Well, boils and ghouls, it's hard to believe, but The Exorcist is celebrating its 25th birthday this year. A film that genuinely scared audiences when it was released (it's purportedly still banned in the United Kingdom due to its effect upon some sensitive souls), The Exorcist is still able to raise goosebumps even after Freddie and Jason and Scream. Why is this? A fan of the film volunteered to investigate and the result is...
By Tim Laplaca
[Tim Laplaca is a software engineer living in South Florida. Although he’s a fan of the horror genre, he’s pretty damn hard to please, and considers most horror movies, as he puts it, "crap." He wants you to know that the following review does contain some "spoilers."]
William Peter Blatty’s The
Exorcist (1973), Directed by William
Friedkin. Starring Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Jason Miller,
and Linda Blair. Produced and distributed by Warner Brothers
Plot Summary: A girl becomes possessed by a demon, and her mother recruits the aid of a priest who is having a crisis of faith.
I just finished watching The Exorcist, for maybe the fifth or sixth time in my life. I am a horror fan; I've seen lots of horror movies. But this is the only movie that scares me. When it was done, I had to turn on lights, and put the TV on Comedy Central.
While it's still fresh in my mind, I thought I'd try to put down what made it scary to me, and possibly why.
1) Sparse, but intense scenes of horror. It seemed that there were fairly long periods where nothing really horrifying happened, so when it did happen, the effect was greater. This is a difficult thing to do in a horror movie; to develop character in a meaningful way, without bogging down the action.
2) The mother acted in a way I feel a mother would act in such a situation, adding to the realism. Ellen Burstyn did a fine job portraying a woman in the desperate situation of having a seriously ill child, and getting no help from the medical community. As a whole, the acting was well done, and convincing, unlike a lot of horror movies. I could mention examples here, but I’m sure you don’t need me to list all the horror movies with lousy acting. I’m sure it helped that the main character weren’t teenagers. I’m almost 29, and I have a hard time identifying with high school students. Now that I think about it, almost every horror movie that I didn’t consider pure garbage over the last decade or so had adults as the main characters. This of course eliminates most slasher movies.
3) Adding to the
realism, it is not explained clearly why the girl is possessed. I
feel that if things like this happened, we really wouldn't know
why. It’s the Lovecraftian view of the universe; there are
huge powers "out there," and they are so many levels
above us, to 
understand them is nearly impossible. Does the
ant know why its neighbor gets stepped on? Other horror movies
spend a lot of time trying to show causes. When I watch these
scenes, I'm always thinking, "OK, here's where they explain
why this is happening." And I'm reminded that I'm watching a
formulaic horror movie. I realize that there were some clues to
why Regan was possessed. Almost certainly, the demon’s
objective was to do battle with Father Merrin, which is
demonstrated when Father Karras plays the tape backwards and you
hear the demon calling Merrin’s name. Likely, the previous
exorcism that Merrin performed was to cast out the same demon. It
could also be argued that Regan invited the possession by playing
with the Ouja™ board. I’ve heard many stories about
people playing with Ouja ™ boards, and regretting it. I
wonder if any of these stories originate before The
Exorcist, or if the film was the cause of
these legends. I realize that much of this may be explained in
The Exorcist II, but I don’t remember
that film very well, and most don’t consider it in the same
"continuity" of The Exorcist
and The Exorcist III.
4) The almost subliminal "Death Face," which was flashed on the screen for only a few frames. I can't try to explain it; it's just REAL spooky. There is also a shot that looks like half of Regan’s head is superimposed with another shot of her head, to a similar effect. I also found the shot of Regan on the bed, with the image of the demon’s statue from Iraq superimposed behind her, effective.
5) The scenes with Regan/The Demon talking backwards. These were also very spooky scenes. I find the sound of reversed speech quite effective in a horror movie; it sounds alien and unnatural.
6) In a lot of people's minds, possession is not impossible. The concept is compatible with the Judeo-Christian beliefs which a great many people hold. I personally believe that all historical accounts of possession can be explained away as psychological illness (as Father Damien Karras would have done in the beginning of the film). Although the logical part of my brain knows this, the emotional part still thinks this is possible. Related to this point, the blasphemous images and lines in the film also "tweak" that emotional response as well.
Of course, this is all my opinion. These are the reasons that the movie was effective to ME. Your results will vary. I also found Exorcist III to be a fine horror movie. It didn’t make me scared, but it’s a great flick, and it made me jump a few times.
This year (1998) is the 25th anniversary of the film , and I am excited to report that it will be re-released in theaters, with added scenes rescued from the cutting-room floor. Among these is the famous "Crab Walking" scene. I saw a still of this in a magazine a few years ago (probably Fangoria), and it looked awfully creepy. In this shot, Regan "walks" down the steps on her hands and feet, back-down, her stomach arched into the air. I’m looking forward to seeing what other scenes have been added. I also hear that George Lucas cleaned up the special effects with computers… Oh wait, never mind, wrong movie…
A few years ago I was visiting my sister in Washington, DC, and we were in Georgetown. She said to me, "Hey, those are the steps from The Exorcist. Let's go take some pictures." So we stopped by these steps, and I said, "No, these aren't the steps, they look totally different." But I took some pictures anyway.
 |
| The fatal steps. According to newspaper accounts, they are located at Prospect Street and 36th Street NW in Georgetown and lead down to M Street. (Photo (c) Washington Post. |
When I got home, and watched the movie again, sure enough, those were the steps. Don't ask me for directions, she was driving. But if you want to see them, they're there somewhere.
Article copyright (c) Tim Laplaca
Thanks, Tim! Your article should certainly prompt horror fans to check out The Exorcist again and see if, after 25 years, it can still scare the devil out of them. And, of course, there's the promised mini-series written by "Exorcist" author William Peter Blatty (with all new special effects promised) to compare the original to...
