CaptainHowdy.com The #1 Exorcist Fansite Since 1999
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“Exorcist II: The Heretic” has a certain fascination, like a cobra rising from a basket. You are guided along by a sure directorial hand through beautifully articulated environments. It's a prestigious, ornate gift-wrapped box with absolutely nothing inside. It is a majestic Titanic of a horror film breaking apart & sinking in a sea of Hollywood excess. In a way, I adore it. “Exorcist: The Beginning” is a vulgar bit of work. The climactic exorcism is undeniably energetic but with no real emotional payoff. Anyone who has seen the more thoughtful “Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist” will likely dismiss “Exorcist: The Beginning” as a crass attempt to get moviegoers to shell out 100 million on opening weekend.
“Exorcist II: The Heretic” has a certain fascination, like a cobra rising from a basket. You are guided along by a sure directorial hand through beautifully articulated environments. It's a prestigious, ornate gift-wrapped box with absolutely nothing inside. It is a majestic Titanic of a horror film breaking apart & sinking in a sea of Hollywood excess. In a way, I adore it. “Exorcist: The Beginning” is a vulgar bit of work. The climactic exorcism is undeniably energetic but with no real emotional payoff. Anyone who has seen the more thoughtful “Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist” will likely dismiss “Exorcist: The Beginning” as a crass attempt to get moviegoers to shell out 100 million on opening weekend.
There is no editing tech in existance capable of salvaging “Exorcist II: The Heretic”. It is a tribute to Jones that he was able to command any onscreen respect after appearing in disco-grasshopper drag spitting tomatoes. Truly awful!! And the cheerful doctor spouting hoo ha like; “We like to call her the good locust” isn't any better. I wish you the best in your re-editing but please forgive, I'll not be seeing it. Boorman's cut was more than enough.
Juliet (Tabitha, “Passions”)Â Mills had the lead in this one. Nifty, slightly non-sensical rip off. Watched it again as a double feature with Mario Bava's butchered/re-edited “Lisa and the Devil” grindhouse pic; “The House of Exorcism” and more recently with Bava's “Beyond the Door II” & “Beyond the Door III”. Genre addict paradise!
I showed this pic to my neice & her bf and both loathed it. Had the option been open to them to sleep, I'm certain that they would have been mugging pillows. Instead, they unplugged the vhs tape in boredom at about the point the child was undergoing exams and watched the more fashionable & timely “A Nightmare on Elm Street” # 4 or 5. I would be interested in knowing what demographic enjoyed the re-release of “The Exorcist” most. Is it largely an older consumer base snapping up the blu ray copies of “The Exorcist”? Did “Exorcist: The Beginning” & “Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist” fail because the original “The Exorcist” is simply too far removed from todays generation of filmgoers. A rerun of “Family Guy” which aired earlier this week took a pop culture shot at “The Exorcist” which totally eluded the young people I work with. They were oblivious to the head spin & green vomit reference. If my neice was unplugging it in the mid eighties & a half dozen 20 something coworkers are largely unaware of it's existance, I'm thinking sleep is, sadly, an option.
Quite loved “Rabid” & the companion pic “Shivers”. I'm a canadian so Cronenberg resonates a bit more. Wasn't a huge fan of “Videodrome” or the similar pic about pulsating game consoles which plug into guts. I'd watch either again over the Kubrick version of “The Shining”. It's that time of year when everyone is compiling a ten best list for Halloween and somehow “The Shining” will rank on half of them.The disintergration of the family which is so harrowing in the King novel doesn't translate to the film. The performances are too surreal to make the charactors empathetic imo. It's great looking & stylish but soul-less. The disintergration of the union between the leads in the remake of “the Fly” (also the disintergration of “Brundle”) is far more impactful for me.
Brilliant from beginning to end & unsettling throughout. How Nick Cage managed to botch the remake defies explaination. Definately one on the best horror films almost no one has has ever seen. Very similar to Tom Tryon's brilliant novel; “Harvest Home” & any film that has the balls to put Christopher Lee in drag is ok by me.
The Lugosi “Dracula” which seemed like ‘ground zero’ for the Univeral monster phenomenon
George Romero’s “Night of the Living Dead” defined the zombie genre & is still relevant 40 years later.
“The Last House on the Left” by Wes Craven. Very powerful stuff. Several years ago, a Leonard Maltin film review guide gave this pic zero star out of 4 (it was ammended to 2/4 in more recent editions) but you will never forget this one.
“The Haunting” or “The Changeling”…a tie for 4th place with 2 classy & classic haunted house thrillersI still say that syncronizer doo-hickey was lifted from the British sci fi classic Quatermass & the Pit. A woman straps it onto herself & suddenly she’s in the head of a locust capable of possessing human beings. I’ve watched these films together and cannot help see similarities, from the relationship between charactors to the final invasion of the cities by a locust entity.
Santana also has her solo adventures reprinted here as well as the “marvel Team Up’ type adventures leading up to her early demise. DC did a few maxi series in the 80s & 90s called “The Night Force” by the creative team behind the classic “Tomb of Dracula” which handled the theme of demonic possession rather well without abandoning their roots as a horror comic for the more traditional superhero fare readers expected. Colon, the artist also worked extensively on both “The Son of Satan” and “Demon Hunter for Marvel.
I’m all for a remake of “The Evil Dead”. Presumably, the majority of posters have seen it & loved it & consider a remake a for of desecration. While I get that & an empathetic, I’m also aware that most young people are focused on what is current. Many have never seen movies produced that many years prior to their time on earth. Understandable. I wasn’t rushing out to see movies my parents loved. It was a cult item in the 80s (not a huge hit in theatres) and remains somewhat undiscovered in the hearts & minds of todays youth. I’m all for a new evil dead pic filtered thru the minds of todays’ film-makers using amazing new tech & directorial flourishes movie lovers expect today. It’s production won’t diminish the original version so I say; ‘go for it’.
The Romero pics are best (not all classics). Quite like the Spanish “Blind Dead” quartet (so does John Carpenter, I think). “The Return of the Living Dead” was a blast as was the under-rated sequel (part III) by Brian Yuzna (“Bride of Re-Animater”). Loved the gut muncher “Zombie 2” (“Zombie”) by Fulci and the non-sequitor sequel “Burial Ground” for the memorable nipple-biting scene. Is “Frankenstein” a zombie? – if so, the Whales’ pics rate highly. The “28…Later” & “Resident Evil” pics are fun.
Great movie & I was surprised to see it predates Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead”. The “Blind Dead” quartet is also worth a look for genre addicts. “Burial Ground”, “Invasion of the Atomic Zombies” are all favorites.
“Hell Night” was an ok (as cheap slasher pics go) genre item. I love many of the other movies cited but as a slasher movie junkie from way back, “Hell Night” is worth a peek.
Towards the end, after Karras has plunged thru’ the window and mother & daughter are reunited, Kinderman enters and surveys the room. After the unbelievable tension which preceeded this scene, this moment serves as such a release! It’s as effective a moment as any of the horrific elements & realy drives home the fact that it is the emotional involvements of the charactors which drive this perfect story.
