Movie 16 The Exorcist

Possibly the scariest movie of all time?

Cast: Linda Blair, Ellen Burstyn, Jason Miller, Max Von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty Winn.

Director: William Friedkin

I've fallen behind on these, and I'm hoping to play a big ole' game of catch-up today with one of my favorite franchises ever.  When I originally planned to start this blog, "Exorcist" was slated to get the ball rolling and, sadly, Wes Craven went and died and that plan got shot to shit.  Now, I'm back to it.  I had originally chosen it as the start-off because A) it very well might be my favorite horror film ever and B) I had actually just re-read the book (after reading the quite excellent "Legion", which went on to become the highly-underrated "Exorcist III") and found it to just as potent and interesting as I had remembered it to be.  Also, half a dozen conversations with a friend about the brilliance of the film and Blattys novels...and the deep-seated philosophies of what I like to call "Religion for Athiests" that exist at the heart of those books.  I'm going to try not to make this one big "book vs. movie" comparison...but I promise nothing.  It's definitely worth reading, though.

I had first watched "The Exorcist" when I was in my mid-teens, I think.  My Mother had been a fan and, when I had finished by first awkward forays into the horror world with franchise sequels, she invited me to join her in a viewing of the film.  It was kind of a big deal to me at the time...it had been something of a forbidden legend until that point.  The stories of people fainting, of Evangelists decrying the film for actually containing real evil Demons, to just the general terror that came from the film.  I do vaguely remember a time when I was very young when the local news showed footage of the film-not sure why-and that it deeply frightened me.  It wasn't so much the imagery, but the idea...the concept of demonic possession (or, perhaps more accurately, the idea of someone BEING possessed and running around the house at night laughing horribly) just freaked me right out.  I remember my Father sitting me down and explaining it couldn't happen because Jesus had cast the demons out in The Bible and my not really buying that.  

The seemingly on-location work early on in the film-with Father Merrin sensing the return of his old enemy-is really well shot and basically right out of the book.  Of course, William Peter Blatty-the writer of the book-wrote the screenplay (won an Oscar for it, one of the very few horror films to get Oscar recognition) and allegedly was greatly involved in the films production.  I believe it, considering how closely the film really does follow the novel.  I think my only gripe with book vs. movie comparisons is Ellen Burstyn as Chris Macneil.  Not that Burstyn does a poor job in the film-far from it- she just doesn't have the youth and vulnerability I read in Chris.  But, she really nails her performance.

Jason Miller is so phenomenal as Father Damian Karras.  The character is filled with such conflict, regret, emotion and deep sadness and Miller brings all of them to forefront without coming across as self-pitying or a sad-sack.  Hard character, great performance.  

There's such a wonderful matter-of-factness to "The Exorcist."  Friedkin does love his "power in simplicity."  He also loves set-pieces.  Characters move through only a few real locations, and the camera just traces their movements.  Whether it's the quad of a university-smartly following Chris through a crowd and then changing direction and focusing on a small Father Carras walking away from the scene-or Karras moving sadly through a subway ("Can ya help an old altah-boy, Faddah?"), the camera just follows the movements of the actors through space.  

What a transformation Linda Blair goes through in this film.  From warm, sweet young Reagan to the monstrous demon.  Reagan isn't given much characterization-nor does she in the novel, really-but we get enough to understand the horror of what's happening.  It's such a large part of what makes the story for horrifying.  It wouldn't be the same if it was an adult...which, of course, is a huge part of Karras' mindset later on.  

Captain Howdy, you bastard.  The Demon really is kind of dick, starting with his snub of Chris Macneil.  Howdy does not think Chris is pretty.  Jerk.

Actually, Captain Howdy and the scene following-of Reagan shyly asking about her Mothers sex life- underscores the other horrific subtext of this story: that of sexual abuse.  Howdy is a seducer of the innocent, and brings ideas of sexual intimacy into the head of that innocent.  The book adds some stuff that the movie doesn't really get into-like just what exactly Burke Dennings was doing in Reagans room when his head was twisted around-as well as Karras and his own struggles with being celibate(it's not a big part, just kinda hinted at: Chris Macneil is quite the looker, after all)...the film just kinda toys with it a little and then lets it be quiet background noise to the over-all violation that Reagan is subjected to.  It's probably a wise move, really: the book has a lot more time and space to dig around in the psychological undertones and thematic horrors lurking throughout the greater subject matter.  We certainly get the gist of it.

