Why Was ‘The Exorcist’ So Scary to Audiences of 1973? (No Spoilers)
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- Опубликовано: 29 окт 2021
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William Friedkin's 'The Exorcist' is often said to be the scariest movie of all time, but if you’re like me, you grew up in a world where 'The Exorcist' was already a classic and you’ve probably seen all of the references and parodies before actually watching the movie. In 1973, lines to see this film adaptation of William Peter Blatty's acclaimed novel would stretch as far as the eye could see and there were tons of stories of people vomiting and passing out in the theater. But, just how extreme did people react, and why was 'The Exorcist' so scary to the audiences of 1973? That's what we are going to explore on this episode of Cinema Stories.
AFTER SHOW (My dad’s story of walking out of The Exorcist in 1974): bit.ly/3nG5MHW
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#TheExorcist #Reaction #CinemaStories
Tons of Exorcist resources:
The Exorcist Online: bit.ly/3vP8oH8
Cinephilia & Beyond: bit.ly/3nGS6N4
Sources:
(Berliner) Hollywood Incoherent: Narration in Seventies Cinema
(Bartholomew) [Cinefantastique Vol3 Num4] The Exorcist: The Book, The Movie, The Phenomenon by David Bartholomew
(Friedkin) [Cinefantastique Vol3 Num3] William Friedkin Interview by William Crouch
(Newsweek) Newsweek - The Exorcist Frenzy by Kenneth L. Woodward 2/11/74
(Kermode) Kermode, Mark. The Exorcist. London: British Film Institute, 1997. Print.
(Berliner) Hollywood Incoherent: Narration in Seventies Cinema
Clips:
Exorcist 1973 Home Movies - bit.ly/3jLfxUd
The Exorcist - Audience Lines (1974 B-Roll Footage) - bit.ly/3boo8Y5
Raising Hell: Filming The Exorcist - bit.ly/3pIpPIo
Fantasy Film Festival (Mick Garris)- Interview with William Friedkin - bit.ly/3mkE6sH
Music:
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Развлечения
I find it wierd that audiences said they fainted within "the first half-hour" or "walked out within the first 10 minutes", yet nothing really shocking happens until nearly an hour into the film. Wonder what they were smoking back then!
Well I heard that they fainted with the scene with the needle and blood. Not with the demonic stuff.
lol i literally just made a comment about that above. I think it WAS the needle scene, but isn't that more than 45 minutes to an hour into the movie? Maybe the oppressive 'spirit' to this movie and slowly but surely increasing tension/realism/subliminal stuff, just made people so uncomfortable, and if they couldn't handle the film at THAT point when nothing had truly scary happened yet, they knew once that started happening they definitely wouldn't be able to handle the more shocking scenes, so they left.
It was the most subliminally enhanced movie of all time. Everything sorta got under your skin and nerves. Right from the start of the movie even when nothing was seemingly happening it was unnerving by the pace and silence reaction of the script
hahahahahahaha
Yeah, I just wrote basically the same thing. There are people saying they had to leave in the first ten minutes. So you don't like archaeological digs? Shots of the desert? Don't get it.
True story, they wouldn't allow my mom into the theatre when she was pregnant with me. When I was around 7 I begged my dad to let me watch The Exorcist with him and I've been traumatized ever since. :O
Well you begged for it
i see you everywhere man i love you
hey its mike from the art of guitar , hello mike from the art of guitarr lol
Mike!!
And did you notice how well-spoken and articulate people were, when being interviewed right off the street? People just talked WAY better, back in the day -- just in general. The sheer contrast with your average, half-literate, barely-cognizant, pixeled-out 'like, you know, that's so dope' American of today is stark.
One aspect of the film this video didn't mention: the medical tests that were performed on Regan were grueling, sickening, and absolutely realistic. Those were all real tests that would have been run on a patient with her symptoms at the time. A lot of people couldn't handle seeing them. That's why so many walked out of theaters before the movie even got to the demonic possession part. The early parts of the film are still a great example of real-world horror.
No they werent sickening! Its called acting!! Watch the behind the scenes on how the scenes were made!! All business!!
@@AngeloR674 those scenes bothered a lot of people - (huge close-ups of a needle going into the girls neck) director William Friedkin used these scenes to assault the audience with a taste of what was to come. he knew what he was doing.
@@haintedhouse2990 He did. Army training.
@@AngeloR674 he ment they were sickening to the people who saw this movie in 1973. It was a much more innocent world then. No internet and no cell phones. People weren’t exposed to these things. It was a very different world 50 years ago.
Yes, Ellen Burstyn said she realized people were fainting at the medical procedure.
I was 14 when The Exorcist came out and there was such a strong buzz about just how scary it was. Finally my dad went to see it alone because my mother did not want to see it. Myself and my brothers and sisters were eager to see what he thought about it. He calmly came home and very nonchalantly said it was ok and that it wasn't scary at all. My father was in World War 2 in the Dutch army, shot twice and spent two years in a Japanese concentration camp until he was freed by the allies. I guess when you see real horrors, make believe ones are not scary at all.
I can really understand that. I was sixteen years old when that movie came out. I got my first job at a movie theater in Cleveland Ohio. My first movie, in my first job, was the Exorcist. We had two bottles of smelling salts and eight police officers on duty. CRAZY!!!😈😲😁
🥺❤ your poor pops has been through alot. Many blessings 💖
@@catman8965 woaaahhhh😳😳😳
@@CluelessIndianGamer
LOL - When it was all done and over, my boss told me we were the #1 or #2 top grossing theater in the U.S. for that movie. CRAZY times 😆
THANKS.
@@catman8965 Dude that is fucking insane.
I was born in 1978 and watched the movie throughout the 80s. It was scary as hell. The only reason why people don’t find this movie scary now is because it’s been over analyzed and tons of parodies /rip off movies. Desensitization. Also, before the Internet, there were many more mysteries out there. You couldn’t just Google something. You pretty much took everything home with you and it just sat there in your brain for you to ruminate. You couldn’t distract yourself with the iPhone. You couldn’t go chat with like minded people who also feel a certain way. You couldn’t find Reddit threads or message boards to vent your feelings. You were alone
Exactly !!!!!!
You hit the nail on the head. Today the technology, social media and networking with friends at your fingertips quickly distracts, and dampens down any feeling of being alone, unsettled and fearful of an overactive imagination going into overdrive after watching something as spooky as that. At worst even search engines will pull up some scientific fact that debunks creepy phenomena that would’ve caused loss of bowel control back in the day 😂
Mentally ill people shift to different trends to act out certain outcomes. In sth eighties there were a lot of people that were acting and believing they were possessed and they acted like the Excorcist's type of possession. I personally saw people act like demons. Satanic panic was real. People used to go crazy over the moon. This movie influenced culture because Christianity was so much a part of our culture in those days.
Jesus.
That's clearly not it because people freaked out as they were seeing it. It wasn't that the went home, thought about it, and freaked out. It was a visceral reaction. And the film isn't particularly scary to people today. Even for people like me who've only seen a couple of horrors.
My parents were dating in 1973/1974. They wanted to see it, but we're unsure if it was too scary. My father went alone to make sure. He came back from it laughing it off, saying it was nothing special and not scary at all. So they went together the next night.
