CaptainHowdy.com The #1 Exorcist Fansite Since 1999
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Dseabroo,
Great observation. My only guess would be the demon opted not to bother with the eyebrows, it was such a frantic possession with no real audience to scare, unlike as Regan had. Pazuzu had a grown man to deal with, not a little girl to entice with a ouija board and a nickname like Captain Howdy. My take.
M.I.K.E.
M.I.K.E.
What a fascinating topic, as I too had never noticed the missing eyebrows. I suppose its one of those things that once you see it you can’t UNSEE it…like the scene of her writhing in bed after Karras sprinkles the tap water on her. Now that Ive notced that her ears and the back of her neck are a warm healthy shae of pink, not only can i not notice it, it bugs me more everytime I watch it. It takes me right out of the scene and makes the make up look like grease paint. Its the one thing I cant beleive they didnt fix in TVYNS. Ive even tried to rationalize in my own head why her ears would be a different color (too much time on my hands) so that it will not bother me so much…alas, i can think of know reason.
Dont get me wrong though….still my favorite movie and still a masterpiece that can never be repeated.
During the exorcism, Father Merrin sprinkles holy water on Regan, some of it rips skin off her leg, what was the purpose of that? To show off an effect that Dick Smith created? Good thing, Father Karras didn’t use real holy water during his second visit with Regan, he would’ve scarred Regan’s face with the holy water even more. It’s an interesting effect, complete with a swishing sound as the skin is torn off. That was not in the novel, skin ripping off her leg due to holy water.
I always thought that it wasnt so much the skin ripping off, but her legs swelling, (much like her neck earlier in the movie) and the skin splitting. I know you see something come off her leg, but i figured it was just the wire used to perform the effect.
Of course thats just my interpretation.
Okay, I started a fire with the eyebrows! 🙂 To answer the above blog entries, Regan’s eyebrows do disappear in the hypnosis scene (watch her mouth twisting and the sound of the demon coming out). Dick Smith used a very pale white makeup on her face along with cracked latex on the lips. She is sans eyebrows. This, of course, is prior to the masturbation scene when Regan starts the “gangrenous sores” by ripping through the flesh on her face.
I guess if we examine the makeup for Regan throughout the film, Dick Smith created a process (under Friedkin’s direction) by which she undergoes a form of mitosis that leads to the ultimate makeup in the exorcism scene. For instance, you’ll notice that Regan’s lips are severely cracked and her skin is extremely pale as she’s mouthing words on the hospital bed that’s she strapped down to while at the Barringer Clinic.
In reality, the cuts on Regan’s face would be treated and bandaged, but then you would not have a scary demon anymore, just a bandaged face that would not shock anyone. Regan’s cuts on her face seemed like they were not going to heal while she was possessed. go figure.
I went back to watch the Exorcist, her missing eyebrows are first shown when the 2 doctors come to check her, when her throat expands like a frog. If you slow down down the dvd, Regan’s appearance changes, missing eyebrows, her nose is differnt and her teeth look rotted and they look like little vampire teeth and her lips look chapped. When Regan’s personlity comes out, her appearance is back to normal. Check it out, very interesting.
I think the skin ripping was a powerful special effect. When I see it, I have no idea why is was put in other than to show the violence of the demon resisting the exorcism. I do notice the holy water and always interpreted that as the cause of the flesh rip. It is a good effect, and I think, columbian, you’re on target with a show-off Dick Smith effect … that actually works because if you pause that scene, you really don’t see the wire connected to the latex nor do you see the latex covering the rip.
Also, since we’re on topics of noticing things, you can clearly see the tube running along Eileen Dietz’s hair to the vomit tube. Once you see it, you wonder why the studio didn’t cover it with some CG editing. To make it clear … this is the scene where Father Merrin takes his purple stole off for Regan (Dietz) to vomit on. Look at the profile and you’ll know it’s Dietz in Smith’s vomit gear. At least Smith got to use it twice even though it was cut and replaced in the projectile vomiting scene.
Also, Blair’s eyebrows were never shaved off … Smith used latex to make the forehead protrude out, giving Blair a more masculine look. The larger brow line simply covers Blair eyebrows beneath.
Columbian, good point on the first time when Regan’s changing look … it’s perfect for the, “Fuck me!” scene … rotten teeth dentures and all.
Could someone do me the honour of posting a link to where in the photo gallery we see this first transition?
dsea … here’s a link to the video, but it’s just the initial part of the scene. Her transformation comes right after the bulging throat … watch the DVD and you’ll see what Columbian is talking about.
Enjoy:
Hey dsea,
I did do a search on youtube, but I came up with only the link above. The scene itself is cool … do you have the DVD? Maybe I (or someone else) can point to the time for you. Also, do you have both versions of the DVD (that might help)?
LOL. I know where it is approximately, but I do not have a copy of the movie. Myabe I should get one. Thanks for your help.
If you go to the image gallery in this website, click on the exorcist then scroll all the way down, the pic of Regan with fangs is next to the captain howdy pic, its pic number 221 jpg.
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