CaptainHowdy.com The #1 Exorcist Fansite Since 1999
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As a kid, Exorcist II: The Heretic was almost as jarring an experience for me as the unparalleled original film. (I think largely due to the revisits of the demonic makeup for Regan…for years, that face just haunted me. I could not look at it straight on like I can now.)
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But I say almost. Part of what lightened the film up (aside from the nice score in the soundtrack) was some of the (as TV guide put it years ago) unintentional humor.
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One thing I noticed, between watching the DVD version of E2:TH and a televised version many years ago, was that some of the scenes played out differently….most noticably, when the teenage Regan returns to her bedroom on Prospect street, and she opens the door.
In the televised version of the movie, we see a quick flash of the younger possessed Regan shouting out her name at the older Regan, using stock footage from the original film, with “Regan” being overdubbed.  Apparently, this did not appear in the theatrical release, as I noticed it was missing on DVD.
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Nothing, however, beats the original film. I've seen all the sequels/prequels (and while they are entertaining, they just don't hold a candle to The Exorcist.) I've also seen other movies about demonic possession….and one film that surprisingly does give me a chill, despite it being a cheap knock-off, is “Beyond the Door”. But it still doesn't measure up to The Exorcist.
I still occasionally get the dreams of Regan possessed, but they don't jar me like they used to when I was a kid. I was 5 years old when I dragged my parents to go see this movie at the drive in…and I had NO idea what I was getting into.
As a kid, I would have dreams of Regan, and they would jar me right out of bed. I never screamed, but they did keep me awake for hours.
Now, I can have dreams of Regan possessed, and they just don't phase me. It's as if I've taken my revenge on the movie by being able to just sleep right through the dream.
I do remember one dream in particular, and please don't think me creepy for this:
In the dream, I was roughly Linda Blair's age at the time the movie was shot. For some reason, I was lying in “the bed” with Regan, and she was not in her evolved possessed mode yet….I say..yet. Regan's back was turned to me. (Don't worry, there was nothing sexual or even physical going on….we were just lying in the bed there.) However, in the dream, I could hear Regan's breathing start to have that asthmatic sound, and I could hear a mild gurgling in her voice. Now, don't ask me what possessed me to do this (no pun intended), but my dream avatar suddenly decided to egg the situation on by breathing in growls….growling at Regan, whose back was turned to me. Regan's growling started growing more pronounced. I intensified my growling.  And the next thing you know, Regan's head turned around, full 180, with the cuts and those eyes in full effect, and she roared at me, and said in the voice of Pazuzu “What the F*** do you think you're doing, boy?!”
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Now that was freaky, I admit, and I am getting chills up my spine just remembering that dream. LOL!
I have to admit, I always wanted to see the demonic footage with Blair's original voice. But think about this too….Blair was not the only actor/actress to have to have her voice overdubbed simply because her personally delivering the lines was not acceptable.
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Ray Park as Darth Maul. David Prowse as Darth Vader.  Both those actors had to have their voices overdubbed. I heard the undubbed versions of those characters, and the voice overs were a must. LOL!
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Now, as far as Blair as a young actress at the time, I thought she did awesomely.  As the unpossessed Regan, she was natural in her acting.  And the sweet conversations between Regan and Chris were just touching. So naturalistically performed. They sounded like real conversations, and not scripted dialogue. A compliment not only to the actors, but in Friedkin's directing skills.
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I also felt that on a visual level, Linda did a tremendous job portaying the possessed Regan. She may not have had the voice for the demon, but her physical acting abilities in this aspect of the character have been unmatched since 1973.ÂÂ
I always wondered, in one scene, where possessed Regan is laughing during a break in the exorcism (where Merrin is having to “go to his corner” after round one, so to speak), Blair looks quite convincing, especially with that little “grunt” in the midst of her laughter, how did she come to that laugh. I remember hearing on the blu-ray that Friedkin would do things like tell Blair little jokes, or do funny things to get her to get comfortable both with him as a director, and with her role as Regan.  So, I wondered, at this time, was William Friedkin (or someone off camera) telling jokes to Linda, or doing something funny, making her laugh genuine?
The oldest I had was the VHS of The Version You've Never Seen.
I then got the five movie DVD set.
But, nothing beats the original memories from having seen it as a 5 year old back in 1973. 🙂
While I've never slept through The Exorcist, (It's just too engrossing a story for me to nod off to, lol.) I do have to say that when I do sleep, it's kinda wild that I do not flinch, or wake up in terror whenever I have dreams about Regan in full possessed mode. :) I'd dare say that several years ago, I'd finally conquered my demons (if you'll pardon the parlance) about this movie.
Yes, I agree. I have owned various VHS and DVD copies of The Exorcist, and the blu-ray is by far the best rendition of this film. Having been released in 1973, the hi-def transfer made this film look as if it were shot just last year. This movie simply has no equal as far as scary movies go in terms of storytelling, and visual, emotional, and psychological impact.
