The Exorcist: The Complete Anthology (1973-2005)

[crutzulee]

Wow..You step away for a day and all hell breaks loose in this thread!!

I love the discussion here from zany theories on the secondary meanings of the themes to the technical examination of how these movies should be presented.

As a parent, I am particularly interested in the discussion of age appropriateness. I agonized over the decision to finally screen ALIEN for my kids last weekend (Boy 12 and Girl 10). As a film lover, I recognize the importance of the fact that you only get one "first viewing" of a particular film. It is important to me that I introduce my kids to the classics at an age that they can not only just "handle" the material without being traumatized but that they can appreciate the nuances of the story.

As they get older, I will have less and less control over the timing at which they will experience different film genres. While I want them to see John Carpenter's Halloween before they are subjected to lesser "boogyman" fare, I am not going to show a slasher to my 12 year old. At the same time, I have no desire to sit through the TWILIGHT series. Yet I'll be damned if I will let them see that crap before they have seen An American Werewolf in London. The balance is indeed difficult and depends on the child, the movie and the themes involved...

Which leads me to the Exorcist...Ironically, I believe that having grown up in an old school Catholic home, I was introduced to this film at an earlier age than I would deem appropriate precisely to elicit a certain response. That was to put the fear of God (or rather the devil) into me...and it worked...to a degree. I probably held on to my Catholic belief system longer than I normally would have out of fear that to abandon it and embrace rationality would be to condemn my mortal soul.
I have raised my kids differently. As I stated in an earlier post, they can never get what I get out of this film. It still has the ability to take me back to that scared little boy and the time, place and mindset that he inhabitted..I will hold this film from them until they are better able to appreciate the personal dynamics explored. The crisis of faith of Father Karas, the lifelong struggle of Father Merrin, Chris's fear that she is screwing up her child (a fear that all good parents struggle with)..

Incidently, I nailed it with the timing of ALIEN..So glad that they got to appreciate GOOD Sci-Fi before Jerry Bruckheimer got a hold of them..

[MrHT]

Originally Posted by crutzulee

Wow..You step away for a day and all hell breaks loose in this thread!!

That's because they're all possessed.

[Dylan34]

Originally Posted by SymbioticFunction

A child undergoing painful medical procedures. Death of a mother and guilt over possible neglect. Priests suffering from a crisis of faith. Yeah...comedy gold.

Right? I find it utterly ridiculous when people say they laugh all thru this film. I call major BS on that!!!

[happydood]

Originally Posted by Dylan34

Right? I find it utterly ridiculous when people say they laugh all thru this film. I call major BS on that!!!

I've seen it twice in the theater. First, at a revival screening of the theatrical and secondly, at a screening of The Version I Like A Lot Less.

Both times, there was laughter. A lot of it. But it was that sort of distancing/ trying to be ironic and hip laughter that I think is trying to exert mastery over uncomfortable material. By the time the first big thing happens in the bedroom with her and her mother and the Burke Dennings voice you could have heard a pin drop for the rest of the film.

But I can imagine there are plenty of those folks who will try to see the whole thing ironically out there. And I maintain if none of the sequels existed, the film would likely still retain a lot more of the reputation it once had.

[TwelveVacancies]

Of the two screenings I attended last year, the only laughter came from when the doctor lit up a cigarette in his office, and maybe a few giggles at the "stick your c**k up her a**..." line towards the end.

IMO the only "funny" scenes in the film are when there's light-hearted banter between the priests and Kinderman. I fail to see how any other parts could be seen as humorous - especially when people say they found the crucifix scene hilarious.

[iank]

I hate to break it to anyone, but there's no such thing as demons or devils either...

This is a creepy film, but how it's scarier than Halloween (the original at least) is beyond me. Psycho with a knife seems a considerably more likely (and thus scary) scenario to me...

[Bumblefeet]

For those who pre-ordered regular shipping from amazon.com to europe, my set arrived today. One of the tiny disc holder arrows broke off (exorcist II) but no harm done as the disc holds well in place. I'm surprised at it just being a standard thin blu-ray set, figured it would have been slightly thicker case.

As I've already seen The Exorcist, Exorcist Beginning's HD versions I'm looking forward to Exorcist III & Dominion the most!

[Dylan34]

Originally Posted by Bumblefeet

For those who pre-ordered regular shipping from amazon.com to europe, my set arrived today. One of the tiny disc holder arrows broke off (exorcist II) but no harm done as the disc holds well in place. I'm surprised at it just being a standard thin blu-ray set, figured it would have been slightly thicker case.

