The Steves discuss the 1974 horror classic, The Exorcist, along with what's making them happy in pop culture today!
What's Making Us Happy?
Movie Discussion Includes
Ending- Any music or audio clips were borrowed from the original source material.
The Steves discuss the 1974 horror classic, The Exorcist, along with what's making them happy in pop culture today!
What's Making Us Happy?
Movie Discussion Includes
Ending- Any music or audio clips were borrowed from the original source material.
Hello, returning Happys and new listeners. This is Steve Bennett Martin, and this
Stephen:is Steven Martin Bennett, and welcome to
Steve:a Lifetime Happiness, the podcast where we take you on our journey through some of the movies, shows, and other bits of pop culture that are helping to keep us happy. Will hopefully bring a smile to your face along the way.
Stephen:And this October we're highlighting classic horror. So grab your crucifixes. The power of Christ compels you, because today we're covering the 1974 film, The Exorcist.
Steve:Yes. But before we get into that, my love, what else has been keeping you happy?
Stephen:Nothing. Nothing at all. No, I'm kidding. This past weekend, Halloween ends
Steve:came out. Yes. And I enjoyed it. It certainly was not what I was expecting from a Halloween movie, but I enjoyed it thoroughly and I can't wait to rewatch it. Yeah, it's, And see how it stands up with re watches and things like
Stephen:that. It, it was really good. And this was the final part of the new trilogy. And. The thing that each of the movies like Halloween, 2018 dealt with PTSD and inherited generational trauma. Halloween kills dealt with fear and, you know what fear can make us do as humans that we wouldn't normally do. And then this one really dealt with the possibility of. And self-actualization.
Steve:Yeah. And it was a good time. And in a lighter Halloween themed movie. Yeah. We also saw the new hocus pocus too.
Stephen:and we ran a muck
Steve:Yes. For a sequel. That was what twentysomething years in the making? 30 something. Well, 30 years, yeah. Yeah. I was gonna say, I, I would say that it, it really didn't disappoint it paid enough homage to the original while not being a complete retread of the first one. And I can't wait to make a part of a one two punch for Halloween every year going forward. Yeah, I
Stephen:absolutely agree. It was the right amount of campy. We got two songs Yes. That time. So that's always a lovely thing. So, you know, it was just a really good time and it's on
Steve:Disney Plus for all of you to stream if you haven't already. Absolutely.
Stephen:So, That takes us to this movie, darling. This was my first time watching it
Steve:all the way through. Yes. And I remember watching it before, but like many things, if it didn't happen within the past month or two, it's brand new to me, And so I got to enjoy it because it's just so genre defining, just like how psycho changed the face of horror. This created its whole genre. I mean, I. Watching the exorcism of Emily Rose and the exorcism of this person and that person, and the, the last exorcist, the really last exorcism. We promise you guys, if you keep on seeing it, this won't be the last Exorcist. Yeah. And to, to know that like all these people are trying to catch this magic that created in this movie. I definitely think that this has something that definitely I could see wanting to kind of change the face of horror and cause new people to be inspired to push things further. And it.
Stephen:Really deep. There was some great character work and development. It's a two hour long movie and they didn't rush anything. But it also didn't feel like anything was drawn out, like it moved at a good pace. And they did not shy away from the gruesome or anything like that? No.
Steve:For those of you not in the know the Exorcist. By IMDB description, when an teenage girl is possessed by a mysterious entity, her mother seeks the help of two priests to save her daughter. That's okay.
Stephen:Good. Enough? Enough. I'm good
Steve:with that. Yes. And it was a 1973 Supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin, written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, and based on his 1971 novel of the.
Stephen:It Stars Ellen Burston. Maxon Cidel Lee j Cobb, Kitty Wyn, Jack McGrain, Jason Miller and Linda Blair as Reagan.
Steve:Yes. It was released originally in just 24 theaters in the US and Canada in late December, 1973. Despite its mixed reviews, audience flocked to see it waiting on long lines during winter weather, many more than once. Yeah. With
Stephen:lines like honest to goodness wrapping around the block. Yes.
Steve:Viewers suffered adverse physical reactions from fainting, vomiting to heart attacks miscarriage. Yeah, I was gonna say, somebody said there was a miscarriage, a psychiatrics journal published a paper on cinematic neurosis triggered by the. Many children were allowed to see it leading the charge to TRA changes that the MPAA rating board had accommodated Warner Brothers by giving the film an R rating instead of the X rating they thought it deserved. It was
Stephen:definitely not an X rating game. My goodness.