My mom said she couldn't sleep for days and was so angry at my dad, I'm amazed I was eventually born.
amazing story if true! WTF is wrong with your dad?! :D
@@FuckYouWhosNext Nothing! He simply didn't think it was that scary! I mean I sort of agree with him. It's a good film, but it's not scary. It's like Rosemary's Baby, it's psychological horror, it's a disturbing concept but not that scary. My mom got scared by Steve Mcqueen's Papillon, and that is a drama.
@@ricarleite i don't find it as scary as others, but there's no point in saying the exorcist isn't scary (and you'd have to have rocks in your head to take a girl to it on a date and tell her it's not scary).
lmao awww thats so cute though, its a typical relationship thing. the man says its fine and the woman goes and its not fine and she gets soooo pissed.
you're dad sounds like he had a blast doing that lmao
I feel like the Exorcist is an amazing film but for different reasons than the obvious “it’s terrifying” or “ it’s grotesque” for me it’s a brilliant portrayal of good vs evil and at the heart of it is the life of an innocent young girl.
I agree 100%. To dismiss the film because it's "not scary" is a huge misrepresentation. It is exceptionally well made on every level. Ellen Burstyn's performance alone is a marvel. I found watching her struggle to make sense out of what was happening a huge part of what makes the film so intense and memorable. Father Karras's plight was also moving and so important to the story. It's a human story first, whether or not you find it to be "the most horrifying movie ever made.". The famous possession sequences are only one element that makes the film frightening, but there's so much greater about the film.
@@whineycracker1976 Yeah it’s an amazing film but it’s hyped up for the wrong reasons.
The reason why The Exorcist was so scary is because there was NEVER a film like that before. Everything from the score to the SFX, the terrifying performances, the great story, down to the noises from Pazuzu, were just so terrifying and still hold up today, almost a half century later. It really felt like audiences were watching a real video of demonic possession.
Totally agree.
My mom wouldn't sleep in her bedroom for a couple months after she saw the movie. My dad took her to visit a catholic priest because it was getting so bad for her. My dad thought the priest would alleviate her fears and tell her there's nothing to worry about. The priest told her these things do happen but are rare. lol Freaked her out even more.
I'm not surprised that seeing a priest about the subject only made it worse lol. I get creeped out whenever I walk past a church, let alone talking to one of those people.
Did the priest also tell her this sort of thing doesn't happen by accident, and you have to not only invite the demon to take you over, but participate in the demonic for a very very long time?
@@ArkaeaFCL3 Christians are literally the only people group you can talk this way about and not be considered a bigot. Yet you meet the definition perfectly.
😂😂 The priest didn’t see the movie, if he had, he’d have been more careful about how he discussed those matters with those disturbed by it.
Bummer! HAHAHAHA
Alien freaked out audiences too, with an intensity that is hard to imagine today.
I can imagine. Found Alien far more intense than Exorcist. Alienation (no pun intended) solitude, is effing more terrifying. In space no one can hear you scream, literally
I was one of those people.
Alien on production alone looked like a movie send from the future at the time.
One of my eternal regrets is that I never saw Alien "cold" without spoilers because someone at school had the photo book of the entire film, with dialogue captions and I couldn't resist reading it all. I love the film but I always wonder what it would have been like to see it and be totally unprepared...
Kit +
Oh, indeed it did ( laughing ). I was a member of the audience when it premiered nationwide. We didn't have the luxury of smartphones, so going to the theater was a hit or miss, and add in that I and my best friend had to drive over fifty miles to see it. When the movie began to get intense people would sit on the aisles and just dart out of the theater. It was that visceral.
My father saw this movie in new york. The cinema even hired a young girl that cursed at the audience. There were countless ambulances outside and people screamed, puked and fainted just as you described. This movie is truly terrifying
I’m with Beetlejuice. I think it’s funny
@@gregbors8364 Same
My dad took me to see it in the theater when it first came out. I was 9 years old. We're not a religious family, so the fun of it was watching the audience at the same time that we watched the movie.
The most memorable thing I heard was as we were leaving. This woman said, "Why didn't anyone put down their camera and help that poor girl?"
It was as if she thought it was a documentary.
No doubt, the film might very well be more scary to those who buy the premise, in this case it's the assertion that spiritual things like this exist.
Man, I WISH i was alive to see this movie in the theatre when it first came out. I don’t think we’ll ever see something like this again. I saw a comment that said that those peoples’ reactions shows how we’ve become desensitised to imagery like that, and it’s true. We’ve become conditioned. We’re used to seeing it now.
Alien and The Blair Witch project had a similar effect. People went to Alien expecting Star Wars, which caused a stir.
Imagery like what? I don't watch horror movies because 9 out of 10 f them are complete dog turd. If you have become desensitised to shite then its your own fault, not anyone else's.
True Dat, very few event movie to experience nowadays. But I was lucky to see great movie like the 1st Die Hard, Jurassic Park, The Matrix and Saving Private Ryan when they first came out. So it's all good.
I watched it when it came out...I couldnt believe that people were having mass hysteria over the move...
@@chatteyj you're a peabrain. People are desensitised to shocking imagery now compared to then. Violence etc. Is that to hard for you to comprehend, edgelord?
I've always found it deeply ironic (though not too surprising) that religious groups found 'The Exorcist' objectionable--there's never been a more positive and heroic depiction of the priesthood than in that film. Both Karras and Merrin perform the ultimate selfless, Christ-like act--sacrificing themselves to save Regan.
Have you every watched any interviews with William Friedkin? He's not religious (he was from a Jewish background), but he loves the story of Christ because of what it says about self sacrifice.
He mentioned in the vid that the Catholic Conference gave it a for Adults only rating, so like an R rating at the time. So there were Catholics that saw it as a redemptive film for the priesthood.
It's far more than that. The movie is outright anti-science and anti-modernity. It's a garbage movie, but well made garbage.
If you've read the novel, it's a little more mixed in its view of the priesthood than you give it credit for. Merrin represents the old Catholicism of the Latin liturgy, very proper and orthodox, but also stodgy. Karras is a priest who has lost his faith, and represents the modern Church; he is portrayed as accepting of science, inclined to see religion in terms of psychology, and not just seeing an absence of God in the world, but positive proof of God's nonexistence.
For me, the scariest part of the novel isn't the possession, but rather our introduction to Karras on the subway, where he tries to see Jesus reflected in the modern world around him and gets back a twisted, horrific fun-house mirror image of an ugly, corrupt Jesus which "cannot, must not" be. It is implied that this is the reality of the demon, the lens of the anti-Christ which perverts everything good into darkness and despair.
In the end, Karras' sacrifice is as much about him redeeming himself for his weakness as it is about the triumph of good over evil. Where Merrin spent his life repeatedly doing battle with Pazuzu with simple faith and dogged determination, Karras must commit suicide -- a mortal sin which condemns him to damnation -- to compensate for his lack of faith and his weakness in the face of evil. What this says about religion is not flattering.
