There are many more levels to this film than what initially meets the eye. For me, The Exorcist has always been more about the never ending conflict between pure evil and pure innocence than about being an average horror story. ![]() The fact that Blatty claims his book and screenplay were based on a true story seemed to give the film even more credibility. The Exorcist made the prospect of Satan being alive and well and a life of eternal damnation a very uncomfortable prospect. There is no doubt though that much in the way The Passion did, The Exorcist caused many to reconsider how they felt about their faith. Those who had a definitive belief in Heaven and Hell, of Good and Evil, of Jesus as The Savior and Satan as the epitome of pure evil were affected by The Exorcist far more than those who were agnostic or just never had a strong belief in spiritual matters. Much of this same feeling can explain the hysteria surrounding The Exorcist. For many others, the depiction of the brutality in The Passion may have been uncomfortable to sit through, but weren't emotionally effected to any degree. From most articles I have read, it seems that the majority of the audience that was moved were those people of strong religious beliefs. I'm sure most of you have read the story of people leaving Mel's film in tears, some to the point of being hysterical. I think one needs to look no further than Mel Gibson's The Passion to find the answer as to why. Yet, the hysteria went well beyond the fact that such scenes were so vividly depicted. Certainly many of the people who lined up to see The Exorcist did so to watch some of the more gruesome scenes, the worst of which involved Regan's masturbation with a crucifix. ![]() As you know the film was made and it spared the movie going public absolutely nothing in the way of details. While reading the book I was sure that if it ever made its way to film, most of the details would certainly be either `cleaned up' or omitted altogether. And yes, for it's time it was filled with gut wrenching details of what happens when for some unexplained reason an innocent girl is possessed by Satan. It was the first book I had read in one sitting since probably Nancy Drew and The Hidden Staircase quite a few years earlier. After having been on the waiting list for what seemed like an eternity at the local library, I was finally able to obtain a copy. I had also seen the novel listed on The New York Times Bestseller List, and it seemed as if it would remain there forever. The conversation centered around how horrible some of the things in the book were. The first time I had heard of something called The Exorcist was on late night television when the author, William Peter Blatty, was a guest on The Tonight Show. ![]() There were reports of people having to be institutionalized, and at least one miscarriage was attributed to viewing it. People were known to become ill watching it. In late 1973 and early 1974, women and men were lined up for blocks. This network TV version is rarely if ever used for TV and cable showings today. There is also a slightly alternate shot of Regan's face morphed into the white face of the demon just after Merrin arrives at the MacNeil house (the theatrical versions only show the beginning of the transformation). ![]() Most of the profanity spoken by Regan is also cut out, as are the shots of her being abused with a crucifix and forcing Chris' face into her crotch. The lines "Your mother sucks cocks in hell, Karras" and "Shove it up your ass you faggot" were re-dubbed by Friedkin as "Your mother still rots in hell" and "Shut your face, you faggot." Several of Ellen Burstyn's lines were also re-dubbed by the actress, replacing "Jesus Christ" with "Judas Priest" and omitting the f-word. Friedkin himself spoke the Demon's new, censored lines he was unwilling to work with Mercedes McCambridge again. The network TV version originally broadcast on CBS in the '80s was edited by William Friedkin, who also shot a replacement insert of the Virgin Mary statue crying blood, replacing the shot of a more obscenely desecrated statue.
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