An Evening With Pazuzu - A Love Letter to Horror

Last night I had the wonderful oppurtunity to watch The Exorcist on a projector screen for the first time in my life, in all of it's nasty glory. I've been looking forward to it for weeks, and it did far from disappoint, not to mention the fact that it was "The Version You've Never Seen" made it that much more fun. Horror movies are meant to be seen in a theater; on a big screen with a good sound system, comfy chair and plenty of attentive faces pointed at the screen, yours only a dot in the sea of them. Last night was an amazing experience for me for a variety of reasons, getting the to see the film in a theater was only one, but it showed me a lot about the horror genre and how it still stands up in today's society.

Walking into that theater, I had a lot of thoughts going through my head mainly focused on what the audience reaction was going to be. Would the scariest film of all time still hold up? Would there be laughs and guffaws at the intended terror? Or was everyone there to watch an old classic they've seen a dozen times, only in a better setting and in it's proper format? The answers to those questions left me pleasantly surprised.

I am sure that if you are reading this right now that you consider yourself a fan of the horror genre, so I don't think I have to get into the semantics of what this particular film means to the horror community. There will never be another like it. While, yes, there have been films like A Serbian Film (which are pure schlock), they simply cannot be compared to a film with this kind of magnitude and wide spread mass appeal. This one holds a very special place in my heart, because it was one of the first horror films that swept the world and became a test of endurance. Could you make it through The Exorcist? Men crying like women, women fainting like children and children having nightmares from the schoolyard whispers that passed in it's wake, The Exorcist from then on cemented itself as a fixture of modern popular culture.


I arrived to the theater last night (thanks to traffic) 15 minutes before showtime. In Los Angeles there are a chain of upscale movie theaters called ArcLight Cinemas. With assigned seating, a bar in the lobby and no previews, it's the place to see a movie (for an inflated cost, of course). After grabbing a water, and settling into seat K16, the show started almost as if on cue and we were rolling. What I was greeted to in the first five minutes was exactly what I had been hoping for. You could have heard a pin drop in that theater. There was no crunching of popcorn, no throats that needed clearing, no laughter or jeering. Dead silence, and that is the way it remained for a majority of the film. To hear that during a film like this, it's just wonderful. There was no divided attention, everyone's eyes were fixed on that screen as if their lives depended on it.

One thing that I did not anticipate was how many people in that theater had clearly not seen the film, which I found fantastic. I love watching this one with people for the first time and if I could show it to them in a theater every time, I would. The poor woman sitting next to me, I feared, was on the verge of a heart attack through out the duration of the film. While yes, there were one or two women who resumed the role of cynic, making it a point to laugh at certain parts of the film that were intended to scare (and I believe that these people are the bain of the earth, I get angry thinking about them now), I believe they got a stare down from a couple sitting next to me (and I'd be lying if I said I didn't turn around and glare a bit) which got the point across just fine.

You've heard me say it once, and I have no intention on stopping, but sound design can make or break a horror film. The sound design in The Exorcist is perfection. You can barely even say that it has a soundtrack (aside from Tubular Bells) considering it consists of a conglomeration of unidentifiable slaps, percussive hits, string plucks and screeches, and wailing voices. To be in a theater that is equipped with a state of the art surround sound system was an absolute treat. I've seen this film dozens of times, yet, I found myself with my hand over my chest at certain parts.

I have to say my favorite part of the whole experience though was observing the way the audience was adjusting and reacting to the film. I was beginning to get a little disheartened after the first 15 minutes or so of the film. There were too many jeers for my taste, it was beginning to impede on my experience of the film, and I'm talking laughter at parts that left me wondering what was funny to be laughed at in the first place. However, when we reached the infamous scene in Act II where Regan asks her sweet mother to let the Lord Jesus go to town on her, there was in instantaneous mood shift in the theater. You could feel fear enter the theater and it was an incredible experience. I don't think I'll ever forget the collective sigh that emanated following the administration of sedatives, along with groans and shivers that mixed with Regan's dying scream. That was when I knew that this audience was along for the ride, and from there on out there was no more jeering; it was us, Pazuzu and Father Merrin.

To know that this film still has that impact is such an incredible thing to me; it's something that I've debated with friends over. To be able to witness this film scare a generation of 30+ year olds who have never seen it before, was a beautiful experience. This film is, and will always be, one that I wish I could experience in 1974 when it was literally causing people to pass out and vomit in the aisles.

Last night, I went to church, and it was a beautiful reminder of why I love this genre and why I've devoted 13+ years of my life to learning as much as I can about it.

Next up: The Shining at the Cinerama Dome on All Hallow's Eve, and I can't wait. 

- Rg Lovecraft

Cool Find - THE EXORCIST Make Up/Camera Tests

My general love for horror extends beyond the on screen brutality and definitely ventures into the creative aspect of horror films as well. When I was younger, I loved watching every special feature, every documentary or short that I could find about what went on behind the camera. Some would say it's the equivalent of learning how the magician does his tricks, but it's endlessly fascinating to me and it really boosted my respect for the genre to see how they captured Jenning's death in The Omen or how they filmed the hitchhiker blowing her brains out in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake.