RIGHT?! This is approximately the most recent big Hollywood movie to portray the Catholic Church as a force for good. Wacky protestants, I can understand. They tend to be some of the most superstitious and hysterical people in the western world, but Catholics? If I were Catholic, I would have walked out of the theater crying tears of joy when the credits rolled.
my mom is terrified of this movie, to the point where it’s considered a phobia. even hearing the music or just talking about the movie in the same room as her is enough to ruin her day. she always told me not to watch the movie under any circumstance, so naturally i watched it.
i was around 13 or 14 at the time and i remember enjoying every moment of the movie. i thought everything about it was fantastic. it didn’t scare me, it actually made me burst out laughing a couple times. i obviously don’t understand the hysteria audiences experienced when the movie was first released, which is interesting to me. i’ve been scared by cheap jumpscares from movies that i think are far worse compared to the exorcist. it’s fascinating to me how drastic the generational difference in reaction towards this movie is. it’s one of my favorite movies of all time, and my mom’s absolute least favorite movie ever.
Audiences today have been desensitized. At the time, there was nothing else like it, the story was unique and hadn’t been done before.
In what year you saw the Exorcist for the first time? Cuz I saw it when I was 12/13 in the late 90s and scared me like any other movie, I was afraid going home alone that night
For me, the little flashes of the demon's face it's what scared me the most. I just can't forget that face and it's just a flash in the whole movie, that was enough to scar me for life haha
What’s even scarier demons aren’t spooky all the time they can looks as normal as anybody
I accidently saw this movie at about 8 years old. VHS collection was organized into soft covers and hard covers. Hard covers were supposed to be children movies. I put it on thinking it was a childs movie. I was too scared to turn it off. Thinking I'd get grabbed. I was too scared to leave, thinking she would come out of the tv. So I watched the whole thing in fear. Telling myself over and over that it wasn't real.
Holy crap…
hahahahahahahaha
I believe I looked behind me more than a few times at home after seeing that movie. I had night terrors that may have been related to that movie. I felt like something was holding me down as I slept. When I was awake I knew it was all in my head so I decided I was going to confront it while asleep and I did. I reached up to grab it and just as my hands came together I woke up and there was nothing there. NEVER happened again. True story.
My folks put the wrong "Scrooge" on for us once and then just went to bed. Our parents next morning wanted to know why all the lights were on in the bedrooms and bathroom and hallway. I'm like "because I don't want to be shoved down to Hell through my own grave by the Ghost of DEATH or whatever!!!!!" I was seeing doorknobs turning into faces for weeks. My little sister sobbing "where are the Muppets???" is funny now, but that night we only had each other... we knew those Christmas Ghosts come when you fall asleep.
@@GlennDavey the albert finney musical scrooge. i saw it the first run in the theater. i was 9. that scene was freaky
This was when horror movies were moving to next level. Prior to this, most "scary" movies were standard serial "creature features" of the drive in. External threat via monster, hero saves the day.
Exorcist introduced not only the ultimate monster (Satan himself), but the monster was invasive, living inside a human, and the ending was not happy and clean.
It tapped into deep human fears the mostly clean culture lingering from the 50s that had been culturally repressing until then.
It's no surprise peoples reactions, I imagine the effect on people would be very similar to a person suffering from a serious childhood trauma (that had been repressed their whole life) confronting/recounting it in therapy.
Rosemary's Baby delved into this subject too and was a few years earlier but The Exorcist was on a different level.
@@blacbraun Rosemary’s baby was really effective, a mix of psychological thriller and horror from what I remember. Mia Farrow was superb, few other actresses could do fear and shock like her without over the top dramatics and still convey the despair and fear so well.
I always thought she was undef the influence of a Babylonian Demon called Pazuzu. 🤔
I was a child of the 60's and 70's, and in my experience, the scariest precursor to the Exorcist was Robert Wise's "The Haunting", which was much more subtle but involving. I saw the Exorcist in theaters in 1975 at 15 or 16 yrs. old. I was afraid to go to sleep and stared at the ceiling until morning, and slept intermittently in school the next day. I was unsettled for about 2 weeks thereafter. In the most literal sense, it was scaring the Hell out of people, and making people question their own spiritual status and stability.
Exactly
The real reason why people freaked out was because every scene was so realistically acted that it made you feel this was really happening and wasn’t just a movie. So when she starts to get possessed it made you think it was real. Where every other horror film let’s you know it’s just a movie.
Your right the way the movie took it's time to build up suspense and shock and awe. 😵😞☹️🤢😰😢
I remember so distinctly that after I finished watching this movie, a strong sense of fear enveloping my entire body. I had to immediately switch on all the lights in my house and ran outside to be in public just to get a sense of relieve. No other movie has done that to me since!
Me too! I did exactly that. I was afraid of the night AND the day for months.
The Exorcist is the only film I have ever seen at the cinema where someone passed out. It was the scene where Regan is rushed to hospital, and they put a hypodermic needle in her neck and run a cable down it as blood squirts out. The guy sitting next to me, who was sitting at the end of the aisle, literally fainted and fell into the aisle!
It wasn't a hypodermic needle. It was what is called a spinal tap or lumbar puncture.
@@stevesmith291 It was an arteriogram. Lumbar punctures/spinal taps are in the spine, not the neck.
Blood-injury phobia is pretty common and can trigger with very spe ific stimuli. It differs from other phobias in that your blood pressure lowers instead of goes higher. Maybe that happened?
That was a carotid angiography.
@@mrskwimmer666 Yes, I've had a spinal tap and it was done at the base of my spine. The scene in Exorcist was a simulated carotid angiography.
SPOILERS: Bruce Willis was Linda Blair the whole time.
I knew it!
I thought Linda Blair was Carrie Fisher the whole time... tbh
Aaaaaaaaaaaqaaaaa noooooooooo 🤯🤯🤯🤯
what made it most scary was that it was played straight with good actors. I always see it not so much as an horror film but more as a realistic drama with horrific elements.
Right, there was no gratuitous shlock. Like Father Marin said, "The attack is psychological and personal."
I saw The Exorcist in the theater in 1973 when I was 11. It TERRIFIED Me , but it also solidified my love of horror. The NEXT year, saw the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Both times I was with my dad. They don't make parents like they use to!
Here's something on the scariest play of the ancient Greek world, for comparison:
_"She enters the temple to take up her oracular seat, but staggers out, aghast at the sight she has just seen: a man with bloodied hands and a sword is polluting the shrine, surrounded by disgusting supernatural creatures. She and subsequently Apollo describe them as something like Gorgons or Harpies, but without wings; they are dark, old women or 'ancient children'; they swallow and spew forth clots of human blood they have sucked, and their eyes ooze mucus (47-54, 69, see also 183-4). They pollute everything they touch. There must have been great pleasure involved for each chorus-man, who had played the much more sedate roles of old men and slave women in the previous two tragedies, to dress up in the costumes and masks of an Erinys and leap about in a repugnant way. The horrid appearance of this chorus was so famous in antiquity that a tradition developed that women who witnessed it suffered spontaneous miscarriages (Life of Aeschylus 2). "_
I recall reading the same things about "Dracula" when the film version first came out. Apparently, the play it was based on had a similar response. There are also reports of such occurrences at "Phantom of the Opera".
Le plus ca change, le plus c'est le meme chose...
