Bloodless Pitt, Schoelen and Leitch

CUTTING CLASS (1989)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

"Cutting Class" is so confused and muddled that I gave up figuring out what it was trying to be. Is this a slasher film, a parody of a slasher film, or just rotten, slipshod filmmaking? I'll go with the latter.

Jill Schoelen is Paula Carlson, a high-school teenage girl who is being sought by two guys at school. Basketball high-school star Dwight (Brad Pitt) wants Paula in bed - are they going steady or not? Who knows. Former mental patient Brian (Donovan Leitch, Jr.) was once Dwight's best friend, but he may also want to get down and dirty with Paula. Or does he? Who can tell with all those endless menacing stares except, after a while, the stares become monotonous and laughable. Martin Mull is Paula's father who is attacked and practically left for dead, dragging himself from end of a marsh to another. And let us not leave out the late Roddy McDowall as a teacher who also has the hots for Paula.

"Cutting Class" has one murder that is certainly clever in its visual design - it takes place in a gym and has been mentioned in the slasher film annals of blood and gore murders. The rest of the movie is a slow-moving bore that is choppily edited and completely lacking in rhythm. It feels like leftover 80's slasher nonsense featuring a bloodless cast and intrinsically bloodless direction by Rospo Pallenberg (who wrote two decent films, "The Emerald Forest" and "Excalibur"). Jill Schoelen practically walks through this movie, getting by on her cheerleader looks and her tush (a waste of a good actress). Brad Pitt merely exists as eye candy, though he shows some passion when getting his head stuck in a vise. The whodunnit of new murders at the school can be seen a mile away (hate to give it away but just think about the season of the witch). This movie makes me wonder just what the filmmakers intended - its purpose is nonexistent.

A dusty, dull Devil

DOMINION: PREQUEL TO THE EXORCIST (2005)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia 

I'll be honest: I'd love to see a grown-up Regan MacNeil as played by Linda Blair. I'd like to see Regan as a single woman with a child, living in present-day America, dealing with her personal, private and real demons. That would be a fascinating sequel, if done right. But a story about Father Lankester Merrin's early days, several years before the events of the original "Exorcist," doesn't really satisfy me unless of course the role is played by Max von Sydow. They sort of dealt with Merrin's past in the abominable "Exorcist II: The Heretic" and then again for the horrendously underimagined "Exorcist: The Beginning." Now there is the earlier version of "The Beginning," Paul Schrader's own "Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist," considered too spiritual and not horrific enough. There is more spirituality in this version, but less emphasis on what makes some of the characters spiritual.

Father Merrin (played once again by Stellan Skarsgard) is the faithless priest, now archaeologist, who is in South Africa in the late 1940's digging out a dome with a church underground. It turns out it is a church with statues of archangels surrounding it, and there is a pagan church underneath that by way of a coffin. British colonialists protect the church but there is only so much they can do when demons unleash their powers, specifically Mr. Pazuzu himself (not actually named in this movie, but you know who it is). Merrin's crisis of faith comes into play again, and there is some poor villager, Cheche (played by international singer Billy Crawford) who may be possessed. Oh, yes, and a lovely nurse (Clara Bellar, who certainly looks the part of a Florence Nightingale-type) and let's not forget the young, naive priest (Gabriel Mann).

Schrader's version of this film was shelved by Morgan Creek productions and remade by Renny Harlin in less than a few months apart (completely unheard of in La-La Land). Harlin's MTV-version was a blood-soaked bore whereas Schrader's version is simply boring. Skarsgard is generally a fine actor but he is so indifferent to the events surrounding him that you wonder when he is going to yawn (and that crisis of faith cliche is well becoming too much of a cliche nowadays). The CGI effects, though sparingly used, are shoddy including a laughable scene where cattle eat hyena remains. There is also a Northern Lights-montage section that leaves one almost nostalgic for Linda Blair waving her arms in ecstasy amidst locusts in "Exorcist II." Whatever spirituality exists in this film is only in the mind of the beholder, or the viewer.

"Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist" is not a bad film by any means. It is visually spellbinding at times (thanks to the lensing by veteran cinematographer Vittorio Storaro), and there is a fear of dread that occasionally works - it even looks like a western. In the end, though, the actors are cardboard and listless and the story doesn't carry enough punch (though I like the opening scene with Merrin in the Holocaust era). The devil may have had his due in 1973, and we don't need any more extensions of "The Exorcist" added to our collective memory.

Your God is not here today!

EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING (2004)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

A dead baby covered with maggots. An African ritual resulting in severe
piercings and stabbings. A group of hyenas chewing a young kid to death.
A crow plucking a human eyeball. A Holocaust scenario recreated in bluish 
tones where more bloody executions take place. Is this a sequel to "Angel 
Heart"? A new horror picture by Dario Argento? Wait, there's Stellan 
Skarsgard as a young Father Merrin, who insists he is more of an archaeologist than a 
priest. There he is dressed in khaki pants and shirt with a sun and fun 
hat, excavating for something mysterious in the Kenyan desert. Is this 
an Indiana Jones picture? Nope, it is the justifiably reviled "Exorcist: 
The Beginning," a pure waste of 85 million down the toilet drain with some 
added pea soup to really deliver a stench. 

This lurid and highly indifferent prequel has been gestating for many years. First, the late John Frankenheimer was attached to direct and dropped out. Then came Paul Schrader who managed to shoot a full feature-length version (titled "Dominion"). The studio hated it, fired Schrader, reshot the entire film with director Renny Harlin and demanded more blood and guts - you know, a typical horror picture. So here we are served up the latest in the most unnecessary prequel imaginable. Harlin infests the screen with so many rapid flash cuts of blood-soaked imagery that all imagination is drained. And there is an African ritual sequence with a young boy strapped to a bed that will remind many of "Angel Heart." We also get repetitive Holocaust scenes where a Nazi tells Merrin, "Your God is not here today!" These scenes are intriguing but Harlin has such a sledgehammer style that it robs the film of anything remotely spiritual or moral.

The central story has Merrin as an archaeologist who has lost his faith. Of course, the natural course of events as exacted by our favorite demon, Pazuzu, will have Merrin confront his inner demons. Skarsgard does as well as he can with the role but he seems uninvolved with the story. And a final confrontation with evil merely elicits expressions of apathy from Skarsgard, not genuine shock of someone rediscovering their faith.

No scares, no real story, nothing remotely spiritual on any level - reportedly, Schrader's version is the more spiritual one. Instead we are saddled with a gratuitous shower scene with a nude nurse, and a demon at the climactic finish that writhes and spider-walks just like Linda Blair in the original. No, my fellow horror fans, all this is the makings of a misguided disaster nobody wanted. Call it "Exorcist: The Desperation to Make a Prequel at any Price." William Peter Blatty should sue.

No adrenaline in this ship of fools

THE IMPOSTORS (1998)
Reviewed by Jerry Saravia 

"Big Night" was a delectable yet uneven comedy-drama that at least proved unconventional in its depiction of food, and sibling rivalry. It was a smoothly acted and pristinely directed piece by actor extraordinaires, Stanley Tucci and Campbell Scott. The uneveness leads to a steady decline in the terminally unfunny "The Impostors," Tucci's new film masquerading as a wholly misguided farce.

Set during the Depression, Tucci and the grating Oliver Platt (a low-rent version of Nathan Lane) star as unemployed sibling actors, who inadvertently wind up on a cruise liner set for Europe. They are stowaways pretending to be baggage men, and they try to elude the presence of a pretentious actor (Alfred Molina) and a stodgy German head steward (Campbell Scott, and his tediously thick German accent). Nothing much happens, except the twosome uncover trite conspiracies and potential assassination plots in each of the ship's compartments.

The acting is mostly atrocious, savor the always enticing Steve Buscemi as a depressed lounge singer - I laughed out loud every time he appeared. The rest of the cast could use a transfusion of downers to diminish the wild overacting, especially by Molina, Scott, Hope Davis as a suicidal heiress, Isabella Rosselini as a depressed queen (!) and, sadly, Lili Taylor as a TOO CUTE and TOO PRECIOUS head stewardess named Lily. They may have had a wild time making the film, but all the fun most assuredly took place off-screen.

