was done, we took the speech that she had dubbed to Linda Blairâs mouth, and occasionally we enhanced it, adding animal noises and sounds. But basically she performed it, under great duress. She knew exactly what was needed to go out and produce this effect, and I was stunned at what she put herself through, and what she allowed me to put her through in order to accomplish this. It was way beyond the call of duty, and if you were going to say that there was a single element that really made the film, then it could well be the sound quality that she achieved. It was pure inspiration.”
The involvement of Mercedes McCambridge on the soundtrack of THE EXORCIST later became a source of heated controversy when Warners failed to credit her on the first run prints of the movie. Exactly why McCambridgeâs name was initially omitted from the credits is unclear: Friedkin claims she specifically declined any on-screen acknowledgement, while McCambridge insists she fully expected it. Whatever the truth, her name appears on all but the first thirty-odd prints of THE EXORCIST, although not specifically as “The Voice of the Demon” as she would have preferred; instead her credit reads simply “And Mercedes McCambridge”.
howdy, you’re right about the speed of the film, way too fast! I’ll bet that Friedkin refused the scene once he saw it. Case in point, Friedkin rejected the Eileen Dietz vomit scene because the special effect looked too fake. Solution: Friedkin had an artisan paint the vomit in the scene flying from Blair’s mouth. We get to see only that split second of Dietz at the end with the special effects paraphernalia.
Friedkin claims the spider-walk was, “too early in the film,” but I think audiences would have laughed and he knew it. The scene is too gimmicky on film and didn’t quite fit what Friedkin wanted (speculation of course). Therefore, WB “fixed” the dilemma for TVYNS by adding the CGI blood to try to add more credence.
It didn’t work without the blood then and it doesn’t work with the CGI blood today, but it is cool to see something old that’s new again.
Yep. Mark Kermode was granted access to the “vaults of glory.” We’ve had small debates in other postings on here about where the rest of the cutting-room floor material is, but no one is absolutely certain of the where and who parts. Also, we just don’t know if WB held tight to every scene that was clipped, but the ones we do know of have been incredible to see. Here’s hoping WB will give fans all the trashed stuff for us fans to enjoy on the HD/Blu-Ray version (if that EVER comes out!).
howdy, I’m sure you’re right on the Blu-Ray … The Exorcist has so many versions now, that I hope they consider a, “The Exorcist: The Ultimate Version.”
As far as scenes go, I’d like to see Chris and Regan in the D.C. sightseeing for her [Regan’s] birthday. I think this would add more credibility that little Regan was a “normal” (whatever that may mean to you) 12-y-o. I know that WB forced Friedkin and Blatty to cut the film down to two hours, but that cost-benefit analysis decision shot a small hole in the concept of Regan’s persona.
Is the spider-walk scene CGI enhanced? Well, we have a three choices:
1. They filmed the scene twice … one with blood pouring from contortionist Linda R. Hager’s mouth; the other without blood. Extremely unlikely because you can see the way it was filmed for the original (below). In that particular interview on the 25th Anniversary edition regarding this scene, prior to the TVYNS’s release, Blatty nor Friedkin mention “the blood pouring from Regan’s mouth.” They only make reference to the contortionist’s actions in the 25th Anniversary Edition in the FoG.
2. WB hired another contortionist to re-film the scene with blood pouring from Regan’s mouth that looked just like Linda R. Hager did in 1973. Definitely unlikely because we know WB did not go back and build an exact replica stairway plus perform a look-alike contortionist casting call to perform this scene.
3. CGI is amazing technology and an expert (aren’t they all?) in this field can digitally replace the original actor’s closed mouth with one that is open … and pouring blood. Definitely likely because the TVYNS was CGI’d to death (and for no good reason … IMHO).
However, you can choose for yourself. Click the pic below and you’ll be sent to the high-resolution image. Also, it sometimes helps to see images from a different angles, so I added the Linda R. Hager closeup for comparison of facial structure so that no one is confused that Hager could potentially be Blair or Dietz. Once additional quick observation, notice the color differences in the original spider walk versus in TVYNS. It’s amazing how digitally remastered copies can enhance and add new life to older films!
This thread is so funny! It calls for another version of the film: “The Exorcist and Reefer Madness Meet.” I’m sure WB will oblige us! đ
Go hammer (Sofia, Jr.). I think your rationale sounds familiar from the book about the diarrhea … I think that’s when the demon asks Karras the question about it smelling like sauerkraut.
Oh, I agree with the satire, Greg. The sound of the fart would have been a good laughing point in The Exorcist, just as in the scene when the demonic Regan slides the end table drawer out with its powers. Karras asks, “Did you do that?” and we get the very funny, “Uh, huh,” from the demon. That scene is laughable!
Anyway, maybe Sofia can rescue us from the rotten-egg smells or the SBDF! đ