I think you need to edit your piece for punctuation, Charles. The whole thing is italicized. I can't see the differences between the greek play and the commentary on the play. I think all sentences after "There must have been great pleasure ..." need to be un-italicized. Fantastic comment by the way. Do you know the name of the Greek play?
Ancient Greek theater was wild by our standard. Actors jumping around with large phalluses on stage. "Somebody, please think of the children!"
@@binghamguevara6814 It's clearly footnoted after "mucus" that quoting ends and commentary begins. Our Greek aficionado is quoting a text which contains a footnoted quote . The entire quote from the text is italicized. Any other punctuational editing isn't really warranted in this particular case.
I was born in 1956.
I want to thank all the commenters here, for sharing their memories. Here are mine.
This movie, as a horror movie (an important distinction that Tyler correctly notes) was unlike anything we'd seen before.
I've read about earlier generations of movie-goers and their reactions to 'Frankenstein' and 'King Kong'.
I think Tyler should cover those topics also. I'd like to hear more research on that topic.
A big reason for my curiosity about those movies is because I experienced THAT movie and I'm still around today.
I have lived through the differences in our culture, both then and now.
I don't have that perspective with Kong or Frank.
Movie goers today can not imagine what it was like then. They were BORN with the internet.
The word 'spoilers' didn't exist.
Todays flood of instant opinions, critiques and POVs just did not exist.
We lived in a world of newspaper movie reviews.
And....word of mouth.
It wasn't until 1982 that Siskel and Ebert made it to public television with "At The Movies".
The movie going experience was DIFFERENT.
We went into the theater...cold.
This is another topic that interests me.
But I doubt that Gen-Q shares that interest.
Our internet was television.
Only TV.
And it was limited.
Back then, when the Johnny Carson show ended at 1AM, they would play the national anthem and television went 'off the air' (to return at 6AM).
The only universal source of information was 'the nightly news'.
Both local and national news were broadcast daily, around 6PM.
And, as Tyler has shown, this story was EVERYWHERE on those shows.
Night after night, it was the same thing.
The clips that Tyler has shown were being broadcast into our homes.
All that we saw were people crying and fainting.
Not internet reviews and opinions.
The only context we had was what we could imagine in our brains.
Even without seeing the movie, we were alone with the horror.
In my opinion, this was THE BIGGEST contributing factor to the phenomenon of the Exorcist.
We were alone with the horror.
We'd all been to horror movies.
Vampires were sexy. Werewolves were not yet from London.
Aside from 1968's 'Rosemary's Baby'....this horror topic was new to us.
When it comes to the topic of movies....the 70s were unique.
This topic has been covered, quite well, by many other sources.
I suggest viewing "A Decade Under The Influence".
It is a good start to explain the uniqueness.
Tyler mentions that The Exorcist was the 3rd largest movie of that decade.
Behind Star Wars and Jaws.
Funny, how compared to those two movies, The Exorcist has diminished in it's impact today (opinion).
Yes, those two had major cultural impacts at the time.
But nothing...NOTHING...compared to the impact of The Exorcist.
It seems to me that it was a visceral feeling.
It was horror 'in your home'. In your family.
It was your child. Your sibling.
It was worse than being afraid to go in the water during your summer beach vacation.
Subsequent decades were filled with movies that attempted to rekindle that horror.
They have all failed to achieve that goal.
But this movie....this was the ONLY time it worked.
This was the only time a movie was frightening BEFORE YOU WENT TO SEE IT.
In my entire life, no other movie has come close to creating this feeling.
So, to recap, this movie exists in a different world.
You were alone with it.
And in the context of the wider culture, you could not escape it.
It wasn't another 'monster movie'.
The movie WAS the monster.
It was out there...waiting for you to buy the ticket.
And you had to see it.
***
My experience with reading The Exorcist.
It was a sunny Saturday afternoon.
My parents had gone 'food shopping', a typical weekend thing.
I was alone in the house. With the book.
But I was brave.
So I sat downstairs, in the big chair, right next to the front window.
People were just outside (I lived in Philly...people were ALWAYS outside).
Kids could be heard in the nearby playground.
The sun was streaming thru the front window.
So that helped me be brave ... and read.
And then....I heard the sound.
It was upstairs.
But I was brave. And I KNEW that the sound was Caesar, our dog.
He was upstairs, sneaking a nap on mom and dad's bed.
I didn't even look up from the book.
I just smiled to myself, thinking that Caesar knew what I was doing.
And he was trying to frighten me.
And I kept on reading.
And then, I heard another noise.
And I looked down...to see Caesar on the floor at my feet.
I threw the book down.
I JUMPED out of the chair.
I scurried to the door and went outside.
Because sunlight protects us from evil.
***
Thanks Tyler.
I enjoy your work.
cool story bro
Thanks for sharing your opinions and experiences!
Holy shit dude *WRAP. IT. UP*
😂😂 Super!! And you make some interesting and excellent points... thanks so much for sharing!!!!
I agree with you about movies from the 70's. The movies of that time took themselves "seriously" and a lot of them were uniquely controversial. For example, "Taxi Driver", "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest", the original "Texas Chainsaw Massacre", etc. I also think the special effects were better than the computer digital effects that they have today because there was more original creativity involved. Before the movie "The Exorcist", nobody had seen horror like that on the movie screen. Which also added to the shock value of the film for that time. Unfortunately, I did not make it through the first time I saw "The Exorcist". I was with my mom and brother and after about halfway through the movie, and after one of the more shocking scenes, my mother had us leave the theatre. What I had seen of it was enough for me at the time though! lol!
I was one of those that stood in line for several hours, not once but twice, to see the movie when it was first released. I don't remember anybody fainting, but I did hear people vomiting during the pea soup scene. Far and away the most shocking scene for me was the crucifix scene. I also found it interesting that I was able to see the subliminal frames inserted through the movie, but nobody I went with saw them. There was a local church group handing out pamphlets as the audience left the theater. I've watched it about a half a dozen times and it has freaked me out every single time. I finally reached the point about 10 years ago where I stopped watching it.
If people were freaked out by “The Exorcist” and “Frankenstein” back then, I wonder how other disturbing films measured up. I mean, the “Night on Bald Mountain” segment of Disney’s “Fantasia” was almost traumatic for me seeing it as a kid, and that film was released in 1940.
I would love to see all the Saw films released back then
That's some serious dedication from Ellen Burstyn, with the research and all that. Truly a method actor!
Haha! I loved Tyler's deadpan delivery of that one.
@@macronencer It was a joke? I was confused
@@wiiztec I suppose humour is a very subjective thing. I thought the idea of an actor method-acting to play the part of an actor, by immersing herself in the role and therefore... being an actor (when she already was one) was pretty funny.
Ellen is one of the greatest. Saw her for the first time in requiem, then went and saw exorcist re-release, other things over the years, and then finally I got to see her live on stage in theatre in our city! I can't believe she came to Australia to act. I'll feel lucky for that forever
@@macronencer It was so deadpan I missed the joke completely lol.