Steve:Definitely was not. And of course, several cities attempted to hour ban the movie to prevent children from
Stephen:attending. And as we saw with Footloose, whenever you try to ban something, it's just gonna make the kids want to do it more. Exactly.
Steve:I mean, the cultural controversy around this film, Which obviously involved the treatment of Catholicism, helped to become the first horror film to be nominated for the Academy Awards for best picture one of 10 for which it was nominated and it won best adapted screenplay and best sound, and it
Stephen:has several sequels and was the highest grossing R-rated horror film. Unadjusted for a Flight Inflation until 20 seventeen's release of Stephen King's.
Steve:Yes. And in 2010, the Library of Congress selected the film to be preserved in the National Film Registry citing as culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant, which I agree. I agree. It definitely, it was genre defining. Now
Stephen:the movie begins with Father Lancaster Meran, who is an elderly Catholic priest on an archeological dig in. Maren has a sense of her boating and encounters a number of strange omens, including the unearthing of a series of confusing items, a near miss with a runaway horse drawn carriage, and a clock that stops ticking in midt stroke. Finally, Meron discovers the statue of a bizarre demonic figure. Although the film doesn't mention exactly what it is, it's a representation of the demonic figure known as Pazuzu. Oh,
Steve:I know them. We go way back and it's from like middle school. Oh, do tell Darling. Well, yeah. I went to middle school and played a game called Shami, Timmy Kimmy, where as many people know Shinigami Tene, and in one of the iterations, I believe it was, The Devil Survivor Series, at least, if not some other personas and other spinoffs had pazuzu as one of the demons that you can control. And it is a Mesopotamian personification of the West Wind, and they're considered both a destructive and dangerous wind as well as a repellent to other demons. It's particularly fond of looking over pregnant women and mothers, which makes me wonder, why is this like the demonn in the movie?
Stephen:I think it must have been more of the destructive and dangerous things. I just think it
Steve:was like they were like, It's a cool demonic statue with a big dick. Let's yeah, do it I don't know. I feel like in with all the demonn entities out there that exist going for pazuzu was
Stephen:maybe the interesting choice. Maybe it was just aesthetically chosen or I've never read the novels, so maybe. In Glad's novel, it goes into the significance of why he picked Pazuzu, who's to
Steve:say, But meanwhile, back in the United States, because I honestly, first of all, I don't really think that this needs to be in the movie, the Iraq scene considering that they actually like flew out and like did it all, it just seems like a lot of money.
Stephen:I I, if there had been more significance to. The thing he found in the desert and stuff like that. It was, they, I think, I feel like they could have done more with it.
Steve:Yeah. I, I would start the movie here. Back in the United States, in Washington, DC's Upskilled Georgetown neighborhood, where a successful actress named Chris McNeil begins experiencing strange pH. Chris lives with her 12 year old daughter, Regan, her personal assistant Sharon, and two housekeepers. Sounds like a nice life. Yeah. Regan's father is Reagan's father. Yep. Is estranged for reasons unknown, but Chris seems to be involved with a man named Burke. There're mysterious, unexplained sounds in the attic of the house, which she attributes to rats. And Reagan slowly begins to experience strange behavior undergoing behavioral changes, much like depression and.
Stephen:Now Chris and Reagan have a really great relationship. They laugh and they tease each other. Reagan makes arc art in the basement and she loves horses. They do a really good job of showing us what normal is for mom and daughter before all these things begin to change. And I think that's important cuz sometimes with situations like this, like with the Conjuring,
Steve:it just just hits the fan from the beginning. And
Stephen:this right, we're brought in as the. Not the family.
Steve:Yep. Now Chris is working on a new movie in Georgetown with a director known as Burke Dennings, while filming a scene one day, she notices a young Catholic priest watching her. His name is Damien Caris. Father Caris has a background in psychology and counsel's, parishioners at a nearby church. Chris also notices him while walking home from the shoot. And is it me? Like, it seems like he's kind of following her or she's following him. I think
Stephen:it's just supposed to be you know, you know, there's no such thing as a coincidence. It's Is it synchronicities? Yeah. And I think that that's what it's supposed to be is saying these two have been orbiting each other without realizing it, and their lives are about to be thrown together.
