Halloween Spotlight: The Exorcist

this is the brain and you're listening to the

geek cast radio network yes hello and welcome

to episode 267 of the cinema geeks i am one of

your cinema geeks optimist solo and joining me

as usual is the comic concierge hello dan oh

wait did i scare you no hey how's it going it's

trying to get into the sound effects that our

uh our recording thing puts on yeah got me again

it got me again yeah so like this weird like

almost like a halloween gong that's being hit

or something like i don't know what that is but

uh we are back for some more spooky talk dan

so the horror film slash halloween feel will

continue so we've already talked about the uh

we've talked about carrie and the texas chainsaw

massacre and we're keeping in the 70s the early

70s because we're just doing four years in a

row it turns out so bouncing around a little

bit as far as the order goes but i think if i

remember correctly we're covering a film from

73 74 75 and 46 or something similar to that

around that yeah well this is 73 so okay so 73

four and five i think we got covered i can't

remember if the other one is 72 or 76 but regardless

we got the 70s on lock this year so um so today

we are going back to 1973 for a film that i believe

dan remind me i keep forgetting but this is a

first time watch for both of us yeah i all these

are first time watches for me uh this especially

again kind of like carrie where i saw the remake

there was like a prequel in 2004 that i saw uh

not very good uh but so i have that i don't remember

anything about that movie but i've never seen

this and i've seen obviously other extras in

movies and i don't perhaps the reason why so

a little bit of a story time i guess uh uh spooky

story time not spooky maybe i don't know but

uh maybe it was just Part of me was a little

bit frightened or I don't know. But I grew up

in a very religious family. Like as I always

say, we didn't go to church once a week. We went

three times a week, Sunday morning, Sunday evening,

Wednesdays. And when I was younger, I don't know

how old. I want to say like five or six or so.

I think one of our evening services was probably

Wednesday or Sunday. It came out because I remember

coming out. into like the, like the foyer or

whatever, like the, like where the entrance is

and everything like that. And like people were

out and like kind of look discombobulated and

I hear, and upstairs, cause there was like a

upstairs area. I'm hearing like screaming and

like yelling. And I'm like, you know, I remember

asking them what's going on. And I don't even

know if someone told me or someone overheard

it, but they said someone came in that was possessed

and they were upstairs performing an exorcism.

And it was like, uh so you know five years old

no idea what's going on uh in my head like i

remember it being like a stormy night and they're

being late you know lights flickering no idea

if that really happened because you know that

just could be my memory playing tricks on me

but i do remember like the howls and yelling

and screaming it it was like this was at the

church i'm sorry this this was at the church

this was happening at church it's not something

that what kind of denomination was it we're it's

assembly of God. So I don't know what it's Pentecostal.

I think a little bit more sense. Yeah. So I didn't,

I never saw the person cause like it happened.

I believe it was on Wednesdays and on Wednesdays

it was, I was in this thing called whale Rangers,

which was like the church version of boy Scouts.

So it's like, yeah, that was a fun time. I hated

it so much. But yeah, I remember coming out and

like, It was and I was like, you know, it's like

a horror movie happening. And like some people

were acting like nothing was wrong. Other people,

it was it was so it was surreal before I know

what surreal meant. So I don't know if part of

that's just been behind because like, you know,

the howl and yelling and screaming. And it was

in like it's up like a flight of stairs or two.

So like it like in their door was shut. So it's

like the fact that like you could even like they

must have been. I don't know. It was it was weird.

It was just a strange situation. And nothing

ever like that ever happened again. Like, you

know, it wasn't like a it wasn't like a church

where that was normal. Yeah. So it was just it

was so odd and strange that, you know, they're

like, oh, someone came in possessed. I'm like,

I didn't even, you know, it was like, you know,

and a five to I didn't know any better. Who knows?

I don't know what the actual situation was. But

ever since then, I don't know if that's why,

like even anything demon possessed, like used

to scare me. Not as much now, but growing up.