As I've already seen The Exorcist, Exorcist Beginning's HD versions I'm looking forward to Exorcist III & Dominion the most!

The Exorcist lll looks pretty good actually. The review gives it a 3 in PQ but I would say 3.5, even 3.75.

[#Darren]

Originally Posted by happydood

I've seen it twice in the theater. First, at a revival screening of the theatrical and secondly, at a screening of The Version I Like A Lot Less.

Both times, there was laughter. A lot of it. But it was that sort of distancing/ trying to be ironic and hip laughter that I think is trying to exert mastery over uncomfortable material. By the time the first big thing happens in the bedroom with her and her mother and the Burke Dennings voice you could have heard a pin drop for the rest of the film.

I saw it at the cinema with some friends in the 90's. My friends fiance walked out because it freaked her out.

[balthazar_bee]

Originally Posted by happydood

I've seen it twice in the theater. First, at a revival screening of the theatrical and secondly, at a screening of The Version I Like A Lot Less.

Yeah, I've revisited the non-director's director's extended but not preferred version only a handful of times. The theatrical version is damn near perfect as far as I'm concerned, and while some of additions are interesting in and of themselves, none of them are necessary. And several actively hurt the film.

[Eny-]

The DC is worth by the Spiderwalk scene alone but I hate the alternate ending. The original is perfect.

[Mr. Thomsen]

Originally Posted by happydood

Well, of course everyone can be affected by the movie. It's extremely well made and the fears of a parent and fears of hospitals and fears of dying and what happens after the fact are universal. BUT you must admit that the Catholic imagery and the Catholic idiom in which the story is told might play a lttle more stongly on superstitious people raised with a Catholic perspective, yes?

Yes, I suspect you are right (I think I wrote as much in my edit above). While all the things that go bump in the night should work on anyone with an amygdala, I think it is very likely that religious people, and especially catholics, may be affected more strongly. It's basically a call to arms (evil is a real force in the world that you must fight).

[Mr. Thomsen]

Originally Posted by happydood

And I've got to add: when we expect other people to behave rationally, we start behaving irrationally. These are assumptions you simply don't have the perspective to make. I don't know what anybody's really thinking except to say I know you don't either.

You are, of course, right. And I apologize sincerely for the drama to the rest of the users in this thread!

All I can say is, I loathe dishonest argumentation, and when someone deliberately tries to link horror movies to hardcore pornography in what is otherwise a relevant and potentially interesting discussion about the appropriate age for children to watch scary movies, they lose every chance of being taken seriously by me.

But fear not, I have put slimkook on ignore, so our pie throwing contest shall not derail the thread further.

[Mr. Thomsen]

Originally Posted by Impossible

I've never considered The Exorcist a horror, it is a drama. I'd add it to the list of films like Requiem for a Dream and Irreversible that are just so hard to watch that they are considered horrific, but I wouldn't call them horrors either, they are dramas.

Well, it certainly transcends genres, as ditcin writes, just as so many other big budget Hollywood productions do (Jaws is another good example from the same period). And it definitely has elements of the drama - the rather long introduction to the characters and their everyday life, for example, and the whole segment about the doctors.

But I must admit I am a bit at loss how anyone can think of The Exorcist as anything but a horror movie? Especially since it's so widely considered the quintessential scary movie and often tops lists of the best in the genre.

I suspect, though, that it all boils down to how you define a horror movie?

[eiknarf]

Originally Posted by Mr. Thomsen

Well, it certainly transcends genres, as ditcin writes, just as so many other big budget Hollywood productions do (Jaws is another good example from the same period). And it definitely has elements of the drama - the rather long introduction to the characters and their everyday life, for example, and the whole segment about the doctors.

But I must admit I am a bit at loss how anyone can think of The Exorcist as anything but a horror movie? Especially since it's so widely considered the quintessential scary movie and often tops lists of the best in the genre.

I suspect, though, that it all boils down to how you define a horror movie?

That's because "Horror" is too broad a term. There's sub-genre's associated with "horror":

Horror > Slasher (Friday the 13th / Halloween)
Horror > Drama (Black Swan / Requiem for a Dream)
Horror > Suspense or Mystery (Se7en / Silence of the Lambs)
Horror > Super natural (Exorcist / The Conjuring)

[Mr. Thomsen]

Originally Posted by happydood

I've seen it twice in the theater. First, at a revival screening of the theatrical and secondly, at a screening of The Version I Like A Lot Less.