Steve:Yes, they are. We learn more about car. He's a thoughtful, conflicted man. He discusses his vocation with a superior and asks to be transferred because he feels he's losing his faith. He also has an elderly mother who lives alone in a slim in New York. He visits her and was reminded how lonely her life is. But she, like many people of the time, is like, I'm gonna die in this house. Yeah, and he feels guilty. She has to live in such poor surroundings. Now, did you ever have a crisis of faith?
Stephen:So I actually did I read the book and saw the movie for the Da Vinci Code, and it all deals with the potential lineage of a child of Jesus. And I was fascinated by that story because, you know, most of the time he's proclaimed as, you know, the teacher. But almost heralded as a virgin. Mm-hmm. and things where this said that, you know, he and Mary Magdalene had a child and this lineage has continued in things and it just started making me look at. The Christian religion differently. And so I went to Catholic Mass, I went to Eastern Orthodox. I went to, You joined Scientology. I joined Scientology for a bit. I went to several. D Baha. But I was, you know, in my twenties at the time, and Baha doesn't believe in alcohol, and so I was like, No, thank you. Mm, So but then I also just started realizing that faith and spirituality is a very personal. And it doesn't have to be what an organized group tells you it should be or how it should look. What about you?
Steve:Yeah. I would say a crisis of faith happened with us, with me a couple years ago after the way that I thought my life was gonna go, took a shift. And I, I think I kind of turned the, overcame it as I found sobriety in a. Now, the strange occurrences in the McNeil House begin to increase, don't they
Stephen:babe? They do. The sounds in the attic are increasing and they sound bigger than rats. Reagan reveals that she's been playing with the Ouija board because of course she has. Yeah, and she's been doing it all by herself, and she claims she is the ability to communicate with a spiritual entity all by. Who is named Captain Howdy. I mean,
Steve:it's so fucking stupid. It's kind of awesome.
Stephen:And, but it's one of those things that, because name is Captain Howdy, you're like, Well, what could go wrong? Exactly. And so she turns up in Chris's bed one night claiming that her own bed was shaking. Now,
Steve:we learned later that it obviously was, but of course, Chris just decides that she was having a night terror. Did you have night terrors where you would crawl? With your parents cuz you thought something was happening?
Stephen:Not like that. I would have nightmares and not wanna spend the rest of the night in my room, but the closest I could say to it is whenever we were living in Laurel Park and I would wake up and I would see a dark figure in our doorway. And I, you know, I did more saying to it and they said it was salute paralysis. I was pretty sure that there was a dark figure in our apartment because it seemed to interact with me in that period of from
Steve:waking up. Yeah. Now a nearby Catholic church is desecrated, a statue of the virgin Mary hinted crudely and adorn with conal clay Edits made to resemble breast and a penis and totally unrelated things. Regan plays with clay and paint making small animal sculpture. She also gets diagnosed with basically ad HD of the seventies. They call it like hyper something. Yeah. And potty mouth. Yes. Now have you ever tried Ritalin or gotten an ADHD diagnosis? No. You, I have never tried Ritalin, but I did get diagnosis with adhd, but it was as an adult and they were like, you were too intelligent. That like, we'd pick it out with stupider kids faster because they fail at school because you got straight A's. Like we didn't figure it. But it's also hard to tell cuz like at the time I was on medication but I was also drinking in a way that wasn't probably prescribed. And so who knows whether I was, you know, accurately of sound
Stephen:mind. Yeah. And in terms of the potty mouth, Reagan wants her doctor to keep his fingers away from her Gd c u next Tuesday. Yes.
Steve:Mother Martin would be horrified. I doubt this is on her watch
Stephen:list. Yeah. Now meanwhile, Father car's, Mother falls ill, and due to a lack of funds, she's placed in a very shabby hospital and resigned to a ward full of mental patients. Father Caris is distraught when he visits her and she seems to blame him for her situation and she later passes away and he's told that, you know, she wasn't found for three days.
Steve:Geez, that's not great. And so we also, and this is this entire image, I was like, this is what people are afraid of when they come into a tour communities.
Stephen:And we see that before the priesthood, he was a boxer and he's also a trained psychologist. What do you think pushed him towards a life of faith instead of
Steve:a bad
Stephen:breakup? or, because, you know, sometimes in. families from other ethnicity, ethnicities like Italian and things. There's always a priest in the family you see in TV and movies, and I wonder if it was that cultural type of thing or I know it never really says.