Not that I mind, but I never really understood why they left the church desecration in the film.  Lt.Kinderman's role is reduced in the film-he technically gets involved after the desecration and Dennings untimely death, believing the two things to be related, which ultimately leads him smack dab in the middle of the exorcism being performed on Reagan-but he's necessary...but I don't remember the film really tying those elements together in the end.  

Poor Father Karras.  The fact that he has no money to care for his Mother because of his faith...very tragic.  Karras and his crisis of faith is crucial to the story, both because of the pure drama of it but also because of Blattys desire to discuss faith with people who may not have any.  Karras doesn't really triumph because of God-or does he?-but because of the spiritual purity he discovers in the nature of sacrifice and loving a young girl he had never really even met.

Y'know, I have two jokes I want to get out from one scene.  The first is my making reference to when I make cryptic statements to people at parties and then pee on the floor.  It was going to be pretty good, but really...kinda obvious.  I'd probably blame the booze.  The other was going to be what my idea of Heaven is: it's not an all-white nightclub where I'm the headliner and they love me...it involves Linda Carter dressed as Wonder Woman, Lisa Wilcox, and...well, that's kinda it, really.  Probably still ends with "...and they love me!"  And then me making cryptic comments and peeing on the floor.

I often spit at Doctors and hurl profanity at them, too.  So, I sympathize, Reagan.  Hospitals kinda suck.

It's interesting to me that the story-both movie and book-never takes a swipe at medical science.  Of course, Blatty really wanted the discussion between science and religion to be at the center of everything, and for both to be perfectly valid, so it shouldn't come as a surprise.  In fact, the investigation and solution for Reagans condition is uniformly barbaric and somehow primally savage.  I mean, the EKG scene is probably one of the more horrific scenes in the film and it doesn't involve a bit of demonic shenanigans.  But the movie makes it clear that these Doctors-while totally at a loss to solve Reagans problem-really are doing the best they can under the circumstances.  They aren't mean, or stupid, they just don't have the real answer.  It makes Chris Macneils frustration all the more palpable and relatable.  

I remember having my first genuine jolt when the Doctors walk into the bedroom and find Reagan bouncing up and down screaming "He's trying to kill me" and "It's burning!"  Then she falls back and those eyes roll up with a horrible growl...I remember the growl and the white eyes kinda freaking me out more than her subsequent outbursts...even though, again, sexual violence.  Shrieking "Fuck me" and "Stay away, the sow is mine..." creepy stuff.  Creepy, violent, sexually explicit stuff.  I feel like we can't help but laugh in out own frustration when, despite seeing the things they see, still say "Uh, temporal lobe?"  Followed by more barbaric medical sequences. 

I sorta started that thought earlier and didn't get too far...what I mean when I saw that both medicine and religion both bring a barbaric, archaic mentality, I mean that both basically respond by strapping the girl down and performing rituals (or tests, for medicine...but aren't they kinda the same thing, really?) despite her discomfort.  Sure, in the end, we understand that she really is possessed and the only ones who can do anything about it are performing their rituals, but it's still a barbaric thing.

Okay, so I am watching the original theatrical version and not "the version you've never seen."  That's okay.  I like both.  The newer one...I remember seeing it in the theater with some friends.  I legitimately man-screamed during the "spiderwalk" scene...it really did frighten me, probably more than any other sequence in a horror film.  My friends gave me a hard time about it...funnily enough, long after they dropped me off home, both called me individually because-I shit you not-they were both scared to walk into their homes alone.  Both stated what did them in, though, was when Chris walks into the house and the lights are flickering...in the director's cut version, the spooky white-face thing flickers around in the shot.  Walking into their darkened homes, they couldn't stop seeing it...so they called me.  Just a funny story.

Kinderman!  While Lee J. Cobb is no George C. Scott, he still has a fun time playing Columbo. Kinderman is an incredible character in the book(tying in heavily into Karl The Manservant and his subplot).  He's more an afterthought here, but still has a ball and is used more for comic relief.  Cobb is great, though, and the scene between him and Miller is excellent.  "It was the Domicans, go pick on them."  We still get enough to see that Kinderman is good at his job, though, and that's really what's important: even though the potential discovery of Reagan-as-killer is never really discussed in any real detail in the film.  I mean, there is a lot of tension in his scene with Chris...I mean, that's apparent...and then paid off with one of the most intense scares of the film.  Masterbation with a crucifix, forcing her Mothers face into her crotch, head twisting around...holy crap, that's some intense stuff.

