[Steve Dunlap]

Oy, that Pazuzu.  He's a sneaky one I tell ya'. 🙂

[Steve Dunlap]

You read my mind, Fr. Bowdern. 🙂

I knew what some of that meant, but thank you for the full translation of that conversation. :)  Very cool!

[Steve Dunlap]

Good Lord I love this site! :)  The discussions are so refreshing.

I am also a sci-fi geek (largely Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Galactica), and I have to say, these discussions are so much more a breath of fresh air, as opposed to the fanboyish arguments I witness over at the sci-fi sites/forums I visit.

[Steve Dunlap]

Ttubretep said:

Back in the 80's, Channel 56 out of Boston would show it every now and again, and it was always treated as a big event.  My family had a gathering, and treated the film with a grim reverence.  They tucked me away in my room, which was far from the living room, and told me NOT to come out under any circumstances.  This would be in 1982 or so, and I was 6 years old.

A couple years later, the same channel showed it again, and I actually managed to catch the ad they showed for it – and it TERRIFIED me, making a deep and lasting impression on my impressionable mind.

After that, I managed to acquire a copy of the book, and managed to read it (in bits and pieces – my mother would always confiscate it).  I don't think I managed to see the actual film until I was 19 or so, and by then I was rather fascinated by it.  I won't be one of the meatheads who says that the film doesn't scare me, as it is impossible to be unmoved by the sheer tension of the film, but as a non-believer, it didn't strike the same chord with me that it does with others.

However, what does strike a similar chord would be the sheer terror that the images seen in that first commercial inspired within me.  Within the context of the dream, the film frightens me more as a concept unto itself, as opposed to the events that occur in the story.  Therefore, the Exorcist-inspired nightmares generally start out as being about me watching the film, which always frightens me far more in my dreams than in reality.  Occasionally, I'll get “sucked into” the movie, and start interacting with the characters, etc., but it always starts with me dreaming that I'm watching the film.

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Nice!!! :)  It would seem you and I had the reverse effect.

Whereas the commercial intrigued me (for God knows whatever reason) when I was a five year old, the commercial scared the hell out of you at 8.  And yet the movie is what scared the hell out of me for 25 years, while the movie  gave you a better understanding of your fears. 🙂

 

Thanks for sharing that story.

 

Mirabile dictu, don't you agree?    (If I got the translation right, it means something like “Wonderful to relate”.)

[Steve Dunlap]

Very very nice work there!!!

[Steve Dunlap]

LOL! Yeah!  I'd seen commercials on TV back then, and I had noooooo idea what I was getting into when I begged my parents to go see it.   We went to the drive-in.  We were pulling up just as Regan was being scanned by that big rotary x-ray machine.  I wasn't so sure about my beggings then.  

 

The very first time Regan throws her head back and bellows in the voice of the demon……I made a  swan dive under the dash….I didn't resurface again until later…and then I saw Regan hurl all over Karras, and immediately went back under the dash.

 

My dad didn't exactly help matters after we got home and I tried to go to sleep.  He would come in with a flashlight under his face one minute and scare the bejeezus out of me.   Then, a few minutes later, he had the funny notion to start rattling my bed.  Wanna talk about one terrified little boy at the time?  LOL!  Was amazed I didn't pee myself, or worse.

[Steve Dunlap]

Wow….now that is quite a piece! 🙂

[Steve Dunlap]

Yes, I cannot hear this song without associating it with The Exorcist.  It is a beautiful piece of music, but wow….I just can't hear it without seeing Regan's face.

 

And interestingly enough, the music was used in a rather innocuous moment in the movie….Chris taking a walk home from the movie set, instead of riding with her chauffeur.   (And just at the end of the movie closing with Fr. Dyer, before the credits start with the haunting violin piece.)

[Steve Dunlap]

Another thought, in response to the OP.

Yes, Regan mentions Captain Howdy, but I believe this is Pazuzu's means of opening her up to possession.

 

Something I love about this movie  is the openness to interpretation is has, so here's my interpretation:

Regan discovered the Ouija board at some point before the Ouija scene with Chris.  Regan finds she's quite adept at using the board.  This is Pazuzu toying with Regan, tempting her to further use the board.   The demon then assumes the name of Captain Howdy, a name that would likely amuse and intrigue an innocent twelve year old girl.  (Similar to Howdy Doody, the puppet on the children's tv show from the 50s).  The demon plays a couple of seemingly innocent games with Regan, continually opening that window for the demon to take her over. 