Thanks to Reddit, I found a make up and camera test for The Exorcist that I haven't seen it years. Even this short video alone is scary and unsettling, which goes to show how far the terror of this film has extended. Dig it below!

 

Classic Review - The Exorcist (1973)

Something almost beyond comprehension is happening to a girl on this street, in this house... and a man has been sent for as a last resort. This man is The Exorcist.

When the subject of iconic horror movies gets brought up, there is one that almost always tops the list. 

When the subject of the most terrifying films of all time gets brought, it’s also pretty much guaranteed to top that list as well. 

When The Exorcist was released in 1973 it shook the very ground it stood upon. Nothing like it had ever been presented on the big screen, and people didn’t know how to react to it. It opened to mixed reviews, but the general consensus was the same. This was the scariest movie of all time. Critics didn’t know how to react to it, many of them claiming that it was a “claptrap” and nothing but “religious schlock” with one general direction: perverse scares. 

Call it what you want, The Exorcist did what every horror movie strives to do. It horrified, disgusted and revolted. It caused fainting and vomiting, it caused countless sleepless night and it continues to scare every subsequent generation since its release. While it garnered plenty of bad reviews, they did not carry the blow intended by the critics. Calling a horror movie disgusting, vile and perverse does nothing but to blatantly promote said horror film, and everything that these critics said was in fact true. It is a horrible film, but in that is what makes it one of the greatest horror films of all time. 

I will give a bit of a warning, this review will be long. This is the first major classic that I will be touching upon in this blog so forgive me, but I have no intention of making this a short one. 

Now, please read on.

Details are IN for THE EXORCIST 40th Anniversary Special Edition Blu-ray!

It's hard to believe that The Exorcist is 40 years old this year. In preparation for the big 4-0, Warner Bros. has announced the details for the special edition blu-ray release, and it looks like I'll be buying a Blu-ray player in the coming months.

The special features are as follow:

• Beyond Comprehension: William Peter Blatty's The Exorcist (NEW) 40 years after his novel was published, The Exorcist author, screenwriter and producer returns to where it all began. First stop is a cabin/guest house in the hills of Encino, California, where Blatty wrote the novel. The author visits the place for the first time in 40 years and shares not only memories of writing the book, but also discusses how it inspired him. We then meet Blatty in two key and iconic locations; Georgetown University where the film was shot, and at the now-famous Exorcist steps. Throughout, Blatty reads from his novel, including an excerpt from a chilling newly published passage.
• Talk of the Devil (NEW) – While at Georgetown University, William Peter Blatty heard about a true case of possession from Father Eugene Gallagher. At the time the film came out, the priest talked at length about exorcism, the true story and about Blatty; this footage is now available for the first time in many years. It is as revealing as it is shocking.·
• Two Commentaries by William Friedkin
• Commentary by William Peter Blatty
• Introduction by William Friedkin
• 1998 BBC Documentary "The Fear of God: 25 Years of the Exorcist”
• Raising Hell: Filming the Exorcist Set footage produced and photographed by Owen Roizman, camera and makeup tests, and interviews with director William Friedkin, actress Linda Blair, author/screenwriter/producer William Peter Blatty and Owen Roizman.
• The Exorcist Locations: Georgetown Then and Now -- Featuring a tour of the iconic locations where the film was shot.
• Faces of Evil: The Different Versions of The Exorcist — with director William Friedkin and author/screenwriter/producer William Peter Blatty discussing the different versions of the film and featuring outtakes from the film.
• Original Ending
• Interviews: The Original Cut, Stairway to Heaven, The Final Reckoning
• Sketches & Storyboards
• Radio Spots
• TV Spots
• Trailers
• Premium:Excerpt of The Friedkin Connection: A Memoir

You can pick up your copy on October 8th, 5 days before the release of the Special Edition Friday the 13th Box Set.

 

In 1973 the most terrifying film of all time descended upon the masses. A movie so disgusting and vile that people had heart attacks, fainted, passed out and vomited in the theater while watching. That film was The Exorcist, starring the sweet young Linda Blaire as Regan, a girl who is possessed by the demon Pazuzu after playing with a Ouija board. The Catholic Church commended it, saying that it's accurate portrayal of demonic possession could be used as a weapon in God's arsenal in the fight against evil. Now, The Exorcist is one of the most iconic horror films of all time and continues to terrify people the world over. 

In 1977, a sequel was commissioned to be directed by John Boorman, and written by William Goodhart. The sequel, however, was doomed from the start due to constant rewrites, the blatant rejection to return by William Friedkin and William Peter Blatty, as well as some cast members from the first film. Read on to see my thoughts on the sequel to scariest film of all time, The Exorcist II: The Heretic.