Steve:Yeah. Now Chris has an elaborate party at our home with a number of affluent guests. One of her guests is another Jesuit named Father Dyer. That's gay Father Dyer. Yes. That's why I was like, Yep, you had to be in the closet back.
Stephen:and Chris asked him about Caris having noticed him and making and referring to him as intense. And she finds that Caris and Dyer are actually good friends. And Burke, the director is also there and he's a mean and offensive drunk and accuses Carl the butler of being a Nazi, just because Carl's German not
Steve:cool. During the party, Reagan appears happy and social, but she reappears after being sent to bed, dressed in her nightgown and urinates on the carpet in front of the guests while making an ominous statement to a prominent astronaut. You're gonna die up
Stephen:there And after the guests leave, Chris bathes Reagan and puts her to bed, but is startled by a loud sound from Reagan's bedroom. She rushes back down the hall, discovers Reagan's bed. Shaking violently rising up off the floor with Reagan on top of it, and Chris jumps on the bed and it's still shaking and levitating. And at this point, Chris believes that something is wrong with Reagan. Is that where you would've gone as well, or with the bed shaking and levitating? Like house said? The house is haunted. The house. House is haunted. Yeah. And would you have stayed in the house like they are? No.
Steve:Like, but I mean, I guess there were maybe were only so many.
Stephen:She's a millionaire. She's a famous actress. They could have gone to a hotel. It's dc. Yes. So, and now Chris subjects Reagan to a series of medical tests to discover what the problem is. The doctors are unable to discover anything. Unfortunately, despite putting Reagan through some grueling, painful procedures
Steve:like, like scary, fucked up ones like medicine in the seventies was terrify. Yeah.
Stephen:The best they can come up with is that Reagan may have a lesion on her brain, but after all those terrifying tests, there's nothing on the scan.
Steve:Yes. Later at Chris's house, Reagan suffers what appears to be a seizure, and the two doctors visit to assist. They find her rising and falling up and down on the bed in a way that seems impossible for a human being. When they try to sedate her, she curls them across the room with an abnormal strength speaking to them in what seems to be a male voice. Saying, Keep away. The sow is mine, but they sedate her eventually.
Stephen:So that scene where she's going up and back and forth, she was actually strapped to a board and the board was throwing her forward and backwards to get that thing a piece of metal attached to it. Came loose and was impaling her. Yeah. And so she's screaming, Make it stop. Make it stop. Make it stop. Meaning stop the board. But that's actually Reagan's line in the film as well. Yeah. So they don't realize anything is happening. They think they're just getting the most realistic performance ever. Out of this 13 year old
Steve:girl. Poor girl. She went through a lot with this movie.
Stephen:Yeah. So out of options, they advised Chris to search for a psychiatrist. But they also rec reluctantly discuss another possibility. They mentioned the phenomenon of demonic possession and the right of exorcism, and while they seem to hold professional contempt for it, they do admit that it's been known to solve problems such as what Reagan is going through, believing that Reagan is self manifesting these things, and if that she goes through the experience of an exorcism, even though the doctors don't think it's real, Reagan's mind will be convinced she's cured and. So, you know, it's not great because they're thinking that Reagan's just making it up pretty much is what they're saying.
Steve:Yeah. But I mean, it is all one of those things where if it's not gonna hurt, why not try it now? I mean, I grew up Catholic. And exorcisms weren't an everyday thing.
Stephen:Was it ever discussed in Catholic school or anything, or No,
Steve:Not that I can remember. And I'm certainly not the historian it, but it certainly wasn't part of like grade school or high school religious studies Now, like I, I remember like the bible verse about like the demons that went into the pigs. Yeah. And. Drowned or killed themselves or whatever. Right. But I mean, I don't remember like learning about like, Oh, like the, We certainly didn't cover the exorcism that this was based on with Robbie.
Stephen:What's his face? Right. Okay. So you know, Chris herself is skeptical and she's kind of agnostic, not really having any faith of her own. But if this were happening to someone you cared about, I
Steve:had exercised the fuck out of.