Not featured: Jesus.

The Pea Soup thing is a masterful scene, as is Karras and his first experiments to discover if she is truly possessed.  Linda Blair is truly fantastic in the role: far beyond her years, I'm sure.  I'm not so sure you could do a movie like this today with a child actor in this kind of role.  I mean, there is some dark stuff out there today starring children but...these moments, of Blair becoming an entirely different and wholly malevolent entity, are extraordinary and very aggressive.  Of course, most people know the stories of Friedkin terrorizing his cast to the point of insanity (with Miller famously at least threatening to punch the director in the face when Friedkin fired a gun off in order to get Miller to give a "genuine" reaction, and Blair getting very sick because Friedkin actually subjected her to long hours in incredibly cold conditions), which is also not likely something you could get away with today.  Miller gives as good as he gets, too.  Can't say enough about how fantastic Miller is throughout this film.  Both he and Blair are great sports about getting gross stuff tossed all over them, too.

I'm not sure any scene is so iconic while being so simple as Lancaster Merrin exiting the cab in the fog, overseeing the house.  It's practically nothing, but it's so incredible.

Max Von Sydow fully embodies Father Merrin.  His dialogue is right out of the book, with some big but necessary omissions (there simply isn't time, after all.  Merrin has a couple of scenes in the book with some admittedly heavy-handed but purposeful ruminations on the themes and ideas the story presents), but they aren't really needed.  We just understand Merrin.  Merrin is the superman of catholicism.  It's wonderful.  We meet him and boom we're right into the big finale, and what an extraordinary one it is.

There's something to be said about how well the effects hold up today.  It's partially the pure movie-making magic of the scene in its entirety: the scene is pure ferocity.  It just goes big and doesn't stop.  Reagan shrieking obscenities and grunting like an animal, her face monstrous...and the Priests just keep going.  If you haven't read the book: none of Reagans  dialogue or actions are made up for the film, they're all there in the original novel including one of my favorite taunts ever: "Your Mother sucks cocks in hell."  But the effects really hold up.  They're simple: beds float, dummy heads spin around, walls and doors crack...but it works.  Holy cow does it work.

I don't think religion has ever looked as badass as it does in "The Exorcist."  Max Von Sydow and Jason Miller roaring "The power of christ compells you" is just so intense and powerful.  The film concentrates the action on the exorcism and ditches some ancillary elements from the novel, such as Chris and Sharon being in the room during a sizeable amount of it, and the IV drip Damian places on Reagan, which provides another stark contrast to his lack of faith in both religion and in himself.  Without those things, though, the scene becomes much more intense, which is the name of the game on film.  Blatty really did make all the right moves in adapting a very philosophical and wordy novel into an entirely visual piece.  

I mentioned it earlier in this blog about Karras being victorious because of finding faith-not in God, but in himself and a basic sense of decency and compassion-and sacrificing himself for the well-being of a person he never really knew.  It's a brutal, barbaric one...harking back to what I saying earlier about this film being very much about savagery in a multitude of ways...but in the end Karras offers himself-a far greater prize-to the demon and manages to overcome it long enough to take it with him.  It's a wonderful idea: in the end, the understanding or even loving of God is of no consequence, only the undertaking of the ideas presented: loving thy neighbor, self-sacrifice and humility against the unknown...that's all that really matters.

Like I said before, the book and its sequel are both very much "Religion for Athiests" and the discussion of understanding those basic ideals of decency and morality and their being of greater importance to the nature of man than the worship of any diety.  Karras, being something of an author avatar for Blatty (himself a former jesuit and psychiatrist who, ultimately, left the Priesthood under a crisis of faith), gets all of it in the end (partially through the example and, ultimately, the sacrifice of Father Merrin) and wins the day.  It's wonderful stuff.  Sadly, it leads to "Exorcist II: The Heretic" which is on next and...fills me with an entirely different kind of dread.

As for final thoughts, there isn't much to add.  Friedkins direction is sparse and matter-of-fact which ultimately brings the movies key horrors into the harsh light of day and making them all the more fascinating and frightening.  Every actor gives everything they have to the roles, sometimes maybe even too much, but every scene has a sort of simple intensity.  Blatty won an Oscar for his script, because it was extraordinary, but sadly had a limited (and underrated) role in Hollywood going forward afterwards.  It's an astonishing piece of film-making, and should forever be remembered as one of the all-time greats.

Final Rating: 4 and a half stars.