The film's fatal flaw lies with the inept, lazy writing by Tucci. He has no idea how to make this potentially winning farce flow - every scene is staged with the same static energy and bright, artificial lighting undermining whatever humor exists. Tucci could learn a thing or two from masters of comedy and farce such as Laurel and Hardy, Woody Allen (who makes an awkward guest appearance), and Charles Chaplin - farce needs energy and movement since it depends so much

on chaos. 

The only good scene in "The Impostors" is at the beginning. It is a scene between the two brothers at an outdoor restaurant who perform an escalating act of violence over espresso and a female passer-by. This sequence is priceless in its exactness and sly moments of physical comedy - it is like a scene out of a silent film. It is so enjoyable and so unique that I was relieved to see modern-day sensibilities interested in paying homage to the comedy greats of the past. Too bad, the rest of the movie is all a facade, a cheat, a fraud, like the title.

Keep me away from those Exorcist steps

THE EXORCIST III (1990)

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

After the debacle of "Exorcist II," no one expected anyone to make another sequel. Sure enough in 1990, Mr. Pazuzu came back minus Linda Blair, who was doing a parody of "The Exorcist" at the time called "Repossessed." William Peter Blatty was also back, this time writing and directing a direct sequel to the original based on his 1983 novel "Legion." "Exorcist III" is not bad and it is a considerable improvement over the second film, but it is still miles away from the classic original.

Lieutenant Kinderman (George C. Scott replacing the late Lee J. Cobb) is back in Georgetown investigating a series of brutal killings, and the chief suspect is the Gemini Killer (chillingly played by Brad Dourif) and his large pair of shears. Only problem is that the Gemini Killer is dead; so who's that demented cellmate at the local Georgetown jail? And why he sometimes look like Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller), who supposedly died when he fell onto the steps at the end of the original? Is Pazuzu back?

The worst is expected with a title like "Exorcist III" since everyone expects it will be full of blood and gore considering the standards set by the original and all the trashy horror films since. The truth is that there is no visible gore or blood in the entire film - we hear about graphic, gruesome depictions of mutilations but we see precious little. That was a wise move on Blatty's part, and he opts for old-fashioned scares by employing effective use of shadowy, empty rooms, ominous-looking hallways, and wind-swept churches. One scene set in long shot in a hospital corridor where an evil presence awaits is as scary and heart-stopping as anything I've ever seen.

"The Exorcist III" is hardly a great film. George C. Scott is fun to watch but he overacts to the hilt bringing little of the subtlety that Lee J. Cobb brought to the role. Too much of his character is underdeveloped, and I would have loved to have seen more scenes of his family. The film is also structured as a surreal police thriller with many plot twists and turns that don't add up too much. An unnecessary, deliberately over-the-top exorcism at its conclusion seems like a last-minute editing job to justify its title (test audiences complained originally that there was no exorcism); "Legion" would have been a better title. On the plus side, the movie is genuinely creepy and occasionally scary. Blatty still writes with panache, particularly the entertaining conversations between Kinderman and Father Dyer (played by the late Ed Flanders of "St. Elsewhere" fame, replacing O'Malley) on the value of "It's a Wonderful Life," Women's Wear Daily, and mental health. It is also wonderful (no pun intended) to see Jason Miller back, this time with green eyes and an attitude. Brad Dourif gives the most impressive performance as the demonically possessed Gemini Killer - his erudition and somber voice are amazingly chilling to behold. Watch it after midnight.

I am not the Devil, I am you.

EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC

Reviewed by Jerry Saravia

After the horrific success of "The Exorcist," Linda Blair made a career of playing brutalized victims in such films as "Born Innocent" and "Sweet Hostage," not to mention the mediocre if still somewhat entertaining "Airport '75." But it was in 1977 that her career became cursed, to say the least. She starred in what was sure to be a classy production called "Exorcist II: The Heretic." There were big name talented stars such as Richard Burton (nominated the same year for Best Actor for "Equus") and Louise Fletcher (who won an Oscar the previous year for "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest"), and an admired director named John Boorman, who helmed the brilliant "Deliverance." What could have gone wrong? The absence of writer William Peter Blatty? Yes, that's one factor, and he later wrote and directed the significantly better "The Exorcist III."