*I crept out of my bedroom to watch this on TV, late at night, alone in the dark, at 10 years of age. It changed my life.*
It was when I first truly fell in love with cinema. I had seen dozens of terrible 'horror films' before this but none of them were scarier than my own imagination. This film was. It is a masterful piece of art. Over 30 years later, it's not just my favorite horror film, but my favorite film. I have seen it dozens of times and yet it seems I can notice something new or subtle every single time.
My creepiest observation about the film is listen carefully to the line 'Do you know what she did? Your c**ting daughter?'
The demon speaks in the voice and accent of the dead director Burke.
Why was Burke up in Regan's bedroom alone the night he died? There are disturbing layers to this story that goes as deep as you dare to go.
Holy cow! I didn’t know that.
@@Owyourhurtingme Creepy huh! Go re-watch that scene it will give you goosebumps! And as I said it very very subtly adds a very disturbing aspect to the story. Did Regan/Pazuzu kill Burke in self defense? Earlier in the film Regan asked her mother why Burke was 'always hanging around the house' ugh
He was supposed to watch her when the secretary ran out for a minute..
its one of the movies i had a hard time watching in the dark the other was demons 2 I could not watch that alone until now took a decade n more for me to map it all out to not be afraid
I was 11 years old when my older brothers took me to the drive in to see the exorcist it was 1975. I was so scared I wouldn't go the the bathroom by myself for at least a month.
I don't think modern audiences can have the same reaction because we've all been desensitized through countless pop culture references and parodies. Like, even children's cartoons do parodies of all the most shocking bits from The Exorcist! (I remember an episode of Courage the Cowardly Dog doing it) It's not that movie is actually dated, it's that it did its job so incredibly well that people couldn't stop referencing and lifting elements of it in subsequent films and TV shows!
Yeah, man, I was there..18 years old, 1974..Everybody who saw that movie was terrified for about a week, my roommates and I stayed up all night with the lights on, I saw a girl vomit at the theatre, there was talk of horrifying subliminal pictures in the film, it was a real social phenomenon, The Deceiver was a big hit for a little while, I didn't watch it again until 1999...good video, thanks.
I saw the film on it’s first week of release in Georgetown, where the exteriors were shot. I had already read the book, so I thought I was adequately prepared for the movie. I was not. After seeing the film, walking out of the theatre in the dark of night and seeing Georgetown University I was, to say the least, creeped out. In my estimation, this is the genuinely scariest film of all time. I have only been so thoroughly unnerved by one other film and that was Nicholas Roeg’s “Don’t Look Now.”
Thank you so much for posting this. I'm right in the middle of writing a book that touches on some of the points you listed here. I'm so glad this masterful film is still as relevant as ever. Furthermore, I love ALL your film essays. Keep them coming; they always make me so happy.
I watched this by myself downstairs in my childhood home when I was 7 years old. It was the "TV version" mind you, but it disturbed me and gave me anxiety lol. However, I watched it again as a teen and really enjoyed it. I got to see it at the theater when "the version you never seen" before was being promoted. I was an adult by that point and could finally watch and appreciate what an incredible movie it really was.
I was 13 when exorcist came out, I remember my 15 year old brother went to see it, when he came home I asked, how was it, he just looked down and said, you don't wanna see it. That heightened my already curious brain, so I ended up going, those years were much more innocent as far as, we'd never seen footage of horrible things like today's youth, so I took a hot of purple microdot and me and my buddies went, it was everything is imagined it to be, because it was the talk of the town, spoiler alert, the thing that got me was, evil really can manifest, not possessions but evil can cause people to do horrible things, but visually yeah, it was shocking, that's how id describe it, shocking especially in that era, a couple years later, Jaws comes out, and I grew up next to the ocean, we jumped the bridge next to my house, we water ski on the bay, swimming team, lifeguard , that movie definitely made me see shadows out on the ocean, I remember as a 15 year old, I gotta stop going to these fkn movies.
If you do acid... wait at least an hour before you go swimming
v c xN
peace, pot, microdot.
We saw it in 1973 and it was terrifying. Seemed like everyone in the audience was screaming and many came out of the theatre shaking. Some may have had temporary psychological damage to their nerves for a few weeks.
I went to see the re-release in 2001 in a creaky old theatre with my then-girlfriend and I was so disturbed I couldn't lose my virginity that night. "It's a sin!" I remember saying more than once. Wasn't even raised Catholic.
My goodness 🙄🙏
I got to see it opening week in Los Angeles. I had always loved horror movies and books but that was a whole new level of scary. At the start of the movie the theater was packed...by the end I would be 25% of the crowd had left the theater without returning; people were really traumatized by it.
I've seen a few movies where people walk out, but I've never seen that many people running out and crying. The Tubular bells music still makes the hair on the back of my neck stand up almost 50 years later.
...and in those days they didn't whine and picket the theater in protest and try to "cancel" it! They realized where the problem was, it was their own reaction and not to the "art"! Because that is what a film is when you get right down to it.
Society was so innocent back then. This current generation will probably never understand how scary this movie was back in 1973. Pazuzu was introduced in AD&D in Dungeons & Dragons in the 80's. It was a demon that had one of most lethal breath weapons -- vomit a creeping doom that could inflict up to 1000 hit points damage. The re-issued version with the girl going down-stairs backwards like a spider was total creep-zone event as a grown-up.
Imagine if the scene was left in where Reagan upside-down on all fours scampers down the stairs the scene was to be before she wets the carpet. People would have lost their minds.
Definitely would have been out of place there, it's good where it is
@@wiiztec what are you talking about? That’s where the scene was. They removed it completely.
@@m1ghtysauc397 It's in the directors cut and occurs after the pissing scene, appropriately IMO as it implies a much further stage in the possesssion
Maybe less so when you could see the wires, which is half the reason it was yanked in the first place; the other half being they felt it was too much too soon in terms of stuff that was happening to Reagen. The director's cut reinstated the scene mostly because they could digitally remove the obvious wires from the shot by then.
@@carpetfluff35 Fair point, special effects being what they were in 73' I saw the original in the 70's I was 9, Scared me silly. I saw the directors cut in a theater too it holds up very well all these years later
I saw the film when it was re released in the 90s. Knowing the controversy over the film already, I wasn't shocked by the more graphic scenes. What did strike me were the non supernatural scenes, the opening scene in Iraq for example, the scenes where Reagan is tested in the hospital and the scenes where Karras is working out with the punch bag and doing laps of the running track...those 'everyday' scenes and the way they are photographed were so unsettling for some reason.
Yes, that is the brilliance of this film: the contrast between the everyday and the spirit world!
Man, do I ever remember that first viewing, Minneapolis 1973. Took the evening off from my studies at the U of M to see the show. It had just opened. I loved it. The show hadn’t been mobbed yet, so I disappeared into the men’s room during the final credits then snuck back in to see it again. I have no idea how many times I’ve seen it since. An amazing film!
Seen it when it came out, the lines where around the block. It was the first time audiences had seen something quite like that. I think it caught them off guard ,thus the extreme reactions.
The Exorcist is a phenomenon which will never be replicated. In the era of torture horror and other various sub categories of the genre a film like The Exorcist will never have the same effect as it had on audiences in '73.
