CaptainHowdy.com The #1 Exorcist Fansite Since 1999
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Father Bowdern said:
straw, I can't agree more with you. Burstyn is one my favorite actresses and she was gypped in her performances in both The Exorcist and Requiem for a Dream. I feel the Academy and the voters knew they were wrong by not giving the Oscar to Ellen for her role in The Exorcist and later justified it for her performance in Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore. What other great actress could be nominated for an Emmy for just two lines of dialogue and 14 seconds of film time in the HBO special, Mrs. Harris?
The Academy just awarded Friedkin as Best Director for The French Connection and the old farts on the AA panel couldn't see giving him another one at his young age … too many politics, as usual.
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Father Bowdern
I absolutely agree with you about Requiem for a Dream. I've only seen the movie twice all the way through, but wow did Ellen nail that one or what? I think I remember reading something about how during her “I'm lonely, Harry” monologue, the camera zooms out just a tad, and when the scene was finished the director was kind of angry until the cameraguy said something like, “Well, I was actually tearing up.” THAT'S some powerful acting. That's why Ellen is my favorite actress of all time. Julia Roberts did good as Erin Brokovich, but honestly, I could have stomached it better if Juliette Binoche won for Chocolat, because I think she did a better acting job that Roberts. Of course, The Exorcist goes without saying. I think it should have cleaned up at the Acadamy Awards, but like you say, politics as usual!
Father, I agree with you to a point. While Linda did the work, Billy did the directing, and that has a lot to do with the quality of the work she put forth. Don't get me wrong, I honestly think she deserved the Oscar for that role (but I could be a little biased since this is my favorite movie and all:)). All of the cast and crew put in a lot of work and a lot of them got gipped when it came Oscar time, but none more that Billy Freidkin. He really made this movie what it was. That being said, aside from the two or three scenes mentioned above, Linda's performance was phenomenal in this film. The scene that sticks out in my mind is the one during the exorcism where she's gnashing her teeth and trying to lunge at Fr. Merrin. The RAGE she shows in her face…man that is scary! Like someone mentioned above me, we see Linda in her demon make-up smiling next to the dummy and she looks like a little girl in make-up. But, I understand what you're saying…just fast forward to The Heretic. “I was possessed by a demon. Oh! It's okay, he's gone now!” That one made me laugh out loud.
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I also agree that Ellen had a role in how the performances turned out. I'm a huge Ellen Burstyn fan, kind of since I hail from the Detroit-metro area and I like to support local talent, but mainly because she's one of the greatest living actresses today. Seriously, I haven't seen a movie of her's where she hasn't dazzled me. I read Lessons in I think three days. She's such a fascinating person, and it's even cooler because her childhood homes are less than a 2 mile radius from where my (maternal) grandpa and my dad's side of the family grew up. She might have known my grandpa, who knows!
Finally got around to seeing the remake. I was surprised that it wasn't as terrible as I'd thought. I actually found it pretty entertaining, aside from the horrible CGI effects. Seriously, when I'm Queen of the World, cheesy CGI will be banned, along with autotune. It was pretty silly, but I think they captured a lot of the charm from the oringinal. I give it a C+/B-.
I think my love for this particular series comes from seeing it at a very young age (around 6 or 7), having it terrify me, and watching it again years and years later, it was very nostalgic. The beauty of the sequel is that it takes all of the original's cheesiness and campiness and totally makes fun of it, kind of like Evil Dead 2, although not as good.
As far as the remake goes, how on earth is it that effects made in the 80s look better than effects made now?! I mean compare the 'Freddy coming out of the ceiling' scenes from the original 1984 NOES to the (garbage) 2010 remake. The 2010 version looks entirely laughable! That's kind of how I think the Night of the Demons the remake will plan out. It'll be unoriginal and uninspired like 99% of horror movies made today, but I'll still rent it just to see.
Don’t get me wrong, there are scenes that make me chuckle…but they’re the appropriate times. “I lied…it’s for me…”, “Do people tell you you look like Paul Newman?” etc. But I just don’t think there’s anything justified laughing at this little girl who’s doing and saying these horrible things against her will. I guess I’m just one of those crazy kids that’s able to let a movie completely consume me while I’m watching it.
I agree, Father, my generation (I was born in ’88) and on has become a bunch of technology-induced zombies. Sure, I use things like facebook, texting, etc etc, but it’s not my lifeline. Could I do without it? Sure…it wasn’t really around a whole lot up until I was in late-middle school/high school. To be honest, a lot of the people from my generation (and on) embarrass me. Like I said, if you could really get into the movie and block out all outside forces and thinking, I really don’t see anything that would be funny about this movie. I feel like it’s all in how the movie portrays it, and I think The Exorcist did an awesome job of that.
All in all, we had a good time at the theater. It might not have been as perfect as I would have liked (c’mon, this is my favorite movie!) but we came away with a fun story to tell and my friend got the piss scared out of her. Mission accomplished!