"Exorcist II" begins a few years later after the events of the first film. Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) is now living in a high-rise New York apartment building with her nanny/tutor Sharon (short-haired Kitty Winn returning from the original). Chris MacNeil (Regan's mother) is conspicuously absent, apparently shooting a film in Europe. Probably Ellen Burstyn refused to be in it after seeing the script. Regan now sees a psychiatrist (Louise Fletcher) who tries to uncover her memories from that fateful exorcism. Of course, Regan doesn't remember anything - she's still a happy-go-lucky kid who tap-dances badly to the mental patients in the hospital. Enter Father Lamont (Richard Burton, giving new definition to the term stoic) who knows a thing or two about exorcisms and Pazuzu from his travels in Africa. He asks the diocese to investigate Father Merrin's death, and seeks Regan who may have the clues. Father Lamont indulges in telepathic communication with Regan through the miracles of hypnosis by using a clunky-looking head strap, a blinking light with an ominous tone, and some wires. Poor Louise Fletcher watches them like a gaping idiot - there are endless stares throughout this film. Lamont later discovers that an African high priest named Kokumo (James Earl Jones) has the answers to Pazuzu's whereabouts, courtesy of a big African bug and some locusts.

At least, that is what I made of the plot but it is as confusing as Ned Beatty's brief appearance as a helicopter pilot. During its sneak previews and recutting for a re-release, "Exorcist II" was laughed off the screen both times and bombed badly at the box-office. No amount of recutting could do justice to it. The dialogue is full of unnatural, unintentionally funny lines such as, "Don't feel bad. I was possessed by the Devil once. I am okay now," or so Linda Blair should think. I also love Burton's classic delivery of a line he shouts to the bus driver, "NOW, GO!" Or how about the biggest howler when Ms. Fletcher asks Lamont: "Have you ever been with a woman, Father?" Lamont's response: "No," he says with a stupefying stare.

 People and events are depicted in "Exorcist II" so carelessly that we have no clue who or where people are in relation to a given setting. Burton seems to go back to Africa, Georgetown and New York so often that I was convinced he was a migrating Mephistopheles. At one odd moment, James Earl Jones is a high priest who turns out to be...an entomologist! I am still not clear how Lamont knows of Merrin's death or how he finds the MacNeils or why he would want to get close to Regan in the first place - she isn't possessed by Pazuzu in the entire film! And none of this makes Lamont a heretic since he embraces the dogma of the church, not oppose it. The ludicrous hypnosis scenes seem to go on forever and are akin to Ed Wood's territory, along with absurd close-ups of a moth approaching the screen as it flies around Africa looking very much like Mothra attacking Godzilla. The special-effects have been described as superb yet none is more ridiculous than Sharon's death by fire using obvious superimpositions, or the destruction of the MacNeil house that looks more ethereal than hellish using obvious matte shots. I can understand why Mr. Blatty laughed and snickered when he saw this with an audience in Georgetown.

None of this would matter if "Exorcist II" was at least scary, but it isn't. It's all boring spiritual mumbo-jumbo with affectless performances and incompetent direction and writing. What's amazing is that everyone in this laughable production took it so seriously. The demon's voice sounds like a soft-spoken female Reverend with none of the vocal power evident from Mercedes McCambridge in the original - she must have seen the script, too. And pity poor Linda Blair with plumpish cheeks, who at one point sees a whorish demonic double of herself. Chills and thrills begin to accumulate and, for a moment, you begin to think that director Boorman is finally getting it right. Too bad that it is at the end of the film.

This sow is mine!

THE EXORCIST (1973):  FORTIETH ANNIVERSARY - A look back at the scariest supernatural horror film ever made!
By Jerry Saravia
Yes, this psychological, shock horror classic did not end up on the AFI list of 100 Greatest American movies a decade ago - instead, the best they could come up with was the original 1931 classic "Frankenstein," ignoring the superior "Bride of Frankenstein." Despite the lack of status on the AFI, there are several good reasons to celebrate "The Exorcist" (restored in 2000 as a longer cut thanks to Friedkin and Blatty). "The Exorcist" is, gasp, a thinking man's horror film - a deeply spiritual film about faith. It is also the only horror film of this century to have convinced an exclusive number of people that the Devil exists. "She doesn't say she's a demon. She says she is the Devil himself. Now if you know as many psychotics as I do, you know it is the same thing as saying you are Napoleon Bonaparte," as Father Karras (Jason Miller) declares of his confrontation with Regan (played, of course, by Linda Blair) to Chris MacNeil. Now more popular than ever thanks to its re-release in theatres in 2000, "The Exorcist" is a reminder of what horror was and what horror should be - a terrifying look at the human condition and what faith is today in our modern world when confronted with evil. 