 

During the hypnosis scene with Regan and the psychiatrist, the psychiatrist asks Regan:

“Is there someone inside you, Regan?”

“Yessss.”

“Is it Captain Howdy?”

“I don't know.”

 

So Pazuzu definitely pulled the wool over the young girl's eyes by using the guise of innocence and child play to get to her.

Again, just personal thoughts. 🙂

[Steve Dunlap]

Indeed.  Thanks for the link, Fr. Bowdern. 🙂

I saw this on the blu-ray, and was so glad to see this scene in its entirety on the featurettes.  The blu-ray was indeed a worthwhile (and long awaited ) purchase.

I can see I'm going to have a LOT of fun on this forum and website. 🙂

[Steve Dunlap]

Hi, Father Bowdern.

 

I'm glad to be here.  So great to meet so many other fans of this film.

I loved the original theatrical cut of The Exorcist, but they really pushed it to 11 with the 2000 cut.  I am a big fan of the 2000 VYNS.

I can share a funny story about the cut.

Back in 2001, I used to live in Schoolcraft, MI, back in the woods with a couple of roomies (both of whom were out at the time).  I decided to pop on my recent proud purchase of The Version You've Never Seen.  (I sooooo wanted to see this in the theater as my sort of revenge for the movie haunting me for so many years, but I never got the opportunity.)

I knew the  spider walk scene was going to be restored, but what I did not expect were all the nice subtle digital touches (the quick flashes of Captain Howdy beside Chris, and superimposed onto Regan's face during the psychiatrist interview, and Pazuzu on Regan's wall when Chris steps out of the room for a moment.)  For me, those just pushed the film to a whole new level of creepiness, just when I didn't think it could get any creepier.

Well, halfway through the movie, I was hungry, and decided to step out to grab some snacks.  (Keep in mind, this is around 2 in the morning….I'm a musician so I keep non-standard hours…LOL).    At the time, I had a van with all the windows in the back painted black.  (The van often hauled my band's equipment, so the black painting was necessary to block out peekers/potential thieves).   Ok, so I hop in the van, and I'm driving out of the woods, on the stretch of road heading to the closest Meijer store (think a Michigan Wal-Mart superstore if you will).   The road is dark, and the windows behind me are black…leaving the back of the van EXTREMELY darkened.   As I'm driivng down the road, the hair on the back of my neck seems to want to stand up, and chills are running up my spine….almost as if I'm expecting a clawed or clammy hand to just barely stroke the back of my neck to scare the hell out of me.  And it was hard to shut the movie out of my mind.

 

The original film was a feat unmatched in scary movie history, and it was only trumped by The Version You've Never Seen.  I have never, in my 41 years of existence on this planet, found The Exorcist's equal in terms of technical  accomplishment (in the scary movie realm, that is), or in terms of emotional and psychological impact.  :)  TVYNS is an example of how to revisit a movie and do it right!

 

Thanks again, for the kind welcome, Father Bowdern.

[Steve Dunlap]

Please forgive me if I repeat something from a previous post in this thread….I kinda glossed over some stuff…but what I found interesting was when someone had pointed out (quite correctly) that there was more to the “spiderwalk scene” than what we even saw in TVYNS-EDC versions.

Regan chasing Sharon with her flicking tongue.  If I recall correctly, I think that part of the scene was exorcised (LOL) from the film because it was felt that Regan's tongue flicking looked too cartoony in such bold light.   The tongue flicking seemed to work much better in the harsher, more contrasted lighting of the exorcism scenes with Merrin and Kerras.

[Steve Dunlap]

This was indeed a question I'd pondered in another thread.  Had I realized this particular thread was here, I'd never have posted it.

And yes, The Exorcist is an very deep movie.  I am pleased to meet so many other fans of this unequalled scary movie. 🙂

[Steve Dunlap]

etrigan69 said:

Father Bowdern said:

“… your c*nting daughter” (Burke's nefarioius British wording there regarding Regan).

Father Bowdern

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Exactly. I have found a lot of people dont make that connection with this scene. TO be blunt, she turns her head backwards to mock the way Burke was found dead then she drives it home by speaking in Burke's voice.
 

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Indeed.

[Steve Dunlap]

Ttubretep said:

For what it's worth, I don't think that the similarities are coincidental.  The bird certainly shares the posture and general shape of the Pazuzu statue, not to mention the aforementioned similarities between the tortoise scuplture and the piece that Merrin unearths in Iraq.

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WOW!  Now that is something I had not noticed before.  I shall have to watch the movie again.  That is an interesting point out you made there. 🙂

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