So. just going back that's super interesting

because the film yeah i totally get that the

film totally acts like or presents it as if this

doesn't really happen anymore so that's well

yeah i mean it i don't think it did for catholic

the catholic church i think you know the you

know the that evangelical church is a little

bit more they're very verbatim in the way that

they take things and yeah uh so now because it's

like this wasn't like a church that they like

you know those groups that like like like have

the snakes and things like that but it wasn't

that many degrees separated from it yeah yeah

i totally get it too far that was too far off

but uh yeah so it was i would have been freaked

out dan i would have been yeah freaked out at

that age especially you said you were five specifically

like i was like five or six i was young five

or six right yeah because it was freaky yeah

you know it you know it was uh impactful because

there's a lot of stuff from that age that you

don't necessarily remember yeah right like that's

where you're first starting to like really like

form some of your memories the stuff you like

know from around that time you usually can't

place specifically like it was like was i four

was i five like i don't know but like for that

to like really stick with you i mean that's much

different than just like hey i remember watching

smurfs on tv like that's yeah and it's funny

because like never you know it's not like my

parents ever talked about it again it's like

we it was never mentioned again after that night

like it was just and so it was uh yeah that's

strange so i'm um i also grew up in a fairly

religious household we also attended church three

times a week same same scenario sunday morning

sunday night wednesday night and then i think

even at times maybe when i was closer to like

whatever youth group age was. There may have

been other stuff. I know there was an after -school

program at one point that you could go after

school, but that was mostly just, like, games

and, like, races and contests and stuff like

that. It wasn't, like, anything extreme or anything

like that. It was a church that had some extreme

views. They didn't do any of the physical stuff

that I guess in my mind I would consider extreme,

but they just had extreme views on, like, what

you could and couldn't do. Like, I know for a

fact that there was a service once where they

took a vote to kick somebody out of the church

because they, I think if I remember memory serves

right, like had a child out of wedlock or something

like that. And I was like, this seems really

weird. You know, we weren't allowed to go to

attend school dances. It was a Baptist church.

So every time there was a school dance, which

for some reason seemed like a lot of even in

middle school. I was put in a room that included

myself and two Jehovah witness, uh, kids from

Jehovah witness families. And it was just an

interesting, I was like, they did school dances

during the school day. That's interesting. Yeah.

It was like the last, um, only in middle school.

They didn't do that in high school, but in middle

school, I think it was maybe like the last period

or the last period and a half or two periods

or something of the day. And I was like, I had

to like tape, I guess it was kind of like a study

hall. I guess I was in a room with, with, uh

my neighbor who was a jehovah witness and like

this one other guy um and that was interesting

i will say that we don't attend church regularly

or anything like that these days but there we

we have gone to a couple churches because of

whatever family members inviting us or going

with grandparents or you know whatever the case

may be and we were at one and it was definitely

like an eye -opening experience from the fact

of like the more demonstrative like physical

stuff like people pretending like they were like

speaking in tongues and stuff like that because

yeah i don't that was my church yeah and so they

started doing that i was like i looked at my

wife i was like i don't think we can be here

yeah that was every sunday for me yeah that was

every sunday yeah i'm like people just actively

like pretend that this is happening huh i'm just

yeah no not to install my views on anything uh

yeah there's i have many stories about stuff

like yeah but i will we would be here for years

yeah yeah but it makes sense because this one

is definitely one that like deals with a lot

of religious tones to it and it is something

regardless i've i don't know if it has to do

with my upbringing or not but like there is an

element of me that is somewhat not uncomfortable

because of being in a church and like believing

something or not something just there's something

uncomfortable about this topic in general whether

it be like demons or possession or like as it

relates to like the sub genre of horror films

or halloween films or things like that so i totally

get like this was something that i would have

like been at arm's length with for like a good

portion of my life plus i was a like a scaredy

cat probably as a kid, I'm guessing. So yeah.

All right. This is setting the table. Great.