"The Exorcist" is not what you expect each time you see it. It's not that I find multiple meanings in this film with each viewing or that I am astounded by some of the surprises in it, but I am always riveted by the experience. One notable example: I am more surprised by the exorcism sequence in particular - they have the power to frighten each time I see them. The levitating bed, the subliminal fast cuts of a demon in white face, the way that Jason Miller and Max von Sydow circle Regan's bedroom while she spews obscenities galore and vomits and rotates her bed 180 degrees, not to mention the tantalizing shot of Regan sitting up on her bed and reaching for the superimposed shot of the demon statue of Pazuzu, etc. There is genuine tension and terrific horror imagery throughout this amazing sequence. 

The performances still rank among the best in contemporary horror. Ellen Burstyn's fits of rage as Chris MacNeil and Regan's physical and psychological abuse towards her have become the actress's trademark ever since. What is more impressive are Burstyn's quiet scenes, particularly with a youthful, pretty Linda Blair, and I like how they cavort in the bedroom about the men in Chris's life, or when they play in the basement with the Ouija board. I think Linda Blair is quite underrated in this movie (despite her controversial Best Supporting Actress nomination): she undergoes a thrilling, painful transformation from pubescent little girl with rosy cheeks to a raging, raving maniac with green eyes and a disgustingly long tongue - interestingly, she is not that different from the way Burstyn acts in her manic episodes. What helps Blair's performance is naturally Mercedes McCambridge's gargling, deep, multilayered voice, but Blair's facial expressions that run the gamut from happy, innocent and confused to angry, pathetic and fearsome is clearly a bona fide work of acting. Kudos must also go to the late Lee J. Cobb as the private detective, Lt. Kinderman, who has seen everything (and is a film buff) but nothing like the desecration at the church or the bizarre killing in front of the Exorcist steps (an ominous image in itself). And it is always a profound pleasure to see Max von Sydow, treading on Ingmar Bergman's religious God-fearing waters, in his role of the sickly 70-year-old Father Merrin who's performed exorcisms before. 

A final note is the hard-edged performance by Jason Miller as Karras, the psychiatric Jesuit priest who questions his own faith (or lack of it) and feels responsible for the death of his own mother (this was Miller's debut on screen and thus received his first and only Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actor). Karras is a torn man with doubts that are wiped away once he confronts the Devil. The scene where he visits Regan and records her growling voice while speaking to each other in Latin is probably the only humorously eerie scene in the entire movie. 

"The Exorcist" would not have endured for this long had it not been for William Friedkin's realistic direction and his acute sense of time and place. The cinematography by Owen Roizman is superbly realized, employing effective use of both the light and the dark. The best examples are the opening Iraq sequence (shot by Billy Williams), taking place in mostly sunlit digging areas, and the justifiably famous shot of a silhouetted Father Merrin standing outside of Regan's bedroom where a shaft of light and fog illuminates the scene. And you can savor the documentary-like scenes where Regan undergoes a spinal tap and several excruciating medical tests from doctors. Some people find these passages are as freaky and disturbing as anything else that happens afterward. 

The documentary, known as "The Fear of God" (initially made available on the 25th Anniversary video/DVD edition of "The Exorcist": the DVD version has the complete 75-minute version). It is an enlightening, informative documentary hosted by Mark Kermode, and it focuses on the various accidents, deaths and mysteries surrounding the making of the film. Most revealing are William Friedkin's tactics in getting his actors to react honestly or emote properly by firing a gun into the air - a tactic shared by Roman Polanski. I also liked some of the scenes cut from the original version, including the infamous "Spider-Walk" where Regan walks on all fours and wiggles her tongue like a serpent at the nanny's legs after Chris learns of Burke Dennings's death. There is also a final scene between Father Dyer (Reverend William O'Malley) and Kinderman after Chris and Regan leave from the dreaded Georgetown house. It may be easy for people to laugh at "The Exorcist" now since there have been several unwarranted rip-offs (excepting "The Omen"), sequels and parodies. Still, the film continues to be compelling, powerful, scary, haunting and shocking (the masturbation with the crucifix is still tough to watch). The difference between "The Exorcist" and most horror films of late is that the former takes itself seriously, and that is part of its emotional power. It's the seminal, supernatural horror film of the century, unsurpassed in its ugly vision of the genuine force of evil in today's world. 


