The Q Filmcast

The Q Filmcast


Episode 94 : THE EXORCIST / Top 3 Practical Effects in Film

June 06, 2015

This week we put it on
the producer to queue up his so called "10" and he gives us THE
EXORCIST .Considered the most shocking film of its time and often called the
scariest movie ever made, William Friedkin's tale of demonic infiltration
packed a wallop in 1971. Listen to see where it landed with us in 2015.

Based on William Peter
Blatty's (1971) best-seller of the same name, The Exorcist tells us the story
of Regan, a 13 year old girl played by the then unknown Linda Blair, a
seemingly sweet and innocent soul who wakes up one day Suddenly prone to fits
of rage and bizarre behavior, Regan proves quite a handful for her
actress-mother, Chris MacNeil, played by Ellen Burstyn. When Regan gets
completely out of hand, and slides deeper into darkness, the doctors are left
clueless. With no other place to turn, Chris calls in young priest Father
Karras (Jason Miller), who becomes convinced that the girl is possessed by the
Devil and that they must call in an exorcist, namely, Father Merrin (Max von
Sydow). His foe proves to be no run-of-the-mill demon, and both the priest and
the girl suffer numerous horrors during their struggles – requiring sacrifices
of the deepest order where only the struggle of good and evil can exist. The
Exorcist received a theatrical re-release in 2000, in a special edition that
added 11 minutes of footage trimmed from the film's original release and
digitally enhanced Chris Newman's Oscar-winning sound work. 

Often considered a
culture landmark of cinema, The Exorcist is regarded as one of the
greatest film achievements of all time. 
We round it out with our "Top 3 Practical Effects in Film"