I can't wait to get into this now. So yeah. Before

we get into our maybe. Yeah. Yeah. Let's let

Dan lay down the facts and then we'll get into

more more church stories after that. The power

of the podcast compels you as this week we continue

our horror spotlight with a look at The Exorcist

directed by William Freakin. And it's based upon

the novel by William Peter Blatty. The exorcist

follows a mother's desperate attempt to save

her young daughter after she becomes possessed

by a demonic entity. The story begins in northern

Iraq, where a Catholic priest and archaeologist

Father, like Lester Murren, discovers an ancient

artifact associated with demonic possession.

Meanwhile, in Georgetown, Washington, D .C.,

actress Chris McNeil is living with her 12 -year

-old daughter, Regan. At first, Regan's behavior

seems normal, but she soon begins experiencing

strange physical symptoms and increasingly disturbing

changes to her personality. She develops violent

outbursts, exhibits extraordinary strength, and

claims to be inhabited by another being. Medical

examinations and psychiatric treatment fail to

explain what is happening to her. Her condition

gets worse, and Chris becomes increasingly desperate

to find answers, eventually turning to the Catholic

Church for help, believing that her daughter

may be possessed by a demon. Father Damien, a

Jesuit priest and psychiatrist, is struggling

with his own faith after his mother's death,

is assigned to investigate the case. He's initially

skeptical, but eventually becomes convinced that

Reagan's condition cannot be explained by conventional

means alone. The church authorizes an exorcism,

and experienced priest Father Murren is called

in to assist. priests enter Reagan's bedroom

and begin a terrifying confrontation with the

entity, and it uses manipulation, blasphemy,

and violence to undermine their efforts. Myrne's

previous experience with the demonic force proves

crucial, but the exorcism takes a devastating

toll on both men. As the battle intensifies,

Damien must confront not only the demon, but

his own doubt, guilt, and loss of faith. The

priests ultimately risk their lives in an effort

to free Reagan from the entity's control. The

production experienced several accidents and

disruptions that contributed to its reputation

as a supposedly cursed film. The most significant

one involved a bedroom set used for Reagan's

possession scenes. The set was kept deliberately

refrigerated to create visible clouds of breath

during the exorcism, and temperatures were kept

extremely low, making the already demanding scene

physically uncomfortable for the actors. There

were also injuries during production, including

incidents involving actors Ellen Burstyn and

Linda Blair. Burstyn injured her back during

a scene in which Chris is thrown to the floor,

while Blair injured her back during a sequence

involving Reagans violently shaking her bed.

The film's reputation for being cursed grew from

these incidents, although there's no credible

evidence that it was actually anything supernatural.

I guess they never called the Ghostbusters to

verify that. Freakin' wanted the actors' reactions

to feel spontaneous rather than theatrical. To

achieve this, he sometimes used unexpected and

controversial methods to say the least. He fired

a gun on set. Freakin' reportedly discharged

a firearm off camera to startle the cast and

crew, reacting natural during the scene. He physically

startled actors, even doing some controversial

things like slapping actors to get their reaction.

He demanded emotional authenticity. Freakin'

would particularly be interested in capturing

fear, exhaustion, and distress. wanted to look

unplanned. These methods helped create the film's

documentary style, but it also illustrated how

difficult it was to work on the picture. Although

Linda Blair played Reagan, much of the demon

voice was actually done by Mercedes McCambridge,

who's an acclaimed actress known for her distinctive,

rough vocal delivery. The initial reviews of

The Exorcist were quite mixed, with some critics

praising the film as a landmark in horror, while

others called it vulgar and excessive. The public

reaction, though, became that of legend. Newspapers

described moviegoers fainting and vomiting during

screenings, leaving because it was just too disturbing.