PS- another funny little aside: there was a group of four out in the lobby after the film let out. My friend and I were like, “Crap!” thinking it was the kids I had drove out. It would have been 5 on 2 (2 girls…now we can hold our own…but three deep?!)and we assumed them to be minors. Where I’m from (not sure if it’s the same for everyone) not only can you not hit a minor, you can even get in trouble defending yourself against a minor unless you’re just restraining. As it turned out, it was the group behind us, and they congratulated me on my impeccable aim. Hey, I can’t complain too much. I still got to see The Exorcist on the big screen, and that’ll probably be the last time it’s shown, at least in America.
Ugh, why do I have all the luck?? My theater had about 15 people in it, and my friend and I didn’t mind that much, but I thought there would be more. I spent 12.50 on my tickets, so I was a little mad that I could have bought them at the theater and saved money, but I’d be furious if I got there and it was sold out, so give and take I guess. Of the 15 people, there were a group of (shocker) teenagers. They were BAD. They laughed at the “fuckin’ bastard” scene, which I gave them. But they were actually laughing hysterically during the crucifix scene. I believe they said something like, “Hahaha, she’s stabbing herself in the cooter with a cross!” I was pretty disgusted. I’m not that young, but I’m not old either, and I think that scene is just plain disturbing and…just wow. It was absolutely ridiculous. So after that, some people in the theater (myself included) gave them a “SHUT UP” and they stopped…until the exorcism scene. Again, hysterical laughter at the “Your mother sucks cocks in hell!” scene. At this point, I was so aggravated at their obnoxious behavior I decided to do something about it. Apparently (I heard a couple people behind me whispering about it) someone had already gone to management to get these kids to either leave or shut up, but as far as I know they did nothing. I had a little bit of a Twix bar left in my hand and I waited until the next outburst. I didn’t have to wait long. I pelted one of them in the back of the head with it. The people behind me found that pretty funny. They decided to leave before the exorcism scene was over, so mission accomplished. People cheered when they left. We got to watch the rest of the movie and the documentary in peace.
Other than the idiot kids, it was a really good time. My friend was covering her face with her sweatshirt for half the movie, so I had something to laugh at :). I just wish these theaters would enforce the no one under 17 admitted, and at the theater I went to, kids under 17 need to be accompanied by an adult after 7, which they weren’t.
I never noticed the whole window thing until you guys just brought it up. Could there be a possibility that Kinderman wasn’t looking at Regan’s window at all, perhaps another window in the house? If that’s the case, it makes the scene infinitely creepier because we know Regan is strapped to her bed in her own room…just a thought. Or maybe they originally meant for it to be Karl’s silhouette like it was in the book and that’s why the positioning doesn’t mesh up.
Father, I don’t think those traps aren’t gonna do any good, unless you’re in the mood to catch a stuffed animal. “Someone is funny,” you know.
I’m so incredibly pumped for this Thursday, and then for the 5th! I don’t even own a Blu-ray player (yet…still paying off my new Mac, so it’ll have to wait) but I totally pre-ordered this one. Just couldn’t pass it up. I’ve had my Fandango tickets for Thursday since last month (thanks to whomever it was that pointed out the one night only re-release…you’re my hero!) I’ve wanted to see The Exorcist in theaters for SO long. I was only 11 or 12 when it was re-released in 2000, so I’ve been waiting a while. I’ve seen it umpteen and a half times, but I’m going with a friend who has only seen it once years and years ago, so THAT should be fun. The next two weeks is going to be like Christmas!
C’mon, Father, let’s give credit where credit is due. Without Eileen, there would be no WB. She single-handedly made the company what it is today. I simply don’t know where the film world would be today if it wasn’t for Dietz’s hard work and humility. Such a class act!
Hah! I can’t even type that with a straight face!
Well, mostly. WPB might have had some input, but she felt like she didn’t want to take TOO much credit, so she let him write his name on it. She’s so modest!
Um, Damien, are you forgetting that she played the possessed Linda Blair character? That was ALL her. Also, she actually wrote the screenplay that won the Oscar, did all the makeup for the movie, operated all the cameras and financed the movie by herself. Oh, she also played Father Karras, but somehow they mixed up her name with Jason Miller.
Seriously, if I was rich, I’d totally bid on this (and probably win because I’d be the only one) just so I could throw a pie in her face. There are two things in this world I cannot stand: inconsiderate people and liars. She is both.
I’m also unsure of the second question, besides the filmmakers leaving out that aspect of the exorcism ritual. According to the ritual, there is also supposed to be a member of the family, same sex, in the room to help with restraints, but that was left out in the novel and film.
As for the first question, in the novel the shadow was Karl, the butler. In the film, I think it’s supposed to be Regan. It adds a very creepy aspect to the movie (one of my top 3 scariest scenes, if you think the shadow is Regan, of course). To my knowledge, it’s never been explained by Friedkin who exactly it is, but like Erica said, it makes the movie that much creepier if you view the shadow as Regan. Kind of like the straps are useless since the demon can move about freely, but it allows itself to be tied down to give the household a false sense of security.
Oh yes. My friends and I thought we were being sooo cool by watching the movie we weren’t allowed to see. It was right around the time it was re-released in 2000. I stole my brother’s VHS version and brought it to a sleepover. We tried to be all big and bad, laughing (quite nervously) at the inappropriate parts, but the truth came out that night when none of us went to sleep.