Stephen:Thank you, darling. I appreciate that. That's what
Steve:I really needed to hear. I know. I'm here to make you happy. Now, the situation worsens when Chris goes out one evening returning home to find the house deserted, except for Reagan, who's alone in her bedroom, and appears to be in a deep sleep upside down. Yes. The bedroom is freezing cold, both in the movie and in real life because they couldn't make those effects happen back then. Yep. So these people are actually fucking freezing their asses off. Yep. And the window's standing wide open, Reagan's. Sharon Returns and Chris is Furies with her for leaving Reagan unattended. But Sharon explains that she left Reagan in the care of Burke, who is visiting the house while she went to the pharmacy to get Reagan's medication. Berk's absence is unexplained until the doorbell rings in. An associate of Chris's breaks the news that Berk has just died at the bottom of the steps outside
Stephen:Chris's house. So built in 1895, the 75 Steep Steps Stairway connects Prospect in 36th streets with M Street and Georgetown. And it's one of those things that now horror fans travel to this area every year to get their photos taken with those famous steps. Yes. I've been to DC but obviously I've not really experienced this movie until recently. But now if we're ever in DC again, I wanna find the steps. Yeah. Yes.
Steve:Now, shortly after this, Chris's visited by a kindly detective named Kinderman, who just wants someone to go see a movie with him. He
Stephen:really does. He has
Steve:passes. Yes. He seems suspicious of Berk's death. He questions Chris about the events of that evening, and Chris is nervous, hesitant to tell him about Regan's. while he is visiting. He notices a few small Amal figures that Reagan has crafted and they're similar to, to the style of the desecration of the statues in the church. And the thing he found at the bottom of the steps were Berk's body was discovered. Kinderman leaves in his immediately of violent disturbance is heard from Reagan's room. So Chris
Stephen:hears a deep male voice bellowing at Reagan to do it, and Reagan screaming in protest in the bedroom. Chris finds Reagan plunging a crucifix violently into her vagina while screaming, Let Jesus fuck you. When Chris tries to stop her, Reagan grabs her mother's head, says, Lick me, and shoves her mother's face between her legs covering her and blood.
Steve:Mm gross.
Stephen:Period.
Steve:The entire thing is just shocking today. Oh my God, get me. You don't see that kind of stuff in movies even today. No. Can
Stephen:you imagine in 73 seeing this in
Steve:hand, the theater, and I mean, like later on when she, when she says, The priests are doing the exorcism and Oh, yeah. She says something similar. That's very graphic, like Yeah, stick your cock off her ass. Yeah. Like they were supposed to continue on and the whole
Stephen:night they were shocked that a 13 year old just
Steve:said that to them. Yeah. And so they were like, the whole like, I need a minute, was actually like them needing a minute because this Yeah. They, they don't hold back at all. Yeah. I know that they were saying like, the studio assumed it would be out of shot and. Nope, they're not going to watch the exes. They're gonna watch a 12 year old girl shove a crucifix in her cu
Stephen:ew. So her mother's face has blood on it, and then she assaults her mother with impossible strength and furniture around the room starts to move on its own. As Chris watches in horror, her daughter's head turns completely around backward and she speaks to Chris and Burke's voice saying to her, Do you know? But she did Y hunting. And Chris then realizes that Reagan is responsible for Burke's death. I
Steve:am shocked. Yeah.
Stephen:So do you believe this is demonic possession by now? Yeah.
Steve:If any of this happened, I would be calling a priest. So
Stephen:one of the fascinating things with this is she opened the door and all these things are flying at the window records and stuff like that. They had made this conveyor belt and you turn it on and you just lay stuff on top of it and it flies across the room and breaks, and it's just fascinating. All the practical effects they
Steve:did with this. Now desperate. Chris arranges to meet with Father Caris and when she mentions the notion of exorcism, he's almost amused. He tells her exorcism is nearly unheard of now, that we're no longer in the dark ages and that he doesn't know anybody who has ever performed one. He believes that all the exorcisms of the past were mely, undiagnosed mental health issues be cuz of the time period. Chris is distraught and commences him to meet with Reagan anyway. Now, do
Stephen:you believe in possess.