It opened in December 26, 1973, and broke box

office records. Its success was maintained. It

was one of the most successful horror films of

all time. and despite the fact that the critic

reaction was mixed it was celebrated at the academy

awards receiving 10 nominations and it won two

including best sound and best adaptation of a

screenplay it was nominated for best picture

but lost to the sting but what do kevin and i

think back to us to discuss all right thank you

for that uh there's all the facts about a very

well -known and famous horror film or film within

the genre here and the Halloween like I feel

like every Halloween this comes up in some way

shape or form just like Carrie and and quite

a few others so Dan I want to start with just

a simple question here for you when it comes

to The Exorcist is this in your opinion a genuine

genuinely disturbing drama that just happens

to be a horror film or is this an exceptionally

effective horror film that just happens to have

some dramatic themes It's actually interesting

because going into this was thinking like what

I was gonna say about it and it's a it's kind

of addressing that exact question because I think

there are two genres that are hurt the most regarding

expectations like especially That being horror

and like comedy if anytime you hear this is the

scariest movie ever or this is a funny movie

ever it's almost impossible for those like to

achieve that and also there are two genres that

are tend i think our best experience with crowds

or with people i don't know if that is part of

that reason as well uh so going into this like

you can't have higher expectations than the exorcist

as much as you wouldn't like not to because it's

you know it's it's known as it was you know the

scariest movie of all time all these things going

into it it's been parodied like even though i've

never seen this movie and you've never seen this

movie i think we pretty much knew what was going

to happen just because of how much it is in the

zeitgeist and has been since it came out so a

lot kind of going against it because of that

and watching it though i think it is i forget

which one you had but i would say it is a drama

with horror elements is i think it's its strength

because i was surprised by how how little like

horror there is like you know thinking the exorcist

part is really like what the last 20 minutes

or so you know we get you know it's the slow

burn and this is like a definition of a slow

burn but the center of this really is you know

perhaps the most horrific thing is the sense

of seeing this mom struggling to try to save

her daughter for in getting like zero help from

the medical professionals around her which man

and like that like that to me is the the strength

of it and it's just also so so well made when

it comes to so so many great shots like so great

uh so many great ways of setting the mood and

kind of getting us into that moment but yeah

i think this is the why this is i think so well

regarded is because it's not trying its goal

isn't necessarily to be scary its goal is to

be a good movie first which is i think to its

benefit but what was your thoughts on that i

almost think you i agree with you i think you

could also potentially make the argument that

The first third to two thirds is a drama first

with horror elements. And then maybe the last

third is a horror film with dramatic elements

a little bit more so. But I think overall, yes,

I feel like it's more of the biggest takeaway

so far for me in the three films we've covered.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Carrie, and The Exorcist.

Even though this one is the one I probably knew

the most about without having seen it. from beginning

to end i'm convinced i either saw scenes of this

film or scenes of one of its spin -off sequels

prequels something i think it was this one though

because there were some scenes that were very

familiar or i've just seen those clips right

so like i knew more about this one i guess than

the other ones but all three films for me have

really shown me that like my idea of what some

of these horror films are is not correct like

you think of texas chainsaw massacre and you

think it's just like a non -stop slasher blood

and gore film that is not the case right um i've

seen carrie uh or i what i knew of carrie was

not going to be this like more i guess teen drama

bullying like all of those elements like there's

not outside of what we talked about where she

goes you know obviously bananas in the gymnasium

Yes, there's the occasional time where she's

moving something or something like that, but

there's nothing really outlandish from a horror

perspective happening for a lot of that film.

And the same with this. You get a lot of setup

for characters, for what's going on within the

characters. And I think what worked for me a

little bit more in Carrie and in The Exorcist

compared to Texas Chainsaw Massacre is I feel

like the characters in both Carrie and here in

The Exorcist you get to know and you get to appreciate

their story in a way like this one has uh the

the father uh i don't want to say the name wrong

karas or karis um who's the main one that we're

following it has the mom obviously those are

the two main characters that we get to see a

lot of but we do get to see uh reagan or reagan

um a little bit as well you know beforehand and

afterwards so like i feel like you get to know

these characters a little bit more and i wasn't

anticipating the amount of screen time that we're

getting really without too much of the horror

elements like obviously it builds a little um

and it gets a little bit crazier into that but

honestly like the the freakiest part of this

movie for me the the one time that i had to turn

away from the screen was when they're actually

just having the procedure done by the real doctors

yes like that was the most disturbing scene in

the whole movie for me It's like, why are we

watching this? Like, blood is spurting everywhere.

