'The Exorcist'
The Ringer's Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, and Chris Ryan are compelled by the power of Christ after being repossessed by the 1973 classic 'The Exorcist,' starring Ellen Burstyn, Jason Miller, and Max von Sydow.
Cast
Ellen Burstyn as Chris McNeil
Linda Blair as Regan MacNeil
Jason Miller as Father Damien Karras
Max von Sydow as Father Lankester Merrin
Lee J. Cobb as Lieutenant Kinderman
Mercedes McCambridge as Voice of the Demon (Pazuzu)
Jack MacGowran as Burke Dennings
Directed by: William Friedkin
Written by: William Peter Blatty
Notes
- First horror film ever nominated for Best Picture – won Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound.
- Made on a $12 million budget and grossed $441 million ($1.8 billion adjusted for inflation).
- Highest grossing R-rated horror film for 35 years.
- Nine people associated with the production died; the set caught fire from unknown causes.
- Friedkin's on-set methods were extreme: firing blanks near Jason Miller, injuring Ellen Burstyn's tailbone, punching the actor playing Father Dyer before his last-rites scene.
- Jason Miller won the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award for That Championship Season the same year 'The Exorcist' came out, plus earned a Best Supporting Actor Oscar nomination – all within 8 months.
- Jason Miller is Jason Patric's father and turned down the lead in 'Taxi Driver'.
- 'The Exorcist' steps are a real tourist attraction in Georgetown.
- Joel Schumacher wanted to film 'St. Elmo's Fire' at Georgetown but was rejected by a priest who said 'You let Friedkin film 'The Exorcist' here' – the priest replied 'Yeah, but the devil didn't win in their movie'.
Categories
Quote from Rog's review:
“The film is an exploration of the most fearsome resources of the cinema. This movie doesn't rest on the screen; it's a frontal assault.”
Ebert gave it four stars. Gene Siskel also gave it four stars. Pauline Kael legendarily hated it and eviscerated it in her review.
- Regan coming downstairs at the party, telling the astronaut 'You're going to die up there,' then peeing on the carpet.
- The crucifix/head-180 scene – the biggest scare scene in the movie.
- Chris McNeil meeting Father Karras outdoors at Georgetown to ask about exorcism.
- The entire exorcism and final 20-30 minutes – 'the best final half hour of a movie possibly ever made'.
- Lee J. Cobb sitting down with Ellen Burstyn to subtly reveal her daughter may have murdered Burke.
- The title itself – incredible and iconic.
- The poster and the scene it depicts – Father Merrin arriving at the house, the Magritte homage with the shaft of light (took two days to light).
- Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield as the theme music.
- Max von Sydow's makeup – he was only 44, looked 74.
- The sound design – ambient noise always pumped slightly higher than normal; the head-turn crackling sound was made from crunching a wallet.
- The casting of Jason Miller as Karras – a playwright, not an actor; a famous face would have been distracting.
- Friedkin's visual motif of Karras always ascending stairs and hills – heaven and hell imagery throughout.
- The slow start and Iraq prologue for first-time viewers.
- Some special effects given 1973 limitations.
- Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) – legendary bomb directed by John Boorman.
- Linda Blair's post-Exorcist career.
- Friedkin's extreme on-set methods – injuring actors, firing blanks, punching a real priest.
- Studio wanted Marlon Brando for Father Merrin – Friedkin vetoed it ('it would become a Brando movie').
- Jack Nicholson, Paul Newman, and Stacy Keach were all in the mix for Father Karras.
- Audrey Hepburn was approached first for Chris McNeil; Jane Fonda turned it down calling it 'a piece of capitalist rip-off bullshit'.
- Stanley Kubrick was intrigued by directing but said no; Mike Nichols turned it down saying 'you'll never find a 12-year-old girl to carry the picture'.
Barton Heyman as Doctor Klein – also played Doctor Riskin in 'Cruising', another Friedkin film
- Jason Miller when the demon enters Karras at the end – 'the most going for it an actor has ever gone' with convulsing, eyes rolling back, shaking.
- Burke Dennings drunk at the party.
Mercedes McCambridge – provided the demon voice by swallowing raw eggs, chain-smoking, and drinking whiskey (as a recovering alcoholic). Friedkin then tied her to a chair with torn sheets so she would sound restrained.
- William Friedkin – indisputably, with French Connection then Exorcist back-to-back.
- Jason Miller – 'My favorite Apex Mountain we've ever had' (Bill). Pulitzer, Tony, and Oscar nomination all within 8 months.
- Ellen Burstyn – this established her; Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore came right after.
- Linda Blair – yes.
- Split Pea Soup – yes.
- How does Pazuzu enter Karras, a priest, if no demon can dwell where the Holy Spirit is?
- Regan's face is nearly completely healed at the end despite the crucifix wounds and demonic disfigurement.
- Sharon the babysitter – at what point does she renegotiate her contract while the kid is possessed?
- Chris McNeil still going to work on her movie while her daughter is possessed.
- How and why did Pazuzu become interested in the McNeil house? Did Regan summon him via the Ouija board?
- Was Karl the housekeeper actually a Nazi?
- What happened to Regan's life after the exorcism?
- Did they ever finish the movie-within-the-movie 'Crash Course' after the director was thrown out a window?
- Where is Regan's father? The film works partly as a divorce metaphor.
Fox already made an Exorcist TV show starring Geena Davis – 'It was not great. It's literally the reason why you should not remake movies like this as TV shows.'
Friedkin – Bill and Chris both pick him. Sean makes the contrarian case that it actually hurt Friedkin long-term by setting the bar too high.
- Linda Blair's dating history: Rick Springfield at age 15, Deep Purple bassist Glenn Hughes, Styx guitarist Tommy Shaw, Rick James (who wrote 'Cold Blooded' about her).
- The Exorcist's R rating was controversial – theories that Warner Brothers bribed the ratings board; the head of the rating system stepped down within a year.