I was 9 when it was initially released and wouldn't have the opportunity to see it for a good decade later when it aired on HBO. I was was well aware of the film's existence from a cover story in an issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland which featured a vividly coloured illustration of Linda Blair in the full throes of demonic possession, her face mutilated and a vivid green tongue sticking out. The few photos which accompanied the article inside only hinted at the horrific nature of the story. Before I got to see the film I had read the novel so I was somewhat prepared for what I was about to see. It did not live up to the hype surrounding it, especially hearing accounts of people fleeing the theatres into the lobby or in more extreme cases to the nearest church. I have never found the film scariest and the hyperbolic title "the scariest film ever made" was unjustified, but like everything else it is very subjective what is scary and what is not. I certainly don't hate the film and understand why it is considered to be a classic of the genre, but a modern audience will never understand why it had such an effect on the audience of that period. They need to be it in context. We although there has been gory horror films,especially those of H. G. Lewis, but nothing like The Exorcist. It brought the devil into the mainstream. I wish I was old enough to have seen it in a theatre in '73. As a devoted horror fan it sounded like something I would have enjoyed.
In the words of Beetlejuice: It gets funnier every time I see it. 😊😊
The reactions of these folks speaks volumes to how we've been conditioned to violence and horrific content.
In my opinion Exorcist 1973 still the scariest best horror movie till now
My Father, Grandfather, and Great Uncle were on a business trip to Tampa in ‘73, and before going home they decided to see a movie. It was The Exorcist. My Father said there were three reactions: My Father was shitting himself in his seat, my Grandfather liked it but wasn’t scared, and my Great Uncle was cackling because he thought it was hilarious. Years later when I was 5-6 year old I walked in on my Dad watching it, and I was traumatized. I have some kind of primal Pavlovian response to that film.
I saw The Exorcist first at age 4. I wasn't scared, I love it. I watch it at least twice a year. It's not evil, it's the ultimate fight of good against evil, and good wins.
Not only made us lose our minds, but left physical and psychological scars on a few crew and cast members. Something about its look and feel that can be imitated but seldom replicated.
Owen Roizman's cinematography and lighting was unique.
It is great that 48 years later, Tyler is still committed to *no spoilers*
Was too afraid to watch "The Shining" when it came out. Even the commercials on TV terrified me! Then again, I looked like the character Danny and was about the same age. Wonderful job on this vide, Tyler!
As a child of the late 80s and 90s… I saw some of the parodies, but I didn’t know what was being referred too since in the UK the film was banned on video. It was only on its 25th anniversary in 1998 that the film was re-released in cinemas and later on video and Laserdisc which was where I first saw the film. I found the film slow paced and I couldn’t help but feel dulled by it, then the second hour came along and I was left scared and shocked. Six months later I saw it again on video and it just passed me by, I appreciated its craftsmanship, but the horror became less frightening. Since then I’ve seen it a few times and my Blu Ray copy is now gathering dust… along with Rosemary’s Baby which I’ve only ever seen twice, and it has left me even more frightened second time round.
I don't know if this is actually true or not (take it with a huge grain of salt) but I remember reading something about the movie back in the day. Apparently, even theater employees who could just hear the movie but couldn't see it would sometimes experience great discomfort. Supposedly Friedkin used the sounds of angry wasps or squealing pigs in the background of some of the possession scenes. It subconsciously caused distress and added to the horror of the scenes.
I wouldn't doubt if there were subliminal infrasound used in the film, such as in Irreversible and later (to greater effect) in Hereditary... Blatty was later confirmed to be a spook and they did for sure use subliminal images so they definitely KNEW about that shit at the very least.
Yup. Google and ye shall find!
"It might be worth noting that Blatty, who also wrote the novel of the same name in 1971, previously had served as the policy branch chief for the U.S. Air Force in their Psychological Warfare Division. That basically means that on top of creating effective propaganda in warfare situations, he was also chief of a division that studied the effects that certain psychological tactics had on people, especially negative effects."
@@tonywords6713 yeah, I've read the same about Blatty and came to the same conclusion as you.
@@tonywords6713 also, I think, worthy of more coverage, was the effect of the banned trailer on the general public. If I remember correctly, it aired on network TV for three days in the USA and Canada before being taken off of the air.
Nuclear war movies terrified me while growing up in the eighties and early nineties. But the horror movie that was actually really scary for me when I watched it in the middle of the night was the original Evil Dead. The kind of low budge film quality and sound made it so much scarier than the sequels. The part that really freaked me out was the zombie trying to break out of the basement. What a great flick.
That Picasso joke was actually pretty good.
My mom saw this movie in theaters when it was first released and never watched another horror movie again. She doesn’t even want to look at the collector’s edition on my bookshelf ☺️
I’m going to guess why before watching. So here’s my guess: tv was still relatively new, every movie brought stronger emotion because the entertainment of that kind was rare. Because of this it probably felt a lot more real to them. Back then people were 1,000 times more religious. So something like an exorcism was the evil of all evil. They’d never really watched anything of that nature or ever watched an exorcism play out in front of them. They mainly heard it from books and bibles so seeing it come to life was like being in the room when a real life exorcism takes place. This goes to show how real movies actually are to humans. It can go one of two ways: it can either give you a false sense of reality or it can be a little too close to reality for your senses. Either way it’s an amazing thing though tv was the start of an entirely new type of corruption/inspiration.
Still the most frightening movie I've even seen. It felt so real. Like a documentary. The acting was superb. The grittiness of the film style, how bleak and dark the scenes looked made everything feel so hopeless. The slow story build-up and time spent away from Regan's room was effective; every time the camera panned up the stairs, you really didn't know how much worse she had gotten. And the horrific medical scenes...Gah!
I've loved The Exorcist since I was 9, not even kidding. Great upload!
You must have been a real demon child.
to me theres always something special about 'old' footage, i cant really put a finger on what it really is though. i just know i appreciate you including those clips and making this video
I saw it back in '73 and I wasn't aware of any incidents but during the silent attic scene I was amused at the amount of nervous coughing.
When the movie started to gain a lot of attraction after it’s Christmas premiere, the Carpenters had the number one album. Yes they went to see it and it frightened them badly.
I was 10 when I recall hearing about someone having a heart attack in a Ottawa, Ontario theatre showing The Exorcist in the 70s....(was it true? Never found out for certain)
All I remember is my 10 year mind processed that this movie CAN KILL YOU!
Excellent video! So interesting to see your analysis of all the factors of how culture an films evolve.
The real impact of this film may have come from the flashing subliminal images and messages embedded though out the movie, as well as symbolism that included stairs and flowers. Often the background music was blended with two very agitating sounds -- the frantic buzzing of bees and the high pitched squeals of pigs being slaughtered. The sudden changing volume of spoken dialogue, abrupt sounds, and low-frequency humming in "silent" parts added to the tension. Coughing can be a form of stress management, and predictable coughing patterns were recorded in theaters showing this movie. Maybe all that stress and coughing lead to some people getting sick to their stomachs?
BTW, Tyler, I enjoy your film analysis and commentary very much! Some of the best content on these topics available online.
@@vincijuju Shame he didn't touch on psychology or subliminal effects, like you have. Thanks.