I'm showing stuff like going into tubes into

the body. Like, that stuff bothers me for some

reason. That was freakier than anything that

happened during the exorcism for me. So, yeah,

I think it's got a lot of good dramatic thing.

It also left me wondering, and Dan, I wonder

what your takeaway of this was. Like, who is

the main character of this film for you? That's

a good question. Is it Reagan? Is it the mom?

Is it the father? I would say it's, I think,

considering... I think it's Father Kras. That's

how I would pronounce it. I don't know if he's

the main character. I'm just thinking, who's

the one that goes through the most progression?

Who's the person that we're seeing develop the

most? And the fact that... it ends with his decision

and what he does that would be that would be

my my my like if we were like oh who's the you

know the leading actor just based upon that story

-wise i would say probably him but i think it's

so evenly divided that you could really make

an argument for like a lot of people as you mentioned

i think that always helps a film right like when

you have that kind of yeah but it also like makes

you think more about like some of the themes

and some of the the takeaways and stuff like

that, because which perspective you're viewing

that from can sometimes shift that or create,

you know, multiple different like arcs that you're

following. So I think that's a plus in this film

as well. I found it interesting the way that

they're doing like the, you're right. The camera

work in the, in the filmmaking is like expert

level, I think, because there is so much stuff

that happens in this film that. Under a less

skilled eye. Would look really silly. Yeah. You

know what I mean. We've seen it in like. Other

movies that have tried to. You know others. Like

exorcism films. I've seen far worse you know.

Films that have tried to do this. And not nearly

as good. I also forgot. I was aware. Because

I think that was part of one of the scenes. That

I had seen at some point. But I was also taken

aback. somewhat forgot how ridiculous some of

the lines coming out of the child. Like it is

just, it is like more sexual than you think it's

going to be for sure. I think going in, what

was your take on some of that? Yeah. Like it,

my, you know, my guess is I was curious, like,

and I didn't look this up and I probably should

have. Before I started watching it was like was

that actually actually the actress saying that

like I'm guessing she obviously liked it was

You know voice effects and things like that afterwards,

but it just had me wondering but it it is shocking

like this and especially you mentioned like the

The one the scenes that disturbed you the most

I think the one that disturbed me the most was

the one with the crucifix and Like what was happening

with that just because that was really brutal

to watch and what she was saying for sure so

Just it was shocking and you know, I don't know

it's like thinking like I don't know if you could

do this today considering I know there's there's

a whole lot of like docu I've seen documentaries

and stuff regarding Linda Blair and and things

and I would just Everything that went went in

and the issues afterwards, but I don't know it

was it was tough to watch and obviously that's

the point It's what you know, you're supposed

to this is supposed to be evil incarnate. So

they should be doing evil things but the fact

that you know Linda Blair was doing or you know

within that made it quite uh you know impactful

when you're watching it yeah there so there is

a multiple people that are involved with it it

says that uh obviously you have um Linda Blair

and then it says a individual named Mercedes

McCambridge does the voice it lists a Ron Faber

who also is credited for vocal effects and then

it has an eileen deets who does is apparently

the face of the more possessed version of that

character and then there's even a stunt double

that apparently gets credit for the the spider

walk so there's a lot of people involved in the

portrayal of this character yeah which makes

sense because you know everything involved in

it and you'd obviously from the special effects

wise to like just everything it There was a lot

going into it. And it was super effective. The

makeup was striking. And just the gradual nature

of it as well. I feel like if you're watching

carefully. Every single time they show the face.

It's like a little bit more has changed. And

a little bit more has changed. It's just getting.

