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The only thing peculiar about The Exorcist is that every single copy Ive had of the VHS tapes, The DVDs, & the book, of which there have been quite a lot, have been somehow lost. I credit this strictly to demonic activity. However, in this case it wasn’t the demon Pazuzu, it was the demon known as whiskey. Black outs suck.

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Man I wish I was in your shoes! Quite a lot of people your age find the movie to be funny, and I have absolutely no idea why. Anyway if you’re going to watch it I honestly think that you should go out of your way to make it perfect, meaning you should watch it late at night, alone, and in darkness – in order to feel its full impact. It will scare the Hell out of you, thats what its meant to do and to be honest its fun! I hope you enjoy it. 🙂

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And a big hello back to you Father Merrin. Nice to meet you.

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I am originally from Pakistan & I came to America in the summer of 1973, August 13, 1973 to be exact. Some of my family are very religious, traditional Muslims who believe in God, Satan, angels, demons, black magic etc. When we lived in Pakistan we were very poor and shared a house with quite a lot of extended family and one of the members of that extended family was a female cousin. Now supposedly she was possessed by a demon who called itself “Ram Lal”, which in translation means Prince Red, kind of creepy aint it? Anyway being as poor as we were I was born in the house where all of those people, including my cousin, lived. And in that house 3 exorcisms were held at different times through out her life well before I was even born, so I was raised on stories of such a nature.
1973, December in America, my father, who never bought into the whole cousin being possessed thing being the wise man that he was, went to see The Exorcist. He was a rational, level headed man who wasn’t afraid of anything, and who was empty of all superstitions, however, when he came home after seeing The Exorcist, and went to sleep, he suddenly awoke screaming like a child in the middle of the night and shivering (I was 4 years old at the time and I still remember that as if it were yesterday). He awoke not knowing where he was, and just utterly terrified almost on the verge of tears. Automatically my curiosity about the movie went through the roof and the very next day I began begging my parents to take me to see it. At first they said no but I guess they took into consideration all of the stories that my siblings and cousins would tell me of the possessed cousin and figured why the Hell not.
Jump to August, 1974, a drive in movie theater in Canada. We were visiting family (we lived in Brooklyn NY at the time) and we all decided to go see The Exorcist. I can’t even begin to tell you the impact it had on me. It was as if someone had given me a hit of LSD at 4 years of age. All of the stories I had heard, all of the fears I had about that house I was born in suddenly came to life infront of my eyes on screen. It was one of those defining moments in life – absolutely terrifying, to the point of bringing me to tears, and absolutely beautiful at the same time. One of the greatest memories I have.
After that night I was just never the same kid, I was consumed by fear most of the time, yet completely intrigued by it. Some would say that it was an unwise decision on my parents part, however, cultural & religious factors have to be taken into consideration, and according to the Islamic religion it is perfectly OK to expose a child to such subject matter in order to teach him/her about God and all things supernatural.
I personally don’t believe in anything like that anymore, no God, no Satan, no demons, no possession etc. etc., and I believe that my cousin was schizophrenic, but in the 50’s and 60’s, when these exorcisms took place, the concept of mental illness wasn’t in the least bit popular or accepted in Pakistan.
To make an already very long and very boring story slightly shorter, I apologize for the length (insert small penis joke here), the next time I saw The Exorcist was the night before the first day of school for the 5th grade, and it hit me ten times harder.
The Exorcist is just a stunningly beautiful work of art to me. I am deeply in love with that film because it has had such a tremendous impact on my life, and I find it to be a perfectly flawless film (coninuity errors excluded). Maybe if the topic ever presents itself I will write out the symptoms she had as well as the behaviour she displayed that led others to think she was possessed.

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Kinderfan – terribly nice to meet you as well buddy. This seems like a very nice, friendly, civilised fan based board, and that is a refreshing break on the internet. You ended up washing your hair, you’re a much braver man than I 🙂

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Death Metal vocalists aint got nothing on Regan!

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You have to record & play the part backwards yourself, the actual part where she speaks in reverse, immediately following the sprinkling of the holy water, in order to hear it. It is not heard when they are in the sound lab listening to the tape. Do this if you can, its completely worth it and downright disturbing. Enjoy!

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People seem to have something against marijuana, yet having a beer or whiskey, or any other alcoholic beverage for that matter is socially acceptable – whatever. Anyway its funny that you mention being in the shower and not wanting to shampoo because of having your eyes closed. The second time I saw The Exorcist, I was 9 years old (1978) and it once again scared me so bad that when I had to shower I refused to wash my hair because I didnt want to open my eyes and see Regan standing there when I opened them, shiver! Ever since then to about 15 years of age, I always had pretty filthy hair because of that, Id wash it about once a month. Amazing what an effect that movie has on people and in so many different ways.

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She also says, “It is warm in the body” & “I see you”, and both are incredibly creepy.

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I think it was her breath that was putrid, hence causing the reaction of the others in the room.

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Nope, no typo, I was 4 years old and living in Brooklyn NY at the time. I lived on a black with a movie theater on it and I still remember the lines for The Exorcist, however, I didn’t see it at that theater, I saw it in a drive in theater in Canada. Anyway even though I was 4 years old and really didn’t understand the film all too well, I do remember being utterly terrified, so badly in fact that I coudln’t sleep with the lights off until I was 15 or so. The second time I saw it I was 9 and I understood it a lot more than at 4, and it scared me even worse at 9 years of age. Amazing what a tremendous impact that movie has had on me.

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The scene when the demon changes its form into Karras’ mother really scared the Hell out of me. It seemed to be its most powerful psychological attack & you could tell by the expression on Karras’ face that he was mentally falling apart.
I remember the first time I saw The Exorcist, I was 4 years old and that scene was the straw that brooke the camels back for me. The entire film shhok me to my core but that scene made me break out in tears of absolute fright.

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