One quick observation about The Exorcist
sam...@my-deja.com
As many times as I've seen the Exorcist, there was something creepy I
never noticed until I saw the special edition this past Saturday. Chris
finds the crucifix under Regan's pillow, then interrogates Sharon and
the servants as to who put it there. She is interrupted by the arrival
of Lt. Kinderman, and places the crucifix on the table at the bottom of
the stairs. Chris and Kinderman then have their long conversation
downstairs, and he leaves; Chris then runs upstairs to find Regan
mutilating herself with the crucifix.
What struck me for the first time was -- how did Regan get the crucifix
back? Well, obviously -- she came downstairs sometime during the
conversation with Kinderman. They never see or hear her, but obviously
she came down there.
It's a subtle detail, but an effective one nonetheless. The only time
we see possessed Regan leave her room on her own is during the
reinserted spider-walk sequence. However, she actually leaves her room
three times under influence of the demon during the film. Two of those
times, we don't even see her do it (once to retrieve the crucifix, and
another time to do the clay desecration at the church). Creepy, eh? Or
did everyone else always notice this, and I'm just slow? ;-)
Sam
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Before you buy.
Ossicle
That's an interesting observation -- certainly I never noticed the
detail about the crucifix. It also never struck me/occurred to me that
Regan would've been the one who desecreated the church. I always
assumed it was either Old Nick himself, or that he'd riled up the
psyches of some hoodlums that night to go in and commit the vandalism.
O
sam...@my-deja.com
Ossicle <oss...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> It also never struck me/occurred to me that
> Regan would've been the one who desecreated the church. I always
> assumed it was either Old Nick himself, or that he'd riled up the
> psyches of some hoodlums that night to go in and commit the vandalism.
Regan did the desecration herself, which is made clearer in the book.
Remember the small clay sculpture Lt. Kinderman finds at the bottom of
the steps (obviously one of Regan's sculptures that had fallen fro the
window)? In the book, he finds the sculpture is made of the same clay
that was used in the church desecration. So at some point, Regan left
the house.
Sam
Ossicle
sam...@my-deja.com wrote:
> Regan did the desecration herself, which is made clearer in the book.
> Remember the small clay sculpture Lt. Kinderman finds at the bottom of
> the steps (obviously one of Regan's sculptures that had fallen fro the
> window)? In the book, he finds the sculpture is made of the same clay
> that was used in the church desecration. So at some point, Regan left
> the house.
>
> Sam
Thanks! I was wondering whether the book might've ben more explicit
about this -- though I admit I forgot that Kinderman found the
sculpture in the church (d'oh!). I guess she was there, all right.
Must've been quite a sight for anyone who happened to walk past her in
the street...
O
eddith
I read both your posts and you made some good points. I'm a huge fan
of this film as well and no movie has ever drawn such an emotional
response from me as the Exorcist. Anyways I like what you mentioned
about how the crucifix ended up back in Regan's room but I wonder if
it was implied that she was the one who went downstairs to recover it
or was it simply a flaw in the story that went overlooked. Considering
Friedken's immaculate attention to detail in this flic I would be
inclined to believe the former.. but who knows. As far as the
desecration of the virgin Mary statue in the church I never believed
that it was Regan who committed the act herself.. rather I believe
that it was Pazuzu that somehow caused it without the need for a human
"shell" such as Regan.
Anyways I'll post a few of my own comments on what I thought of the
new theatric release of this film.
First off everything I saw I really liked with the exception of
Regan's foulmouthed visit to the doctors office.. it just seemed too
scripted and artificial to me and stood in stark contrast to the
quality of the rest of the film.. I just found Linda Blair acting too
bratty in this scene.. oh well no big deal.
I also could have lived without the superimpositions of Pazuzu in the
kitchen and Regan's bedroom scene.. i.e. where they show the statue in
an almost subliminal ghost-like manner. No real harm done again, but
unnecessary and I found that digital effects were an insult to the
brilliance of the original special effects.. mind you I'm not sure if
digital effects were used in the spider-walk scene.
As far as the spider-walk scene was concerned.. it totally caught me
off-guard and it was genuinely creepy. I loved it and found it very
chilling.
Now before I mention anything else (which I will do in another
subsequent post) I have to say that seeing this movie in a dark
theatre was a treat and no home viewing experience could even come
close to replicating the intensity of the "big screen" with "big
sound".
I did want to throw in one comment about the audience. Small
audience.. approx 30 people.. some laughter but to me it all seemed
like a nervous and awkward manifestation of how people were reacting
to what they were seeing and hearing in there. Not at all a mocking
kind of laughter you hear in cheesy horror flics or the genuine type
you hear in a comedy film. What led me to believe this was the fact
that I have never in my life sat in a theatre where the audience was
so captivated by a film... I kid you not, you could hear a fucking pin
drop. Simply awesome! People had their eyes glued to the screen and
their mouths shut.
Anyways I could write for years about the Exorcist but let me cut this
short by mentioning the best part of all.......
I went with my girlfriend to this knowing that she scares easy and
hates horror films.. anyways, by the scene where Karras is sitting at
the bedside challenging the demon to show him some proof.. i.e. "that
would be a vulgar display of power Karras.." my girlfriend was crying
like a baby from fear and I had no choice but to take her out of
there!!! Shit.. what a bummer!! Oh well I love her and her peace of
mind is more important to me.. guess I'll just have to convince a
buddy to go with me tomorrow night or I'll even go see it alone if I
have to.
I'd love to hear more feedback from others who were blessed to see it
in the theatres. Damn we're lucky. Great fucking flic and to this day
it whips the ass of all other horror films in my opinion.
overmind1
BunBun
> It's a subtle detail, but an effective one nonetheless. The only time
> we see possessed Regan leave her room on her own is during the
> reinserted spider-walk sequence. However, she actually leaves her room
> three times under influence of the demon during the film. Two of those
> times, we don't even see her do it (once to retrieve the crucifix, and
> another time to do the clay desecration at the church). Creepy, eh? Or
> did everyone else always notice this, and I'm just slow? ;-)
>
> Sam
Regan couldn't have left the room, except for the spider walk, because
she was tied up with straps. Since she was possessed by Pazuzu, and he
is some kind of flying god, I think either he or her spirit took for the
friendly skies and travelled to trash the church, and then a telekinetic
obtaining of the crucifix, since Paz was able to do that as well.
Rocio
sam...@my-deja.com
> Regan couldn't have left the room, except for the spider walk,
because she was tied up with straps. Since she was possessed by
Pazuzu, and he is some kind of flying god, I think either he or her
spirit took for the friendly skies and travelled to trash the church,
and then a telekinetic obtaining of the crucifix, since Paz was able to
do that as well.
> Rocio
At the time of the church desecration and Kinderman's visit to the
house, Regan wasn't yet strapped to her bed. And the book makes a clear
tie between Regan's homemade clay sculptures and the clay used in the
church desecration.
Sam