zombieman.............I'm sure the books must be better than the movies. The exorcist is one of the most over rated pieces of garbage ever committed to celuloid. The movie is boring and pointless. The Omen was 100 times better. Perhaps if Gregory Peck would have stabbed himself in the ass repeatedly with a cross The Omen would have gotten all of the main stream media coverage and attention that The exorcist did.
The scene with the crucifix was not put into the movie for comercial shock value, the book was written long before a film was planned and Blatty included the scene because he wanted a something which would drive a non-believer into seeking the help of an Exorcist.
The Exorcist as a film is a very serious piece of work, unlike most horror movies this decade which seem to focus on large breasted teens being slaughtered in the woods. The movie is very well researched in terms of religion and psychology, and i do believe that a piece of film of this powerful really plays on your faith and value system.
I think people need to be more constructive in their criticism of such a serious, well researched piece of work.
The scene with the crucifix was not put into the movie for comercial shock value, the book was written long before a film was planned and Blatty included the scene because he wanted a something which would drive a non-believer into seeking the help of an Exorcist.
I never stated that the scene was included in the film for comercial shock value. I implied that the reason the film got so much media coverage and stirred such a controversy was because of that scene.
The Exorcist as a film is a very serious piece of work, unlike most horror movies this decade which seem to focus on large breasted teens being slaughtered in the woods. The movie is very well researched in terms of religion and psychology, and i do believe that a piece of film of this powerful really plays on your faith and value system.
Wrong decade my friend. The Exorcist was made in the 70s. 99% of all reputable horror films were made in this decade. This decade brought you The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, The Omen, The Amityville Horror, The Last House on the Left, The Hills Have Eyes, The Evil Dead, Phantasm, etc., etc., etc. Large breasted teens being slaughtered in the woods was an eighties thing my friend. You are talking about the advent of the SLASHER genre. Big difference.....and even then that mostly sounds like a Friday the 13th review. Most girls in slasher films didn't have the big breasts of today as implants weren't all the rage and every teenage actress didn't have them.
I think people need to be more constructive in their criticism of such a serious, well researched piece of work.
I think you need to do a better job either reading our posts or interpreting the criticism as you clearly see things posted that were not.
I guess I'd probably say that The Exorcist is a good film but not a scary film. Went to see it on Halloween about five years ago when it was re-released and then walked through the cemetary next to the cinema without batting an eyelid. The fact that we were in a cemetary didn't even dawn on us until we were almost out. Not a scary film but perhaps a thought provoking one.
I guess I can give the film a little credit. While being completely over rated and equally as boring, I was able to sit through it twice without falling asleep. That places is well above Lord of the Rings : Fellowship of the Ring. It took my a full year and 4 different viewings before I finally made it to the end. Even then I had to do it in two sittings as I grew very tired after the first hour and a half I was damned determined not to fall asleep again.
The best thing I can say about the film is atleast it kept me concious.
zombieman.........as much as I hate the Exorcist, I must agree with you. Even though I loathe the film......I can atleast acknowledge that it is a horror classic. You are completely correct about 99% of the people here would reather discuss slasher movies...........it disgusts me also. It's like a lot of these people have only seen 30 movies, all 30 were parts of the NOES, Friday the 13th, Halloween, Childs Play or Leprechaun series. Check out my post in Hockey Horror's "Do you guyz think" thread on this page.