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The Exorcist (1973)

post #1 of 10
10/24/11 at 5:37am
Thread Starter 

Did a search on this and came up with a few straggling threads from 2002 and 2003, so I thought I'd start a new one.

 

Hadn't seen this movie in quite a while so I thought I'd give it a spin last night. It holds up, it's a classic, it's scary as hell. Not much more to say here that hasn't been said, so instead a few random thoughts and questions:

 

First of all, Regan herself. I'm not sure how old the character is in the book, but in the movie it's clearly stated that she's 12 year old. With that in mind, Linda Blair doesn't play her as 12 and she's not written as 12. Her drawings are like that of a little kid, and when she talks about "Captain Howdy" her mother accepts it like it's fine for a 12 year old to have an imaginary friend. It seems the character was meant to be much young (6-8) but they didn't want an actress that young, so they met in the middle. OR, this could be intentional to show that her mother, Chris, coddles her?

 

The pacing is a little odd, working as a slow burn for 90 minutes and then speeding to the end. I appreciate the mystery of Merrin's past with Pazuzu, something the sequels and prequel(s) could never live up to, but we don't get to know the character very well. Is he exceptionally righteous, or is it something personal with Pazuzu?

 

For all the talk of this being a Catholic movie, I think Merrin's religious approach unequivocally fails. Ultimately, Pazuzu is defeated through Damien's personal sacrifice, but there's little to confirm that his faith has been rekindled between the scenes when Pazuzu takes the form of his dead mother and he talks to Chris downstairs. What really spurns him on is the threat towards Regan and a want to save her, and there's even an element of him believing Regan's life is more important than his due to his depression throughout the movie. It's not a Catholic ending, but a very personal ending.

 

Finally, what's Pazuzu's motivation behind faking pain when Damien first throws "holy water" on him? And who put the cross under the pillow?

 

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post #2 of 10
10/24/11 at 6:11am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bartleby_Scriven View Post


 

Finally, what's Pazuzu's motivation behind faking pain when Damien first throws "holy water" on him?

 



It's clearer in the book (which I just read for the first time this month), but Pazuzu's trying to cast doubt on whether Regan needs an exorcism or not. He just likes fucking with priests.

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post #3 of 10
10/25/11 at 5:38am
Thread Starter 

I figured as much. The girlfriend and I, however, were racking our brains yesterday trying to figure out who put the crucifix under the pillow and what their motivation would've been. Just Pazuzu taunting God again or what?

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post #4 of 10
10/25/11 at 2:14pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bartleby_Scriven View Post

I figured as much. The girlfriend and I, however, were racking our brains yesterday trying to figure out who put the crucifix under the pillow and what their motivation would've been. Just Pazuzu taunting God again or what?



I thought one of the German servants put the crucifix under the bed.  Mom accuses them as much, but I can't remember the resolution to that.

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post #5 of 10
10/29/11 at 8:37am
Thread Starter 

Also wanted to point out that the ouija board inclusion doesn't work for me. It feels rather childish, and even the most remote suggestion that it had anything to do with Pazuzu possessing Regan bothers me.

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post #6 of 10
10/29/11 at 1:24pm

In Catholicism the ol' ouija board is a major gate way to possession. By willingly asking for 'spirits' to come into you and move the board, you have basically opened the can of worms. Sounds crazy, but that is why its there. I recommend Beware The Night for an interesting read on this type of thing. If you can get past the authors highly catholic view point it is interesting. The Ouija board is hated on big time in it.

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post #7 of 10
10/29/11 at 1:53pm

Catholicism is a cult. Anyone who has looked into the history around that time frame can tell you that most of Rome's paganism and idolatry went right into the religion.

 

Look at judaism and its practices. Practices Jesus and his 12 disciples were using and what Catholicism did with those traditions melding its own rituals.

 

Its quite clear whats going on.

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post #8 of 10
10/29/11 at 1:59pm

 The Exocrist is based on a true story of a boy who was possessed. The boy had an aunt who was a spiritualist, and she used a Ouija board with him. That is what supposedly  led to him being possessed.


Edited by Chaz - 10/29/11 at 3:04pm
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post #9 of 10
10/29/11 at 3:55pm

This movie rode off of and sparked a wave of interest in Exorcism. There's a couple (The Warrens?) who made a career out of performing and writing about exorcism's they supposedly did on people. Also, they once met a Werewolf and cured him!

 

The film is definitely Catholic in it's viewpoint. Humanity is inherently flawed, and there is a war at every level of life waged by Satan and his minions. Think of Pazzuzu as just one solider in this war. His job is to destroy human souls whenever he can: showing his power over Regan, and exploiting the Priests' doubts, is all part of the program.  There is an interesting arc of Merrin using the "process" of the Church and failing, while the other guy makes personal (Protestant?) sacrifice to stop the demon. So in once sense Pazuzu wins (gets the priest to kill himself essentially), but in a sense the priest wins, as Regan is freed.

 

And yeah I know that SPOILER the priest wasn't actually killed, but that sequel was awful so I ignore it SPOILER

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post #10 of 10
11/5/11 at 2:59pm

The Exorcist still scares me and I first saw it when I was 8.  I like your observation about Karras's sacrifice, Bartleby.  His arc is really fascinating.  I love that scene where he is telling Merrin about all the different manifestations of personalities and Merrin cuts him off with, "There is only one."  But I also the banter between Kinderman and Karras, "You wanna know who I think did it?  The Dominicans, go pick on them."  This movie has been often imitated, never duplicated.  One of the best horror movies ever made.

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