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I think the fact that today’s audience sees the levitation wires, and laughed at the screen throughout the film, speaks volumes about how sophisticated and insensatized people have become.
It’s pretty sad – to me anyway.
Another “catch” is the direct full-on view when the levitation begins. It includes all three folks in their standard positions with the camera angle only slightly tilted to the right.
I think I’m bummed out by seeing these. But, of course, we know the wires were used including a small cherry picker (example only) that lowers Regan back on the bed at the … sans wires. I think they did a great job regardless.
I think the fact that today’s audience sees the levitation wires, and laughed at the screen throughout the film, speaks volumes about how sophisticated and insensatized people have become.
It’s pretty sad – to me anyway.
It’s an obvious effect. Simple. Nothing to do with “today’s audience” or laughing at the film.
Those wires were far more visible in the cinema prints than they are on the DVD. I remember well that they were laughed at during the film’s original release and were in fact about the only effects fault people managed to find with the movie. Much like the rubber shark in Jaws it was something the naysayers picked on while the general populace just got on with enjoying the movie.
Gee, Jagged, I keep following your wonderful blog replies tonight. I saw the film several times at the theater when I was a very young kid and I can’t remember laughter about wires or anybody talking about them afterward (not saying that you didn’t hear those comments because I’m certain you did). I was just so overwhelmed with everything, that I didn’t notice the wires … I guess I was too concerned about the, “Oh God, what’s next?!?” Besides hiding my eyes and muffling my ears (fingers over eyes; thumbs in ears), I didn’t notice the small wires. I’m sure WB will be sure to digitally remove the wires on the HD version (it should be easy, so I hope that WB doesn’t cheap out on us die-hard fans).
I was finally tall enough to get in to see the film in 79, plenty of time for the monster magazines of the day to have primed me to be aware of the wires. I guess I saw them because I was looking for them. Didn’t stop me walking out of the theatre feeling like the whole damn thing was real though.
The problem is, at least in the UK, the only way any of us got to see the film was at drunken midnight showings of knackered old film prints, because the British Board of Film Censorship/Classification had banned it from video release!
Usually people had been to a Hallowe’en party or some such and really were in the wrong mind set to watch the movie! However, the benefit of wrecked old prints was that the wires were far less visible. Even on VHS the wires weren’t too much of a problem.
Now, however we’re getting used to high quality picture and sound on our progressive-scan DVD players and upscaling Blu-Ray players with actual 1080p discs on the way.
Because of this, there’s detail showing up on screen that wouldn’t even have appeared in cinema prints when movies came out.
There’s actually a need to be careful in the clean-up of old movies because new technology is getting to be too good!
The wires weren’t intended to be obvious in the original release of the Exorcist, so for a release in a new HD format meticulous removal of them will be vital.
At the end of the day, though, people will laugh at this film if they really want to.
Horror is at its best when it treads the line of going OTT. The Exorcist treads this line very carefully and succeeds because it just about shies away from overt silliness.
These are the best images I could get of the wires during the levitation scene. It’s much easier to spot them while watching the movie because they move with Regan.
Click for larger images.
I’d rather ‘wires’ then crappy CGI.
For it’s time, the effect is GREAT, and I still enjoy seeing it today.
I saw a ‘behind the scenes’ scene, where they spun Linda around in a circle in the air….
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