[Witch of Endor]

The phrase “I’m going to get you” is hardly copywritten. It would only be a problem if the exact recording was used from the Exorcist. Do you know as a fact that it is? How do you know?

Also where does this appear in the Exorcist?

[fatherbowdern]

Dear dseabroo,

I never mentioned the word “copyright.” In fact, I worked with copyrighted works for years, so I’m lost by your insinuation. I only mention that the exact voice/phrase is in indeed in two different horror movies.

You have missed this background recording (and intentionally so because it is subliminal). The line, “I’m gonna get you,” is in the film The Exorcist on a couple of occasions. One: the park scene where Chris and Karris meet after Regan’s crucifix masturbation scene. Two: the end of the film when Chris and Regan are leaving the house on M street when Father Dyer walks them to the car. It’s very clear when it’s pointed out to you and you hear it repeated over and over … it is the same voice. In The Amityville Horror, the exact same voice, same line appears when the priest comes by to bless the house (the fly invasion scene) … it is the exact voice.

Listen to both movies … perhaps you’ll be surprised at what comes through in subliminal messages. And, yes, I am claiming it is the exact recording, but you have to listen for yourself.

[fatherbowdern]

This is probably somewhere in this blog, but I was just watching the original Amityville Horror and I noticed the same repetitive voice of a child in the background saying, “I’m gonna get you!” This is the exact voice, exact phrase utilized in The Exorcist in 1973. Six years later, it appears again in The Amityville Horror. TE is a WB film and TAH is a MGM film.

I realize that high-pitched yelling phrase (at a low-level) is supposed to be subliminal, but I wonder how many people noticed this?

[Witch of Endor]

I noted the copyright issue because you mentioned the two competing film studios, and yes, copyrights are an issue when it comes to voice recordings in movies. Naturally this would not be a problem if both films were held by the same intellectual property owner.

Now that point aside, there is another more pragmatic reason why it seems unlikely that the two films used the exact same recording. That is that the original sound byte would have to obtained to be inserted into Amityville Horror. This is important because even with today considerably more advanced sound technology it would be difficult to isolate the voice from the other sounds on the audio track and other audio artifacts would appear in the other film.

I guess this is an example of a truly subliminal message in the Exorcist (I will called the Howdy face liminal rather than subliminal for sake of argument) but this voice I clearly did not register consciously.

[Justin]

It’s just stock audio for background noises, etc. It’s the same as those God-awful female screams, children laughing, and baby cries that are used in most films.

[fatherbowdern]

As Justin mentions this is probably “stock audio.” However, it is owned by someone, somewhere, and the payment goes out of someone’s pocket for the use of it. In fact, I have heard Ellen Burstyn’s blood-curdling scream (located at the end of the masturbation scene in The Exorcist) used in other non-owned WB films.

Please do listen to the audio in both films. Again, I listed where these voices can be heard in both films. Please draw a conclusion (if you choose, dsea) based on what you hear. This is not a case of two studios stealing intellectual property from one another, rather it’s probably just a licensing agreement between with a third-party intellectual property owner. Plus, you don’t know that WB didn’t sell this recording to the MGM.

I don’t think your “pragmatic” theory about “sound technology” is really an issue here at all. It’s actually silly and sophomoric even from a novice standpoint. Isolating specific sounds and voices had been done for many, many years prior to the release of The Exorcist (in both film and vocal/musical recordings, etc.). To address your point, keep in mind that Mercedes McCambridge did the voice-over for Blair – separately. McCambridge recorded the voice in a sound booth – independently. Additionally, listen to the multiple voices used when Regan is talking backward after the holy water sprinkling … each voice was separately and independently recorded and then mixed (that is a fact I do know from researching this film and wouldn’t you find it ridiculous to think that everyone got together at one time to record the voices?).

So, back to the point, if anyone is interested, did anybody notice this sound byte in both films? Perhaps The Exorcist is riddled with a lot of them that we don’t notice until they are pointed out. Subliminally, “I’m gonna get you,” is a powerful statement in a film like The Exorcist as it impacts our psyche to think that the devil is “gonna get you.”

PS: Touché to your blog edit, dsea … nice job. 😉 But, you might want to edit your contradictions in two of your posts: 1. “The phrase “I’m going to get you” is hardly copywritten,” and, 2. “I noted the copyright issue because you mentioned the two competing film studios, and yes, copyrights are an issue when it comes to voice recordings in movies.” ??? Are you an expert in copyright? If so, where did you study this?

[Author]

Posts