subscribe to this page"'The Exorcist' Fairly Close to the Mark." National Catholic Reporter 1 Sept. 2000. FindArticles. Penn Library, Philadelphia. 5 Apr. 2006 <http://www.findarticles.com>.
This article discusses how some exorcists from the Catholic Church have spoken up about the accuracy of the 1973 film, The Exorcist. Regarding an industry (film) that is continually criticized for inflating its subject matter, these exorcists claim the movie to be fairly similar to what they have personally witnessed. One exorcist actually declared the events in the movie, famously known for their vulgarity, to be tame in comparison to exorcisms he has seen. Additionally, the chief exorcist of Rome regards the film as a reliable representation.
This accuracy makes sense because the film and the novel it was based on were inspired by an allegedly true story. During the 1940’s a young boy was witnessed doing supernatural things. Subsequently he went through an exorcism that was later portrayed by the young Linda Blair in The Exorcist. Priests who performed this exorcism have attested to the films authenticity citing words unexplainably scratched into the boy’s body. Additionally they recall the Archangel Michael speak through the boys body, freeing him of the possession. The boy apparently made a remarkable recovery at that moment and went on to live a happy normal life.
This article, published by the National Catholic Reporter, shows that the belief in exorcisms as a way of healing is still alive today in the Catholic community. Though many things that were once attributed to demonic possession are today cured by modern medicine, there are people who believe in possession. The Exorcist touched on a real fear of many Americans. Perhaps this is why it was so horrifying and became such a sensation.Pearlman, Cindy. "A Haunting Experience." Chicago Sun-Times 24 Sept. 2000. FindArticles. Philadelphia. 4 Apr. 2006.
Today Linda Blair is almost a normal woman, except for the fact that she can’t escape people’s memories as the sick, deranged girl from The Exorcist who made their stomach churn. The film is infamous for audience members vomiting in the theater as she did on the screen in front of them. But before Blair was cast, she was an unknown child actress about to quit. Instead she took the lead roll of possessed child Regan in The Exorcist and it catapulted her to a level of fame she never recovered from.
As a young girl she went to work everyday to be turned into such an ugly monster that she always wanted to go home. Once day she even fractured her back due to the violent shaking she underwent while imitating demonic possession. Eventually filming did end and Blair went home to relax. However, the film took the horror genre and Blair to a new status. She was continually frightened by crazed fans who could not disassociate the young star from her character. Blair remembers running through the streets of Japan while being chased by a mob of fans. She needed body guards to protect her for six months.
In addition to this stress, Blair lived the rest of her childhood under the microscope of the media as many young stars do. Thus every mistake of hers, including a drug arrest, was inflated and displayed for the world to see. She claims it took her years to regain a reputable image. The Exorcist made Linda Blair famous beyond her wildest dreams but in retrospect one has to wonder if a child star really ever knows what they are getting into.This section discusses emotion in regards to films of different genres. It professes that horror films are intended to elicit a compound emotion. The obvious first element to that compound is fear. This fear is usually drawn from a lethal, supernatural threat such as a monster or a demon in the case of The Exorcist. Because the antagonists are hostile and possess great super abilities, they are perceived as very dangerous and the audience fears for the human characters in the film.
Along with fear, the second component of the emotion provoked by horror movies is disgust. Many films stimulate fear in the viewers without disgusting them, but they aren’t horror films. A horror film needs to make the viewer uncomfortable, sick inside, and scared all at the same time. Such has been accomplished in The Exorcist when the head of the possessed character, Regan, spins her neck around and she vomits intensely all over the room. This disgust can be attributed to the theme of impurities of the antagonist. The antagonists are unclean, and the thought of being near them is nauseating for the audience.
Thus the objective in a horror film is to trigger fear as well as disgust from the viewer. The intended fear in the antagonist is generally achieved from its hostile actions such as a demon taking possession of Regan. Disgust of the antagonist is generally achieved when the viewer’s archetypal concepts are challenged. Often the antagonist is a self-contradicting hybrid such as a demon within a young girl in The Exorcist. Regan is assumed to be a cute child but instead she is a disfigured, foul mouth, supernatural threat. Consequently the combination of fear and disgust of Regan galvanizes a horrific emotional reaction.
Price, Stephen. Movies and Meaning an Introduction to Film. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 1997. 250-252.
In The Exorcist, the antagonist seems to be the little girl, Regan. However, Regan is actually the victim of the true antagonist, a demon residing within her. The demon is taking on the appearance of Regan and hence taking on human characteristics. Here normality is threatened in a way that is not totally obscure. No one actually knows what a demon looks like. However, the audience can relate to the possessed little girl and therefore she is extremely terrifying.
Other horror films have been made by completely abandoning fantasy and are disturbing simply because they could actually happen. One such film is Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. The Exorcist can also be seen in this way because the antagonist and plot are derived from religion. For viewers who believe in demons and exorcism, this film is plausible, making it exceptionally fear-provoking.
Additionally this section mentions how the structure of horror movies changed in the 70’s. During this time there was a shift away from the happy conventional ending. The Exorcist exemplifies this when in the end, the two heroes die and Regan is left permanently scarred.
Miller, Arthur. The Crucible: a Play in Four Acts. New York: Viking P, 1964. 1-145.