I was not old enough to get into the movie. My sister made it in, and would not sleep in her room unless all lights were left on. I put a radio under her bed with the volume on really low, and after she went to bed and it was quiet she could here a voice talking. She ran out of her room and slept with our parents.
Religion and the idea of possession is a polarising subject, I think it's one of those subjects people get so emotional and basic fear instincts, it's almost like flight or fight response to viewing the film.
Thanks for your usual thorough job! I'm glad to see that you decided to take a look at the cultural impact of "The Exorcist" with some examination of the state of the culture at the time. Reminds me of the approach Jerome Agel took in "The Making of Kubrick's 2001" - a book I know you're well familiar with. It's easy to look back on such a time and ask how people could take such things so seriously, especially if you didn't actually live through it, yourself. I was too young to actually see it when it first came out, but I was still old enough to notice the media obsession with religion and exorcism that followed the original release. I did read the book, though. To be sure, the early 1970's was a period of profound upheaval that would probably require at least several hours to even scratch the surface of.
Big fan, as always!
If there's one thing this review did is make me feel like I was back at blockbuster, skimming the rows. Great narration, editing and smooth voice👌🏾. You got my sub bro, great stuff.
I remember I told my dad I was gonna watch the movie, cause I knew it was a cult classic and wanted to see what the fuzz was all about. He told me it was a very scary movie and I might have trouble sleeping.
So I watched it, alone at night, and I think my expectations were so high I was kinda disappointed cause it wasn't scary at all, it felt like I was watching a drama. I liked it but it wasn't scary, so I wondered why was it so scary for my dad? Well, we just grew up in different cultural scenarios, and it's perfectly understandable.
if you dont find it scary . its probably a lack of awareness and history and culture .you are ignorant to the significance . what is scary if that not? love to hear it
@@aaronaaron5968 What's scary for you might not be scary for others. This movie was released before I was even born, so practical effects such as make-up, cut scenes, even music weren't as effective for me as it might've been for other generations. I'm not saying they were bad, it's just that, by that time I had already seen much better. Like Star Wars, I grew up watching episodes IV, V and VI and the first 3 episodes had to grow on me, and they're now my fav of the saga. Another reason is that the subject matter isn't that scary to me, I'm a catholic because it's the way I was raised, but I'm not religious at all, which is why I think my dad and his generation watched this with certain fear at that time, similar to what people experienced in movie theaters when The Passion of the Christ was released in 2004. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre which was released a year after the Exorcist was really scary to me, because evil psychotic people, torture and killing is more "real" than demonic possessions. The Exorcism of Emily Rose had it's moments but I would say it had the same effect on me, not being so scary, even though the acting and the effects were much better.
I agree, it's more of a drama and unnerving, not so much scary (although there are some jump scares -- like the one where the telephone rings on a quiet night). Btw, it's "what all the fuss is about" not fuzz. LOL
@@cfelton2051 lol, thank you for correcting me, english isn't my first language.
@@sm3dc I would not have known otherwise. Your English is great.
I remember seeing it when I was 11, as it was being watched by my older sister who was having a slumber party. I was terrified, and went to my dad who said, “Well, demonic possession is part of Christianity.” With these words of comfort I was scared shitless.
😅
I was eleven when I saw it too. I'm still looking for a scary movie. Haven't found it yet
My mom saw it during it's original theatrical run and would always say it gave her nightmares for weeks.
Then your mum ain't hardcore, then is she?
I saw "The Exorcist" in Washington DC, three days after it opened. The theater was packed, and there were gasps at a number of the surprising or shocking moments -- but there were no audience members fainting or vomiting or running screaming from the theater! If anything, the biggest crowd reaction came from the first exterior shot of Georgetown!
Released the year I was born, this film is truly unique in any time. I have seen a lot of movies, and this is the only movie that has entered my soul in the same way. You truly believe you are watching evil on the screen. You can rip this movie off, but you will never duplicate it.
It was scary to 1973 audiences because it was not just scary, it was disturbing. I suspect the same audiences that freaked over the Exorcist would laugh off most modern horror movies.
still scary today. not in terms of horror tropes, blood, gore etc. it is scary because it deals with the things humanity puts a lot of faith in : family, marriage, religion and sanity.
The horror derives from the evil of the devil himself.
I ran the Star Theater in Coshocton, Ohio, we showed The Exorcist in August 1974. First there was a petition created by several churches submitted to Mayer Wharton that he presented to me as a message that we should cancel the movie, though I had paid Warner Bros. a $1000 advance for the engagement. There were articles in the Coshocton Tribune about the movie coming to town despite the mayor's protest. When we did show the movie, yes I had a person faint in the lobby, we had people throw up, scene with needles in the neck did it. Our main projectionist (Stan Baker), brought headphones for radio so the audio did not upset him, and he was a union man, I.A.T.S.E., to boot. Oh, people lined around the block to get tickets.
I was born in 1972, so I was only a year old when it was released. My parents were religious and I grew up being warned against seeing this movie.
I was a good kid, so my parents trusted me to stay alone for two days when I was nearing my 17th birthday. I invited several friends over and we watched the movie "The Exorcist" together. It creeped us all out!
I watched it on Friday the 13th October in 2000 when it was re-released. Big mistake! It had affected me quite strongly at age 28. I was single and living by myself. I called my parents in extreme fear that night. They prayed over the phone with me. I was troubled for 5 nights afterward! I can't explain why I reacted so differently to the movie at 16 and again at 28.
It’s horror gets deep in the psychology so the more you understand about life the scarier it hits. Unlike modern horrors where the horror is mostly visual.
As always, an excellent and very informative essay on the films that have become the fabric of cinema. Great work, Tyler!
Thanks!
I went and saw it for the first time in the late 90s when it was rereleased... the theater experience might have helped but it still is the most frightening film I’ve ever seen... I’m an atheist, I have not skin in the game. But this was a terrifying cinematic experience. I bought on dvd after that, still have not rewatched it
You have skin in the game. This stuff is very real and shouldn't be dismissed.
Its kind of a testament to how devastatingly scary practical effects can be.
My answers are:
80's slasher movies have made this sort of movie extremely tame by comparison, as have movies like Poltergeist where we see corpses coming out of the ground, giant skeleton monsters in hallways, and people ripping their faces off. As a matter of fact, I watched The Exorcist for the first time only a few weeks ago and I found is exceedingly boring.
Far fewer people are religious these days, and far fewer believe in the supernatural side of religion.
A lot more people are tech savvy about special effects and how movies are made. Today we can even tell when something's been made with CGI rather than live action, so the special effects in The Exorcist are very, very tame to today's audiences.
This shows how powerful the audience is even before the internet.
Babe, I love you.
It was scary even when I watched it in 2001 for the cinema re-release. It's my high-water mark, and modern horror movies just haven't ever been impressive (to me) because of it.
watched exorcist as a kid, never have ive made a worst decision in my life after
For me the No.1 factor the led to the publics reaction to the Exorcist was the Hays Code.
The Code which had placed intense restrictions on American Cinema only ended 5 years before the Exorcists release.
Whilst enforcement had loosened through the 60's it's simply a fact that a movie like this couldn't have been made in Hollywood previously.
Therefore films like The Exorcist, Rosemary's Baby & others where a shock to the system for English speaking audiences who were used to a film industry with far more limits.