EXORCIST FACTS AND TRIVIA There are so many subtleties and clues in "The Exorcist" that they are easy to miss and/or dismiss. I am surprised at the number of "E" sites I've looked at that have not picked up on the importance of such minute details. Although the film may not have the understatement of Rosemary's Baby, it still manages to be just as implicit in its mysteries about faith and belief in the forces of good and evil. Firstly, let's correct some misconceptions and unsubstantial rumors regarding specific shots in the film: 

The Projectile-Vomit scene It has been assumed that an actress (Eileen Dietz) was used as Linda's double for the vomiting scene, and that is only partially true. Just after Father Karras (Jason Miller) asks Regan about his mother's name, a stream of green vomit splashes on his face (originally it was to have hit his jacket only but it missed). The very first shot of Regan is a medium shot of her strapped to her bed, and it is clearly Linda Blair vomiting (look at it in slow-motion if you don't believe me). The next shot is of Karras being hit, and following that shot we see a shadowy, darkly lit shot of Eileen spewing what's left out of her mouth. How repulsive! The White-Faced Demon: Pazuzu There are three half-second shots of a demon in white face in "The Exorcist." These shots are called subliminal cuts - one of the greatest, most powerful tools of cinematic expression since Eisenstein's montage editing system. The first subliminal shot occurs during Karras's dream where he sees his mother crying by a subway station. He runs towards her. We see quick shots of his mother in a dark room, a grandfather clock, and a cross or necklace of some kind falling in slow-motion (later identified as the St. Joseph's medal). In between these shots, we see a single-frame shot of a white-faced demon with red eyes staring down at the screen looking frighteningly gaunt and skeletal-like. The next two shots of the demon are during the exorcism sequence: there is another single-frame shot while Regan is writhing in bed and the lights are flashing on and off. The last shot of the demon is in a famous, intensely ugly close-up of Regan staring right at Karras. We see Regan's face and a superimposition of the demon's right eye and part of its mouth.

There has been some talk about who actually plays the white-faced demon. The Internet Movie Database and Mark Kermode's invaluable book on the film mention Eileen Dietz as the demon. Some have actually suggested that Jason Miller plays the demon and, although it is an unfounded rumor, it does draw an interesting parallel. One can infer that if the demon is Karras's death mask, it would inevitably lead to his final jump to the death at the bottom of the Exorcist stairs. Nevertheless, according to Kermode's book, director William Friedkin said that make-up effects of the demon were tested...and he decided it was best to use flashes (subliminal cuts) of the demon since they would not work as separate whole scenes for the film during the exorcism. Although this throws my Karras theory out the window, I still think it is a good one.  
Strange, bizarre moments (and some strangely beautiful ones, too) in THE EXORCIST There are moments in "The Exorcist" that are so strange and mystical, both aurally and visually, that it is indeed one of the most aesthetically beautiful films ever made. The one famous image, used in the advertising of the film, is of a silhouetted Father Merrin standing by the MacNeil house where a shaft of light bursts through Regan's window. Below are other fascinating examples of image and sound: 

1.) The slingshot sound effect is first heard when Chris MacNeil walks up to the attic thinking there are rats in there. The second time she hears them, she enters the attic only to discover that her servant Karl is there and tells her, "See. No rats." The next time we hear the slingshot sound effect is just after Chris's meeting with Lt. Kinderman. She hears the sound followed by Regan's cries for help with the demon yelling at her: You bitch! As Chris races to help Regan, she's horrified to find Regan masturbating with a bloody crucifix. As Chris tries to snatch the crucifix, she is hit in the face and falls on the floor. When Chris looks back, she sees Regan rotating her head and screaming at her with a British accent that mimics Burke Dennings, Chris's director: Do you know what she did? Your c*&*%#@ daughter!"