Increasingly hard to. Recognize the person behind

it all. And it's kind of. Definitely freaky in

that respect. But really from. Outside of. like

there's not a lot of blood and gore in this film

a lot of vomit you know plenty a lot of vomit

and projectiles and things of that nature but

and like you know peeing on the floor and things

of that nature but there's really not much yeah

yeah yeah there's not much as far as like i mean

i guess you see blood when you see some of the

bodies that have you know fallen you know down

the stairs and things of that nature which p

.s uh the first time Amanda and I ever visited

her father in DC we did go to the exorcist stairs

and we took a picture took a picture next to

them so I definitely recognized them when they

popped up in the movie because I'm like I'm taking

pictures next to these stairs that I've never

seen the movie before I drove by them like I

forget I think I was going through I forget what

but I hadn't seen the movie yet and so I'm like

oh okay like i had no impact whatsoever but i

do remember going on a tour and them being uh

being called out so i don't know if you want

to question the physics of where that window

is and how it all i don't know some of the camera

angles make it seem like it's super like easy

for the fall out that window and go down those

stairs and other ones make it look like that

would be a pretty impressive leap um but yeah

what did you think of the the blending or the

balance between the science slash medical aspect

of the film and then the religious aspect like

how do you think they handled that what worked

or didn't work for both of the aspects of those

as you kind of view the film together i thought

it was you mentioned like going for you when

i was talking about my real life uh my real life

experience with exorcism which is a weird thing

to say out loud uh but you know hey i was not

present for i guess in in the vicinity of one

uh like how you know the church says it doesn't

really happen and i and i thought that was intriguing

like because i thought like okay well the trick

like that i thought the secret was going to be

that the father even though he's a psychiatrist

really that's just a that's a front and he's

really the exorcist guy like you know that's

his role and that's what he's doing so i was

actually a little surprised when he's like we

i don't we don't do exorcisms like we you know

we you know we've learned that it's more of a

element of psychiatry and so i was actually oh

wow the you know they're trying to be more progressive

than i expected i did not think but then obviously

you have the maximum c to character comma so

obviously that went only to a certain extent

but uh i thought that was intriguing i thought

that wasn't what i i was not expecting that to

be the case but i thought it got me um to like

rethink like the way it was approaching it so

it's such a mind bend for me that Max Von Cito,

who is in this film, is like 45 years old in

this film. Yes, yeah. He looks like he's about

90. And he's literally 45 because he lives until

2020 and he died at the age of 90 in 2020. I

think that puts him at like 40 -something in

this film. And that's like, he's the same age

as a lot of the other people that are in this

film and he definitely comes across as someone

that is... well older like i i don't know i don't

understand the thing like i don't i don't get

it oh there's i think there's definitely makeup

involved in that oh yeah of course i just still

it's like i'm so maybe it's because i've i've

got so used to seeing him as older yeah when

i see him in this film i totally buy him as this

older person but then i'm like wait a second

this is 1973 like yeah he's 44 i think like that's

mind -boggling to me i also didn't realize it

was him at first yeah i only knew because i i

knew he was in this and like i knew that part

from like that i knew he was coming unfortunately

like so i knew that element of it but yeah um

other other things that i was curious about um

that with your takeaway not to spoil anything

but this movie is how old is it oh i mean everything

was given away in just the facts so you know

yeah yeah and and plus every like spoof of of

the exorcist you've ever seen with the head turning

and all this other jazz but yeah when it comes

specifically to the ending of this film and how

we see this kind of culminate with this final

act from the father. What, how did you view that?

I read different critiques on it. Some call it

a sacrifice. Some call it like a redemption or

a restoration in his faith or a different combination.

Like what was your read on kind of how Friedkin

decided to, to bring the film to a close? It

was, I was surprised with like how abrupt it

was. uh and and i wasn't at first fully understanding

what's happening not in a bad way what was actually

interesting is i for some reason i had to do

something so i paused the movie and it told me

there was like 20 minutes left and so i was like

okay well um so i'm like i was something like

okay clearly this is still going on for much

longer because you know this is it's it also

felt like it just started the exorcism and So

when like that happened, I'm like, wait, how

is this going to end then? Because I did not

expect it because of my mind. You know, it said

like it's going to be much longer than it did.

So it took me back just because of the whatever

happened with my streaming service because I

was watching on HBO. So that took me back. And

so as I collected my thoughts, I took it as like

he's a character that is defined by guilt. You

know, he's guilty. He feels guilty for what happened

to his mom. And that's clearly laying on him.

