[kj] OT - The Exorcist

[Darren A. Peace]

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


_______________________________________________
Gathering mailing list
Gathering at misera.net
http://four.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/gathering

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://four.pairlist.net/pipermail/gathering/attachments/20080908/084614d5/attachment.html>