[kj] OT - The Exorcist

[Brendan]

A lot of it is context I suppose. I saw Dirty Harry when I was 8 or 9  I
think, and it freaked me out for about a week. The bit where the fruit
loop kidnaps the girl and buries her, her air running out...I was quite
disturbed for a while, being a good catholic lad. Wot.



> I have to stand up for The Wicker Man (and not that abortion of a remake).

> Beautiful film that left me speechless for about two hours when I saw it

> on

> UK TV at the age of about 12. Only watched it because it had Christopher

> Lee

> in it, and I was just starting my fixation with Hammer films. I saw "Race

> With The Devil" at about the same time, so continued my run of those sorts

> of endings. I'm sure that the reason it connected with me so strongly was

> because I was exposed to it at a comparatively unsophisticated age, and

> I'm

> sure my adult cynicism would find more at fault with it were it not for

> that, but connect it did, and it's remained a favourite.

>

>

>

> Found myself in Dumfries & Galloway a few years back, so went to a couple

> of

> the Wicker Man locations. Brilliant stuff. The mythologizing around its

> making just adds to the cachet, for me. Saw an NFT showing of it around

> the

> same time, with Lee and Tony Shaffer in attendance just before the

> latter's

> death.

>

>

>

> The Omen and The Exorcist are two entirely different beasts. I enjoy the

> Omen more than the Exorcist, because it is pulpy and stupid, but the

> subtexts to the Exorcist are genuinely frightening to this parent. And to

> dismiss Blatty's meditations on faith is just ill-informed; his earlier

> novel show a preoccupation, and "Exorcist III" (prior to studio manglings)

> was about pretty much nothing else. Sure, Freidkin (and Blatty, to a

> lesser

> extent) made the right noises when promoting the film once it was realised

> that it was a phenomenon, but to dismiss it as a cynical exercise in

> exploitation is wrong. Their commentary on the first DVD is great fun.

> Sure,

> they're taking the piss some of the time, but they are both intelligent

> men

> with subtextual agendas worthy of attention.

>

>

>

> Still remember the really crappy Omen posters before its release; the

> novelisation (David Seltzer, IIRC) is great fun and full of as much

> religious bollocks as the Da Vinci Code (written by a man who CAN'T

> FUCKING

> WRITE).

>

>

>

> Darren

>

> Hungerford, UK

>

>

>

> From: gathering-bounces at misera.net [mailto:gathering-bounces at misera.net]

> On

> Behalf Of Alexander Smith

> Sent: 08 September 2008 00:01

> To: jimharper666 at yahoo.co.uk; A list about all things Killing Joke (the

> band!)

> Subject: Re: [kj] OT - The Exorcist

>

>

>

>

>

> "but it's not a 'truly scary movie', and there's more than a few"

>

>

>

> Well, it truly scares me, even this many years later. "The Omen" is

> practically a comedy compared to "The Exorcist".

>

>

>

> Alex in NYC

>

>

>

>

>

> On Sep 7, 2008, at 6:52 PM, Jim Harper wrote:

>

>

>

>

>

>

> "One of the only really, truly scary movies."

>

>

>

> I'm afraid I can't agree there. The Exorcist is a good film, but it's not

> a

> 'truly scary movie', and there's more than a few.

>

>

>

> There are plenty of acknowledged 'classic' horror films that aren't worth

> more than a cursory watch, just so you can say you've seen it (The Shining

> and The Wicker Man fit the bill very nicely). To Friedkin's credit, he

> does

> at least ensure that The Exorcist doesn't turn into the kind of colossal

> monument to tedium that those two films are, but he does fall short of the

> 'classic' he usually gets landed with. I've always preferred The Omen. I

> realise comparing those two films- The Exorcist and The Omen- is likely to

> get me lynched, but The Omen is a more entertaining film. Mainly because

> it

> doesn't try to hide what it is. Both films are trashy exploitation, but

> whereas The Omen accepts that and gets on with business of being a really

> fun piece of trashy exploitation, The Exorcist (mainly through William

> Friedkin and William Peter Blatty, who spun the same crap about his novel

> when it came out) tries to pass itself off as a serious meditation on the

> mystery of Faith. Bollocks. Aside from one line, faith is never even

> mentioned. It's just a scary, gross horror movie, but one with ideas above

> its station.

>

>

>

> My apologies for the rambling there!

>

>

>

> Jim.

>

> NOW AVAILABLE: Flowers From Hell: The Modern Japanese Horror Film, by Jim

> Harper (Noir Publishing).

>

> "Fascinating overview of the Japanese horror boom... Comprehensive,

> in-depth

> and slickly presented."- DVD Monthly.

>

> Available from Noir Publishing, Amazon.co.uk, Waterstones and all good

> bookstores.

>

> --- On Sun, 7/9/08, Leigh Newton <angrytomhanks at yahoo.com> wrote:

>

> From: Leigh Newton <angrytomhanks at yahoo.com>

> Subject: Re: [kj] OT - The Exorcist

> To: "A list about all things Killing Joke (the band!)"

> <gathering at misera.net>

> Date: Sunday, 7 September, 2008, 9:42 PM

>

> Also the classic "Stick your cock up her ass, you motherfucking worthless

> COCKSUCKER!"

>

> One of the only really, truly scary movies. The original Black Christmas

> and

> The Changeling are two more that come to mind. Anyone got anymore? I'm

> talking SCARY, not just kind of creepy or gross.

>

> Leigh

>

>

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