His inability to find a solution to that. He

couldn't save his mom. And if anything, I think

it's just him trying to make amends for that.

It's something he's attacking. And realizing

that his Max von Sydow character was basically

killed. That's like the second person that this

demon has killed. If he can't stop it, he doesn't

have the capability. That may be the only option.

but so it did also make me wonder though like

if he dies and like can a demon just go back

like i don't know i don't know the demon rules

so i don't know yeah i don't know established

in this film either because i was also curious

like what your read of the creepy director guy

that i don't know why she was involved with at

all um they don't really kind of go into that

yeah i felt like i was like wait that's the guy

that she's apparently okay um But he obviously

goes up into that room. He dies the same way

the father does in a way, as far as we know,

at least out the window and down the stairs or

whatever the case may be down the stairs. What

was your read on that? As far as that's something

that was different than when it happened with

the father, because he wasn't possessed like

the father was at that point when he goes out

the window or what's the difference between the

two characters deaths and why one cures her of

this possession and the other one doesn't. Well,

I think it's yeah, I think it's because the other

people going out the window was because It was

done by the demon causing him to happen where

this was it, you know Happening to the demon.

So yeah, that's why I was able to to change it

again, like I don't Know the rules and I know

there's sequels. There's like a second and third

film. So I don't know if that explores it further

But that was just my take it was like, oh well,

you know now you're in a person that dies and

there was the comment earlier regarding how long

you're going to stay there in the in the girl

and it's like until she's dead and rotten so

yeah perhaps that was like okay well we'll speed

that process up then so were you waiting at all

with the final car ride away were you waiting

for like the typical horror thing where like

we see some sort of element like that it's still

in her yes definitely like yeah i was waiting

for something like you know like like why are

we still showing that yeah or something you know

like the it's it's not coming back or something

like that yeah which i think again goes to the

notion that i don't this is within the horror

genre but not defined by the horror genre well

and i appreciate it i think it's like a mistake

that every other horror film seems to make not

that it's always a mistake but like i feel like

it's like so expected that i kind of appreciate

that there wasn't anything to do with that in

this one Um, as, as far as that goes, uh, other

things that you really liked or, or anything

that took you aback from this film that we haven't

had a chance to touch on. I didn't mention that

I could see, you know, looking at the poster

and the, in the poster is probably the best shot

in the film. And that is just a great moment.

It's like, oh, that looks, that is a such a,

you know, with him walking into the, into the

light. And so that, that was great. And just

overall, I thought, you know, if you were like

me, he never watched it. I do think it go into

it, maybe not thinking it's going to be the scariest

thing ever, but enjoy it for just the quality

of the filmmaking. So and I've actually seen

William freaking mentioned that, like when he

was making this, he wasn't going off to try to

make a horror film. He was just trying to make

a movie. And I think that's wish that was kind

of a lesson that more people took. Unfortunately,

especially I've tried to. recapture much of what

this did are you surprised that it didn't get

taken a task more i feel like people have a problem

with this especially back in the time period

from some of the i don't know i guess people

may call it like shock value or the graphic vulgarity

or the sexualization or just some of the gross

like you said with the bodily fluid and things

of that nature are you surprised more people

didn't push back at that or did you maybe they

did at the time and i just don't know about it

I believe, because I remember reading some things,

because I've seen, I think it was E! True Hollywood

Story back in the day, where there was some pushback.

But yeah, I can't speak to it. I'm surprised

there isn't more of it, considering a lot of

the stuff that's happening here. But I'm guessing

there may have been at the time. Fortunately,

Roger Ebert. And Cisco weren't doing their show

back then. I tried to listen to some of the reviews

of movies of the time to see what the general

consensus was or what people were saying. So

they didn't bring anything up. But yeah, my guess

is there probably was. And the fact that it was

a different, not a social media age, so it was

harder to maintain. And considering how popular

it became and how acclaimed it became. eventually

that kind of just went away yeah did any of it

take you out of the film for a second at all

any of the choices of dialogue or any of that

or did any of it have like the jump scare effect

on you or was it just like taking it in as it

went and it didn't have that like the shock effect

with you like i said i think the shocked effect

was more so like the the sexual nature of the

the the of the demon and some of the places that

went there scene when the with the mom The first

one where it like grabs the mom. I'm like, okay.