Steve:I do, I don't think it's one of those things that's like common, but like when the, when stories like this happen, because this is based as I alluded to, to a true story, like I do believe that this actually happened to a, a young boy. I, I don't think that it's something that happens yearly or
Stephen:no, but I think people have to believe in all the miracles that Jesus performed and things like that. You have to at least believe that the opposite can happen. Now I do believe that there were definitely things that were mental health issues that some people were like, Oh, it's the devil now. Caris is shocked by the girl's appearance. She's tied to the headboard of her bed. Her face is misshape and covered in lesions, and her voice is deep and Graveling re announces that she's the devil in toys with Caris in a number of ways, seeming to make a drawer next to the bed open all by. Then speaking to car in a number of languages. She also conjures up the voice of the subway T Carus had encountered earlier while he was all alone, so there's no way she should have been able to experience that. Caris remains unconvinced. And when Reagan claims your mother's in here. Caris. Would you like to leave a message? I'll see that she gets it. Caris asks her what his mother's ma name is. Unable to answer. Reagan then vomits spectacularly all
Steve:over him. Yes. I kudo to the makeup department because at this time Reagan's unrecognizable and she's
Stephen:a cute girl. And now she, It's just
Steve:bad. Yes. Now Chris cleans car's, sweater and discusses Reagan. He's not convinced that she's possessed, especially because Reagan says she's the devil. If you've seen as many psychotic as I have, you know, it's like saying you're an Napoleon. Bonna apart He recommends psychiatric care for her. Chris pleads with him to help her obtain an exorcism, swearing that the thing in the bed upstairs is not her
Stephen:daughter. Now, while Carus thinks it over, he's approached by Kinderman who questions him about the fact that the desecration of the church could be connect connected to Burke's. What he was unable to tell Chris was that Berk's body was found with his head, turned completely around backwards and the police department considers it a homicide, not an accident. Kinderman knows that Cara suspects something unusual is going on in the McNeil house, but his confidentiality as a priest prevents him from discussing it with Kinderman. And there's also a scene where Caris is listening to recordings of re before this time, and you can see it convincing him more and. That there's something going on with the girl.
Steve:Yes. Now Kara's visits RA again, again and records their conversation during which he sprinkles Reagan with water. He tells her it's holy water and she begins to arrive in pain, seemingly going into a trance and speaking in a strange language. Later, he tells Chris that it would be difficult to make a case with the bishop for possession the water he sprinkled Dun Regan was simply tap water and not blessed. The bishop and care himself would consider Reagan to be mentally ill and not possess.
Stephen:So we saw an episode of the TV show Evil
Steve:where they, So she threw back at me when I asked why did the Holy Water work if it wasn't
Stephen:real? Because on there they said, because the priest saying out loud that it's holy water, that he actually would have the power to have created the water into holy water by saying it out loud with conviction. Now there is an interaction that we're gonna do for you that I really. What an excellent day for an exorcism. You would
Steve:like that intensely, but wouldn't that drive you outta Reagan? It would bring us together. You and Regan,
Stephen:You and us. I'm not
Steve:Reagan. Well then let's introduce ourselves. I'm Damien Karas
Stephen:and I'm the devil. Now, kindly undo these
Steve:straps. If you're the devil, why not make the straps disappear?
Stephen:That's much too vulgar. A display of powers car. And I kind of love that. Like it's, it's kind of sassy in a way that Lucifer like, I
Steve:could do it Yeah. If I wanted to,
Stephen:but I, you know, I, it's, it's not that type of show. I'm not gonna, I'm not gonna brag about what I can do and it make me think of Lucifer. Yeah. From the TV show.
Steve:Yes. Now Chris confides in Caris and tells him that Reagan was the one who killed Burke. Dennings Later Kara uses his tape recordings of Reagan seemingly incomprehensible Babel to discover she's really speaking backwards in. A phone call from Sharon interrupts him. She summons him to the house to see Reagan not wanting Chris to see what's happening as they look at her unconscious body. The. Help me begin to materialize on her stomach a rising up under her skin like scar tissue. And
Stephen:the amount of time the movie has taken to build to all of this, letting us see from the different perspectives has really been the best part. It's been a slow, slow burn that we don't often get with possession movies these days cuz they feel that modern audiences need to be rushed towards everything. Yep.
Steve:Now Caris reluctantly agrees to try and get an exorcism for Regan, although he seems to have more in common with the doctors who recommends that it is a form of shock therapy. the church calls in Father Meron to perform the exorcism with Kas assisting. Meen has performed exorcism in the past, including a difficult one that nearly killed him according to Bishop. Well,
Stephen:yeah, and that goes along with the prequels and there are two prequels to the Exorcist. One called Dominion and the other one Exorcist the beginning. And they both star da Daddy scars
Steve:guard, which is just funny. because while they were making it the wrong movie lost their rights that they sold it to two other studios and like, not neither one backed down. They both were like, We're gonna make a motion picture out of this.
Stephen:And one studio did more of a exorcist version where it was more of a psychological drama and the other one wanted something violent and more of a horror movie. So it was kind of funny. And they were released within a year.