Coming out between the end of the code & the birth of Slasher films, it entered an enviroment where audiences where able to be shocked & the industry had the freedom to do it
I walked out of this movie, I can't remember how far into I was when I left, and to this day I haven't watched the whole movie, and I am by no means religious, it just freaked me out waaayyy too much.
A few films have caused me anxiety at the time when I first saw them. I remember having a claustrophobic/panic attack reaction to Fantastic Voyage when I was a kid. My Mom took me out of the theatre...I grew to love that film later on. The Exorcist also gave me the same feeling as well as Altered States and like Fantastic Voyage I ended up liking both films later on. I guess I need to be eased into some movies...
Wow! Reading people's comments about their experiences is making me think about some of the experiences I had when I was their age!
When Regan uttered: " You're going to die up there" this was a tie-in for William Blatty's - The Ninth Configuration, sadly, an overlooked and underappreciated gem. This movie contained some of the best lines, perhaps a review < hint >
< hint >? Ha!
The 9th is my fav movie but I didn't know about this tie-in. Is that really a Billy Cutshaw reference???
Could The Ninth Configuration be a sequel to The Exorcist? Unofficially atleast?
@@WallKenshiro As I understand it it is. And Exorist 3 was originally called Communion. I believe Blatty said it was a trilogy.
9th configuration is one of the best movies ever made. When I recommend it to people, they never watch it, but if I loan them the DVD, they never return it. I'd like to see all of Blatty's 30+ edits of it. Yes, Blatty considered it a sequel to the exorcist, as a further exploration of "the problem of evil".
@@user-bf6gi4kt4w I love it, but it feels like an older film than The Exorcist when watching it. It has an old school pacing, lighting and overall style compared, but (most of) it's acting and all of it's themes are at least 10 yrs ahead of it's time. It's a strange nut to crack, no pun intended, but still welcomed.
Had to leave the theatre shaking when I saw Reservoir Dogs at 15. The sadistic torture, horrible. Now I can't imagine a film hitting me that hard anymore. Goes to show how much growing your brain still does from 15 to 25, it's so different now, mid forties.
I first saw the exorcist when I was 20, I was alone in my dorm at 1am. It scared the crap out of me in a creepy eerie way that no other movie has or ever will. I still love it
I watched the reissued director's cut in cinema. My way home was the most scariest it had ever been. I always had to walk through a dark woodsy path and I thought a demon would jump out any time. I was 18 at that time btw. I watch horror all the time but that one I'll never do again.
"It might be worth noting that Blatty, who also wrote the novel of the same name in 1971, previously had served as the policy branch chief for the U.S. Air Force in their Psychological Warfare Division. That basically means that on top of creating effective propaganda in warfare situations, he was also chief of a division that studied the effects that certain psychological tactics had on people, especially negative effects."
Apparently Blatty was also a spook. Creepy.
My dad had a friend who was so scared by the film she had to sleep in her parents’ room, and she was in her twenties
I went to bed that night with the lights on and hid under the covers. Still sends shivers up my spine to this day!
Berkeley, CA is a fun place to watch a movie audiences have always been that eccentric and funny😂
I saw it, Westwood, the night of release; I was an engineering student at USC at the time. The book was in my hands for a solid twelve hours the day before on my way back from Vegas from a consulting job for an engineer (Dad); I had to work for my education, LOL. Even after the reading, I found it painful to sleep, even WITH the lights unextinguished. After the movie, my friends and I went to Al Pennie's, an all-night eatery in Culver City. How much bacon can one man eat?
As early as 1972, I can remember seeing the paperback version of "The Exorcist" on all the racks in nearly every market and drug store we came into. I couldn't even pronounce the name of the book let alone even knew what it meant. Then a short time later my older brother RAVES about this book he has read. He thought it would make a great movie. Then I see the first trailer for the movie - oddly enough it's one of my favorites of all time as it was classy and really not tell you one thing as to what to expect from this film. But at the time I saw the trailer, it was just going to be another movie coming out soon. Then the day after Christmas I get the first indication that this isn't any movie. My friend has called me and asked "Did you hear about 'The Exorcist'?" No. "OMG. They say people fainted and threw up all over the place." With word of mouth like that, it was the NEXT day that suddenly the one theater that was showing the movie got SWARMED by half of California who now HAD to see what all this fuss was about. And so a phenomena was born. It was the subject of editorials, protests, and of course damnation from every pulpit in existence at the time. From my own point of view, patience was the key. My parents were NOT going to drive into Westwood to see a movie - that was ridiculous to them. So in the meantime I checked the book out of the library (oh, I think I was something like 15th on the request list by that time), and if the book was any indication, could easily understand why people were throwing up. Yuck. It wouldn't be until the movie was out 3 or so months before I would FINALLY get to see it. Which was The Rosecrans Drive-in Theater - the only drive-in showing for this film. Cut to the chase: by the time the movie ended, alls I thought was "That's it? People are fainting over this? Really?" I didn't hate the movie, I just couldn't understand why people would react in such a way. But I would go a second time not too long afterwards and see it in the Walk-in theater. I was only like 14 at the time. I so remember the lady sitting behind me. She had a vial of Holy Water and a crucifix in front of her face and cowering behind them. In an astonished look I just said "Lady, it's just a movie." But that gives you some idea of the kind of ruckus this movie caused. I never saw anything like that before or since. As I write this we are approaching 50 years since the movie was released. And as a movie, it has held up great. Of course it doesn't have the shock effect it would have in 1973, but it still can keep your stomach in knots. But the younger generation who arrived after the movie came out, trust me, you wouldn't believe the fuss this movie caused. Great video Tyler.
My dad went to see it by himself when I was about 8 and when he came home he said some full grown man ran down the aisle screaming right out the theatre doors into the lobby
3:26 "Ellen Burstyn actually researched being an actress for several years before production began."
Ellen Burstyn actually WAS an actress for several years before production began. Good thing, too, because 10 months before production began, she didn't even know she was going to be IN the film.
Chris didn't hear voices in the attic. She heard noises and thought they might be rats. This is explicit in the film.
Blatty's project wasn't driven by a personal interest in religion. It was driven by the fact that he heard about the original exorcism while attending Georgetown University, which was and probably still is run by Jesuits. Then it was driven by the fact that he wanted to make a movie about it. (Also, he was intimately involved in the movie. When he says he knew it would be big when he saw the rough cut, it _almost_ comes across like he didn't know a lot about what it would look like. He did, he just didn't know how GOOD his efforts were).
I'm afraid I have to wonder where you got the information used in the first couple minutes of this video. There are videos right here on YT, and on Netflix, that have the the details I've mentioned here correct, and if you had simply Googled Ellen Burstyn, you would have known she was an accomplished actress before The Exorcist was even written.
Never noticed how the girls were lying in that news video before. "I fainted after 15 minutes." Nothing in the least bit scary happens anywhere near the first 15 minutes. Same for the one who said "half hour". Nothing the least bit different from any other horror movie happens in the first half hour. If these poor girls fainted, It didn't have anything to do with the movie I saw.
People will lie through their teeth if they think they're going to end up on TV...