Both times, there was laughter. A lot of it. But it was that sort of distancing/ trying to be ironic and hip laughter that I think is trying to exert mastery over uncomfortable material. By the time the first big thing happens in the bedroom with her and her mother and the Burke Dennings voice you could have heard a pin drop for the rest of the film.

But I can imagine there are plenty of those folks who will try to see the whole thing ironically out there. And I maintain if none of the sequels existed, the film would likely still retain a lot more of the reputation it once had.

I watched The Version I Never Want to See Again in the theater, and there was plenty of laughter from kids around me. Hell, the same thing also happened when I watched Halloween at our local film museum last year.

I think it's inevitable that older horror movies lose (some of) their power to scare new audiences. One of the reasons is probably that film evolves fast. How stories were told technically, how they are paced, what they focused upon etc. is very different when you compare a movie from the 70s to one from today. And for some of the "cool" kids this is a hurdle that's hard to overcome. Others, as you say, laugh as some way to ironically distance themselves from it all.

[Mr. Thomsen]

Originally Posted by eiknarf

That's because "Horror" is too broad a term. There's sub-genre's associated with "horror":

Horror > Slasher (Friday the 13th / Halloween)
Horror > Drama (Black Swan / Requiem for a Dream)
Horror > Suspense or Mystery (Se7en / Silence of the Lambs)
Horror > Super natural (Exorcist / The Conjuring)

Oh, trust me, I know.

Books have been written about that exact issue.

The main problem is, that horror (cinematically) is one of the oldest genres. It spans so many decades, and has been used to describe a rather diverse group of films. It's hard to come up with a satisfactory definition that describes both Frankenstein and Hostel, The Innocents and Friday the 13th, etc. It necessarily becomes very vague.

[Eny-]

Originally Posted by Mr. Thomsen

I watched The Version I Never Want to See Again in the theater, and there was plenty of laughter from kids around me. Hell, the same thing also happened when I watched Halloween at our local film museum last year.

I think it's inevitable that older horror movies lose (some of) their power to scare new audiences. One of the reasons is probably that film evolves fast. How stories were told technically, how they are paced, what they focused upon etc. is very different when you compare a movie from the 70s to one from today. And for some of the "cool" kids this is a hurdle that's hard to overcome. Others, as you say, laugh as some way to ironically distance themselves from it all.

Times are different, the world is faster and kids are desensitized.

There's a reason movies today are riddled with fast cuts, fast action, thiner plots...

They also have the internet which exposes them to things far worst than the Exorcist.

[lolwut]

Originally Posted by Kryptonic

Actually, I don't. Friday the 13th (the original) is pretty tame compared to The Exorcist. A film whose scenes of terror are really just there to shock the audience into submission and are so ridiculously over the top that, for me, it's always had the opposite effect.

Someone mentioned the scenes in the hospital being hard to watch. I definitely agree. Those are much more terrifying than any of the possession scenes.

I don't understand how this is a complaint against a horror film that's part of a genre whose intent is to do just that.

Originally Posted by stvn1974

Slasher movies like Friday The 13th, Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and Nightmare On Elm Street I find to be scary, or at least they were the first few times I saw them, but I have never been scared by or found the Exorcist creepy. In fact I find the entire thing to be hilarious. To me it is just a girl who looks funny saying nasty things and spitting up. Now part III is scary. Perhaps if I was religious I might find The Exorcist scary and it would bother me but it doesn't.

I always find comments like this incredibly immature, like you're bragging that you weren't scared by the "scariest movie ever made". Like kids do, you know?

[ditcin]

Through the years I've seen THE EXORCIST 12 times in the theater. From its original release and most of the releases. The audience reaction differed with each. It was much later, from the 80s on that laughter was part of the audience experience - along with that was the pot smoking too.
I suppose that says it all.
However, I never encountered young children with their parents.
I remember seeing the original DAWN OF THE DEAD when it first came out in limited release due to it non-rating. I was shocked to see two very small children - about 5 in the theater with their parents and thinking, "what idiots". Thankfully the kids weren't paying attention and were just running around the theater.
This was just before the non-rating of the film forced it to play at midnight only. It was a shocking and disturbing experience for me that's for sure.

When I first saw THE EXORCIST if didn't bother me at all. I was 13, and it was a birthday gift from my bother who was 21. I had already read the book so I was prepared. My bother who had seen months previous in Nov. took me in June. He was deeply affected by it, but not scared.
To this day I have a friend who won't watch it at night in the dark; he's in his late 40s.
Yet when I've shown it to people of different ages, in my home are all have been affected and none had laughed.
From the those I've shown it to all have been shocked and some scared, even after the film was finished. One stated that it really mess with her mind.