Yeah. We're going there. So it outside of that.

And then it was also just the, the one scene

where she's peeing on the floor. Yeah. It's because

it's, it's, it's more of the tragedy of that.

Like it, cause again, it's like you could, and

I also like the fact, and one thing not to bring

up, and I just forgot to mention this. I did

like the fact that her mom like was caring and.

did everything you think she should have like

she wasn't she was seeking help she was and the

fact that she basically went through everything

to eventually become you know like okay well

now it has to be and you know people like oh

well she was just doing convulsions she's like

there's no way she can shake the bed with that

so i thought it was more authentic than it than

it has been in other situations in other films

like i feel like sometimes that character becomes

just like the stark raving like lunatic or something

like that. And I never felt that it wasn't authentic

or believable with the way that she was reacting

to things, which sometimes in horror films gets

me. I do have a nitpick with some horror films

where I feel like people stop acting like people

or make choices that is not believable for the

majority of the population to make. And I really

appreciated the fact that every one of her decisions

was, I don't know if logical is the right word,

but believable. They all seemed like, I can see

a mom. doing this she's standing up for what

she thinks right it's like there's other ones

that would just be like oh yeah maybe i'm gonna

be let you convince me that that was just convulsions

like i was on the bed y 'all this is not her

doing this so i really appreciated how the mom

was portrayed in this 100 yeah all right oh good

i would say is there anything else you had that

you wanted to go over no like um seeing this

now dan like does it help help you cope with

your earlier story it makes me wonder you know

how much vomit was in that room so and you know

what was going on there uh it yeah no it's it's

interesting it it puts a lot into perspective

too but you know i think it's been good that

i've well moved past that uh yeah so many years

later it's just uh you know it just it's nice

to have something to relate to when you're watching

an exorcism movie you know Dan, I'm assuming

that this one is the one that you would have

the highest rank so far out of the ones we've

watched. Yeah, definitely. I think this is by

far number one and then probably Texas and then

Carrie. But I think even both of those would

be a pretty big step down from this one. And

how many horror films have you seen now so far

this October? As we're doing this right now,

I think I was on like 23 or so. So I feel like

you've slowed down a little, Dan. I, this week

has been, it's been rough. So, you know, you

still got it though. You still got like half

the month to get your final eight films or whatever

on that. Yeah. So we'll see. Well, we're going

to go a completely different direction from here

on. We're still going to have sort of a Halloween

theme, but next time we are talking about a different

Halloween film from the seventies, Dan, which

one is that? We are going to be talking about

and very different. talking about horror uh we

obviously earlier this year we lost the great

tim curry and since we're like in 70s horror

films and neither you haven't seen rocky horror

picture show right if i'm not mistaken so because

of that it seemed like a good idea uh we'll see

how that goes when we talk about it but our next

and final of this little like mini departure

into horror films we talking about rocky horror

picture show Fortunately, I don't know if you'll

be dressing up. I don't have any costumes. I

could tell you and you would never know. True.

You could just pretend. Maybe not in Tim Curry's

outfit though. Yeah. Yeah, so if you're a fan

of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, definitely

tune into our next episode. After that, we will

be getting back into some classic or modern as

we kind of move through our westerns as well

as... We have a couple more Planet of the Apes

films to cover. So we will get back to those

if you're waiting for those for sure. Just a

quick departure into the spooky season. So Dan,

how can people reach out to you or find the show

on Facebook and things of that nature? You can

find the show on Facebook if you search Cinema

Geeks Movie Podcast. It's on N as well as Instagram.

And then you can find me to search Comic Concierge.

I'm on most social media platforms. You can find

me at The Miss Solo. So that does it for this

episode. Tune in next time for another chance

to listen to more of The Cinema Geeks.