We’re going with a horror classic: The Exorcist ! Released in 1973, it spawned sequels of varying quality, a TV series, and countless films that were inspired by it, either openly or not.
A Cursed Production
Based on a book and a supposedly “real” exorcism from 1949, it was directed by William Friedkin.
And from what we now know, it wasn’t the most pleasant experience for the crew.
Friedkin went so far as to hit actors, lie to them, and fire blank bullets on set in order to get the reaction he wanted…
It was clearly not a quiet and friendly atmosphere.
Receiving mixed reviews despite sold-out theaters, it was only over the years that The Exorcist achieved cult status.
Parodied everywhere, it was nevertheless once terrifying.
Many employees were injured, there was one death during filming, it took twice as long to produce and cost three times its initial budget. It even featured a real-life serial killer in a cameo role, albeit only briefly.
Many believed it to be cursed.
Yet it was the first horror film ever to be nominated for an Oscar.
Shaking up pop culture (and the church)
We all know the characters by now, we know the story, we can even quote scenes from memory.
It’s a movie that shook up pop culture and even made the demon Pazuzu famous, if you can believe it!
It also caused quite a stir in the Catholic Church.
The feedback was unfairly negative, mainly because they thought it would encourage satanism. Ahhhh the 80s haha.
I went to see it again at the cinema recently, with lots of younger people in the audience, and their reactions made me laugh. I heard a group complaining about the lack of jump scares, having completely lost sight of the fact that horror is not limited to The Conjuring or Insidious’ universes…
I can’t imagine them, with today’s political correctness, watching one of the old Friday the 13th movies or reacting to some of Freddy‘s corny jokes.
A legacy of possession
The Exorcist paved the way for possession movies and has served as the original statement for many films.
The possessed are very often girls, specifically teenage girls, with priests who always show up in pairs, the title always includes the word “exorcism,” and the posters are very dark.
It’s a shame to have launched such a cool concept, only to have it copied by lesser-quality films, but that’s often the tragedy of blockbusters.
It has had a huge impact on today’s culture, notably by enabling many films to find their budget by convincing the studios that horror could work for mainstream audiences.
The list includes The Omen, The Shining, and The Amityville Horror.
Famous actors also began to accept work on these types of projects thanks to it.
This is what still makes it so successful to this day.
Real characters, real impact
What also makes it work so well is that the characters are endearing.
They seem like real people, and don’t come across as caricatures, as is often the case in this genre.
Where no personality or depth is ever given to the “main red shirts” so to speak.
With the Exorcist, we sympathize with them and want them to win, which immediately increases the impact of the work.
As you can see, without denying my passion for horror, I love The Exorcist.
It’s a very good movie that still holds up today, unlike many others.
It would be difficult to deny my love for it.
This is one of the rare 5/5 ratings
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I’ve recently met Linda Blair at For the love of horror and took a picture with her.
She is a staple of the horror genre now, having played Regan.
She was really lovely and chatted people up in what is usually a pretty fast paced setting.
We even talked about Wes Craven a bit.
She runs a rescue, and most of her revenue goes to saving dogs.
Visit her WorldHeart Foundation for more information.