This scene is significant on many levels: it cleverly builds the horror subliminally from the onset, and serves as a turning point n Chris's character. She first discovers that Regan is exhibiting a split personality, though no brain lesions are to be found. Then she gets more bad news that her director and close friend Burke is dead (originally followed by the Spider-Walk scene), followed by finding her daughter masturbating and bringing up the memory of Burke, resulting in her desperate consultation with Karras to perform an exorcism. 

2.) Kinderman discovers a piece of clay at the bottom of the long Exorcist steps. This piece of clay seems to come from Regan since he later discovers other pieces of clay in Chris's house. The manner in which the Lieutenant brushes the dirt off of the clay piece is similar to Merrin's discovery of a sculptured head piece of Pazuzu covered in dirt.

3.) Father Damien Karras, one of the most important characters in "The Exorcist", undergoes quite a few changes in the film. At the beginning of the film, he seems to be a man losing his faith in God and in his own life, particularly with the declining health of his mother. When he first confronts Regan, she says to him offscreen, "Can you help an old altar boy, faddah?". Karras recollects that this was the same voice of a homeless person he ignored in the subway when he went to visit his mother. Regan also verbally attacks Karras about his mother's death on many occasions. She tells him that his mother's soul is within her, and thus pretends to be his mother by mimicking her Greek accent. At one point during the exorcism, Regan yells to Karras: "You killed your mother! You left her alone to die! She'll never forgive you, you bastard!" All of these moments serve to underlie Karras's lack of faith in himself and in others, especially when dealing with his inability to help the mentally ill or the homeless. When he tells Tom, another priest, that he's losing his faith, there's a quick transitional cut to the MacNeil house where the wind blows the leaves off the ground.

4.) When Chris tearfully tells Karras that her daughter is possessed and needs an exorcist, we hear young girls and boys playing in a nearby playground. This is an indication that Chris wants things to go back to normal - after all the youthful, sweetly innocent Regan should be out there playing with the kids as well.

5.) Ellen Burstyn undergoes several emotionally traumatic moments as the tormented Chris - it must have been pure hell to be in such an emotional state for nine months of production. My favorite moment is one that is easy to miss: when Kinderman visits the house, Chris asks him if he would like some more coffee. As she approaches the kitchen, she tries to maintain her composure while the lieutenant peruses Regan's clay objects and her painted pictures. Another moment is her horrified look when Regan yells and makes obscene gestures at the doctors.

6.) Regan's demonic giggle when Karras tries to bring back Father Merrin is heard briefly on the soundtrack of "The Exorcist III" when Kinderman is at a church and hears the wind blowing.

7.) St. Joseph's medal is the medal first seen in Iraq where Merrin peers over it and says, "This is strange." Later it is seen in Karras's dream. Then it is found around Karras's neck while attempting to force the demonic spirit out of Regan. Regan manages to remove it from his neck. By the end of the film, it is found in Sharon, the nanny's hands (played by Kitty Winn), where she gives it to Chris who then hands it back to Father Dyer as if in remembrance of Father Karras. If you have seen the new version, Dyer hands it back to her. Exactly what the significance of the medal is remains a mystery - it is a detail not to be found in the book. As Friedkin mentioned in his commentary on the film, it is a cinematic device, a sort of magic talisman and finally the thread between the Iraq scenes and the Georgetown scenes. 

Me and Linda Blair at Chiller Theatre, circa 1999 or 2000.

Note: two of my favorite actors of all time are mentioned below, the most recent deaths of people involved with "The Exorcist."

IN MEMORIAM: JASON MILLER 1939-2001 - the one and only Father Karras passed away May 16th of a heart attack. He is best known for writing the play THAT CHAMPIONSHIP SEASON. He will be missed.
IN MEMORIAM: MERCEDES MCCAMBRIDGE 1918-2004 - a stupendous actress who supplied the gargling, multilayered voices of the demon in THE EXORCIST died on March 2, 2004 of natural causes. Won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for ALL THE KING'S MEN (1949)