Horrors of 2023: The 50th Anniversary of The Exorcist

0

I was there in 1999 for the theatrical release of The Version You’ve Never Seen Before (a version of The Exorcist that, as I explain here, I didn’t care for and still don’t). Until today, that was the first and only time I’ve seen the movie in theaters.

The 50th Anniversary of the movie is being celebrated this October with a theatrical re-release, and a new Blumhouse/David Gordon Green sequel is premiering in four days. Fans are perhaps rightfully apprehensive about Exorcist: Believer, featuring the return of Ellen Burstyn as Chris McNeil. I myself have a surprising, almost overwhelming love for 75% of the Exorcist “franchise”, so stay tuned to this blog for my thoughts on this new chapter.

The version I saw this afternoon is something called “The Extended Director’s Cut,” and if I’m not mistaken, it’s a print that’s even further from “The Director’s Cut,” which takes elements from “The Version You’ve Never Seen” but excludes the worst parts of that one, such as the cheap, worthless CGI morphs slapped all over the place.

For me it was definitely a new experience of watching The Exorcist. Here’s why (spoilers for “The Extended Director’s Cut”}:

Continue reading

REPOST: William Peter Blatty’s “Legion” to Hit the Stage!

0
Source

[NOTE: Welcome to Chillerpop’s 31 Days of Halloween 2020! As if this year needed more inconceivable horror! It doesn’t, but maybe some nostalgia and escapism will help? Yes, nostalgia for…an economic crisis. This blog, you see, began in the midst of the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008.

This month, mostly because I am lazy, I will repost some blogs from my original Open Salon page. These posts will be badly written, badly edited, and extremely out of date.]

Originally published MARCH 15, 2010 11:38PM

MARCH 15, 2010 11:38PM

William Peter Blatty’s “Legion” to Hit the Stage!


Chicago’s WildClaw Theatre is adapting Willliam Peter Blatty’s novel “Legion”, the basis for his 1990 film “Exorcist III” as a stage play.  I think this is an excellent opportunity to keep a purer vision of the source material in the face of audience and studio expectations of what a horror film should be.

Continue reading

Wonderfull Lives: The Chillerpop Exorcist Retrospective, Part 3

0

Image result for Exorcist 3

Plot summary: “Lt. Kinderman and Father Dyer cheer each other up on the anniversary of the death of their mutual friend, Father Damien Karras, by going to see “It’s a Wonderful Life” at the local theater in Georgetown, near Washington D.C. But there’s no cheering Kinderman while a particularly cruel and gruesome serial killer is at large. His murders, which involve torture, decapitation and the desecration of religious icons, is bad enough; but they also resemble those of the Gemini Killer, who has been dead for fifteen years. (SOURCE: IMDB.COM andWritten by J. Spurlin)

 

In this Washington Post article, William Peter Blatty, director of “Exorcist III and author of the novel it’s based on, “Legion,” makes a few salient claims, one of which is that he “hates horror movies.”

That’s all well and good, but he directed two of the most curdling, shocking horror movie scenes I have ever seen in my life.

In the film’s opening scene , a Catholic confessional is used to stage a nightmarish murder.  One where you hear a croaking, teasing infantile voice chuckle as its owner is about to commit something unspeakable.  You only see the violent aftermath later, but that image pales in comparison to what comes before, where you see nothing but are left unnerved beyond belief. Continue reading

Trauma At Twelve! The Chillerpop Exorcist Retrospective, Part 1

3

exor1

My first viewing of The Exorcist was at age twelve, which, coincidentally, was Regan McNeil’s age when her possession occurred.

My older sister told me the plot of the film, minus of course the really ugly shocking bits such as the crucifix rape scene.  My sister was great at relating horror movie plots – she gave me a fascinating rundown of Halloween as well.  And she’ll tell you she hates horror movies! I’m not even sure that she had seen it – she may have just been recounting what she heard from others who saw it.  At that point it didn’t sound like something I couldn’t handle.

Continue reading

The Chillerpop Exorcist Retrospective

0

TheExorcistStepsGeorgetown

It’s been a rather possessed August.  When personal misery overwhelms, a supernatural/horror obsession is something of an anodyne.  Don’t ask me why.

I’ve been reviewing criticism of ‘The Exorcist’ and its sequels, reading interview after interview with William Peter Blatty, Linda Blair, William Friedkin and others involved in the most amazing and frightening film ever made.

And you know what?  Many fine minds are weighing in – from this excellent podcast, to this academic who, to my delight, is providing analysis and criticism on the recent wave of exorcism themed films.  I wrote a lot about this recent wave of films when this blog was on Open Salon.

Continue reading