The Crucible, a play by Arthur Miller, is a commentary on the communist-hunt during the McCarthy ear. However, it is also based on the true events of a 1692 witch-hunt in Massachusetts. The story takes place in the puritan town of Salem where a young girl has fallen ill for no obvious reason. Due to the lack of a better explanation, the townspeople assume that something supernatural must have happened to her in the woods where she was dancing with friends. The townspeople begin to question the other girls she was with, accusing them of witchcraft. Eventually one child confesses to working with the devil and the town infamously goes down in history for executing many suspected witches.
Before modern medicine, it was common to explain illness and bizarre behavior as the workings of evil forces. Catholics even developed exorcism, an entire method of expelling evil forces from a body through intense prayer. Then the world all but forgot about exorcism until the 1973 movie The Exorcist brought it back into focus. The Exorcist was another story based on true events of a young child’s sickness and weird behavior being attributed to evil forces. Interestingly, children are the common denominator in these stories. It is widely believed today that the events in Salem were caused simply by playful children and propelled by ignorant adults. However, people seemed to forget similar rational when The Exorcist hit theaters in 1973. People of all ages were crippled by the storyline and became devout believers in the previously archaic exorcism. Soon after the movie debuted, there was a large increase in reported exorcisms than in any recent time. The mania didn’t last though, eventually people grounded themselves and the movie lived on as a favorite scary tale. The popularities of The Crucible and The Exorcist are testaments to humans’ love of fear and their tendency for jumping to conclusions.
This article discusses The Exorcist and how the current events during the time it was made were very important to its creation and success. During the 1970’s America was going through difficult times. William Blatty found inspiration in an old and allegedly true story of a possessed young boy saved through exorcism. Blatty revived this story turning it into his novel and film, The Exorcist, in an effort to give hope to the American people and scare them back into church. This was an unusual move because exorcism for a long time has generally been seen as an archaic practice now replaced by modern medicine. Regardless, the movie represented many key issues facing Americans during the 70s and became a huge success. Mainly the exorcist dealt with “America’s growing fear of its youth.” This idea manifested itself in many ways, chiefly the main character being a possessed little girl. Additionally, The Exorcist was a movie that invaded a previously regarded “safe place” by Americans. Setting such horrifying events within this safe place, a family’s household, was particularly disturbing to wartime 1970’s America. Blatty’s character change from the boy who inspired to story, to a girl was probably no mistake either. The feminist movement of the era can possibly be credited for this representation of a threatening female. Moreover, early scenes in the movie suggest that the evil demon came from somewhere in Iraq, “coinciding with a new low in US relations” with the Middle East. In all, Blatty did not succeed in diving Americans back to church. However, he did strike upon a few relevant topics that greatly affected his audience, sending them to the theater and his film into box office success history.
This article is the original review of The Exorcist by film critic Roger Ebert published on the films opening day. Ebert begins by comparing and contrasting The Exorcist to another recent film about religion, Cries and Whispers by Ingmar Bergman. He notes that they are both great films dealing with religion and human suffering but Cries and Whispers is “great art” while The Exorcist is “great craftsmanship”.
The Exorcist, according to Ebert is so well crafted that it pulls the viewer into the experience. He explains that when reviewing a film he measures it against films of the same genre. Arguing that The Exorcist is one of the best horror films ever made, he cites how well it “exploits the way film can manipulate feeling”. Even with the most far-fetched events onscreen, the film maintains a convinced audience.
Ebert goes on to explain how the cast was very significant in the effectiveness of the film. He commends the lead actress, Linda Blair, for the torture she went through as well as the torture she put the viewer through. Additionally he approves of using actor Max von Sydow for the role of the priest/hero. Max von Sydow had been in so many other religious rolls; Ebert felt this one to be appropriate as well.
Today Roger Ebert is one of the most well known and respected film critics in the industry. This review is interesting to look back on because it was written before the public really knew Ebert or the film. Therefore we have a look at the film from a great critic unaffected by his reputation or the public’s opinion of the film. Ebert’s four star approval of The Exorcist goes to show that he knew that this movie would be a hit regardless of how obscene it was for the time.
Schneider, Steven. "The Exorcist." St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture. 2002. FindArticles. Philadelphia. 5 Apr. 2006.
The Exorcist is frequently regarded as one of the most influential films history. It significantly impacted American culture and the movie industry by breaking down barriers in many ways. First and foremost it opened the door to cinematic respect of the horror genre. It has received more publicity than any other horror film to come before it and probably after it. The film went so far as to momentarily distract the media from the developing Watergate scandal.
Infamously know for its vulgarities, The Exorcist redefined the boundary of what could be shown on film. It was even banned in Brittan. Today the film is still one of the most graphic displays of obscenity ever made for the mainstream. The Exorcist is responsible for all the films after it that aim to entertain by disgusting the viewers. Additionally, the film presented this entertainment at a new level of special effects quality. For the type of effects attempted, the filmmakers succeeded to a “degree of realism never before achieved.” It is no surprise that the Catholic Church, who supported the idea of the film in preproduction, withdraw its approval after seeing how “real” the filmmakers were willing to go.
Even thirty years later, The Exorcist is generally regarded as the best film within its genera. For a movie that made such an impact, a modern day parallel can be drawn to a very different film. Brokeback Mountain has the potential to be just as influential as The Exorcist. Already it has opened the respect door for a genre, redefined the limits of screen content, earned more press than any previous film of its type, and won the disapproval of the Catholic Church.