Steve:Yes. Now, when Maron arrives at the McNeil house, Reagan Bellows is name from upstairs as if she knows him and she makes strange animal sounds. Karis wonders why the Demonn picked this girl, to which Maron says, I think the point is to make us despair, to see ourselves as animal and ugly, to make us reject the possibility that God could love us. He warns, cares about conversing with the demon. It reminds him that demons will makes lives with the truth. To confuse and. Just like humans,
Stephen:And speaking of demons, horrible things were happening on the set. The mansion itself was built inside a sound stage, and one night it all burnt down. And there were accidents and death of people close to the cast and crew. And finally, priests were brought in to bless the set. And from that moment on, nothing bad else happened during the production. Love
Steve:that. Now when they enter Reagan's bedroom, she immediately begins with a string of obscenities, including your mother
Stephen:sucks. Cox and Hill
Steve:Caris. Your faithless slim. Marin and Kara recite the ritual of
Stephen:exorcism. The power of Christ compels
Steve:you. And Reagan manifests strange phenomenon such as levitation, telekinesis in abnormally long tongue and strange pup vomiting. She constantly curses the priest It's evil laughter and verbal abuse such
Stephen:as stick your cock up ass, you motherfucking worthless cock.
Steve:which is what he said. I just need a minute. After hearing a little girl say that, Now Reagan begins to talk to Kara in the voice of his mother and he starts to break down. Aaron sends him away and when he returns, he find Meron dead on the floor, the victim of a heart attack.
Stephen:And we had seen Meen in Iraq take nitroglycerin pills at the beginning of the movie. So this does track. Oh,
Steve:I just thought he was a druggie They built the bedroom inside of a giant refrigerator as well, I guess I mentioned, to get that effect of the breath, which is just wild.
Stephen:And so they would start with the room at zero degrees Fahrenheit, and if the room got up to 32 because of the lights from the product. They would no longer see the fog breath. So they had to break until the room was back to zero degrees and everyone in the casting crew that had to be on that set got sick except for Linda
Steve:Blair, which was funny cuz she was the youngest in wearing the least. Yep. Now Reagan Cackles gleefully infuriating Karas, who grabs her and shouts at the demonn. Come into me, take me the transference works almost immediately. Kara begins to transform and Regan returns for normal. Before Kara can harm her, his normal personality breaks through for a split second, and he commits suicide harling himself outta Reagan's window just as Burke did. He tumbles down the stairs outside the window and lies dying in the street below. By chance, Father Dyer happens upon the scene and ministers the last rights to his friend. So for
Stephen:all the buildup, the climax came quick and fast, but because of the buildup with Reagan and Chris and Caris, Kara's mother, it all felt really earned and powerful. And one of those moments where you're holding your breath and then after it happens, you really do take that moment to exhale.
Steve:Yes, and they give us even a nice little epilogue where we see Chris and Reagan as they prepare to leave their house in Georgetown. They are visited by Father Dyer. Chris speaks to him privately and tells him re doesn't remember anything about the possession or the exorcism, which is probably for the best. Yeah. Reagan then appears in greet, some cheery transfixed by Father DI's white. Before they leave, she suddenly hugs Father Dyer and kisses him, calls him a
Stephen:faithless, cocksucker, and walks away.
Steve:No. She's good. Reagan Now. Okay. As Chris pulls away in their car, she orders the driver to stop for a moment and gives Father Dyer the religious medallion that belonged to Father Kace. And their struggle of Reagan had turn it from his body, but they found it after the exorcism. Yep.
Stephen:Now Dyer walks to the steps for one final look, and we see Reagan's bedroom window boarded up behind. Yes. Final thoughts, my
Steve:darling. I think that it was just a great movie that, again, like if somehow someone out there is like you and has gone 30, 40 something ish years in this world without seeing the Exorcist, go check out this Halloween. Sure. To give you the, the tingles on the back of your neck.
Stephen:Yeah. It's a fantastic movie. It's well acted, it's well directed, it's beautifully shot, the colors and everything. I was very, very impressed by this. go see it if you've not seen it before. And if it's been a while, watch it again. Yes. Now for all of you out there, we'd love to hear from you. You can get in touch with us on all the socials, whether that is Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or TikTok Happy
Steve:Life Pod. Or you can also email us directly at Happy Life pod@gmail.com.
Stephen:And until next time, everyone, the power of Christ compels you to stay
Steve:happy.