Do you like horror movies? Do you like cocktails? Do you like cocktails while you watch horror movies? Oh boy, we have a surprise for you. Cocktails from the Crypt is finally here. You can get a copy of our new recipe book, 60 Terrifying Concoctions, inspired by your favorite horror movies, right now, wherever books are sold. how to make the drag Mai Tai to hell. The Negroni Namacon. Surprise your friends with a Jason X inspired slushie.
Get sloshed drinking a Texas Chainsaw Margarita or six. And why not blow your brains at the back of your head with the Killbot Kamikaze. Thank you. Have a nice day. You can learn how to drink. You can learn how to make these drinks and more in Cocktails from the Crypt, available wherever books are sold, like Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
Okay, this infomercial bit has been really fun, but seriously, one, thank you so much to everybody who has pre-ordered a copy of Cocktails from the Crypt. And if you are looking for a gift for the horror person in your life and you have no idea... Cocktails from the Crypt is here to help them punch up every Friday movie night and turn it into a graveyard smash.
Plus, the cover's in Boston. It looks great on your coffee table. Oh, Kim's still stuck in infomercial land, guys. I'm sorry. I think she's gone forever. It's purple. You can get Cocktails from the Crypt right now, wherever books are sold. Or you can head over. to nofspodcast.com slash go. There's links for everything. You're listening to Nightmare on Film Street.
The current time is 666. Traffic is clear ahead from here to the afterlife. But it's hell outside. For the next hour, you're on Nightmare Time. So, let's give a grave welcome to our hosts, John and Kim. Hello again, fiends, and welcome to Nightmare on Film Street, the horror movie podcast for the casually obsessed.
I'm Kimmy. I'm John. And this week, we are hitting you up with another crypt pick. We are celebrating the launch of our very first book, Baby's First Book, the end of this month, November 26th, Cocktails from the Crypt. It is... 60 cocktails inspired by 60 horror movies, and one of them is today's movie that we are chatting about, The Exorcist.
Yeah, that's right. We got a drink in this book called Pazuzu's Punch. And it's not just one drink. It is eight drinks in one. So you can share it with friends or, you know, you could drink them all. I thought you can share them with the priests that you bring in. There's enough in this punch bowl. There's enough spirits in your body. You need a whole punch. Oh, okay. That's good. We are Legion, and we need a whole punch.
It's a delicious drink. It's also got a nice exorcist styled color to it. And we'll tell you all about it at the end of the episode. Yeah, if you've ever wanted to drink some liquid pea soup. No, this is not pea soup. It is not pea soup. It is just a cool green. Okay, we'll say it right now. In case anybody was worried, it's just a fun neon-ish green color. And you'll hear all about it later on. Before we get into this week's episode, I mean, damn, The Exorcist.
Does it need an intro? You've probably, at the very least... heard about this movie people have seen the exorcist john i would expect you to this is also one of the rare movies that we've already talked about on the podcast before years ago at this point i think we paired it with silence of the lambs i think the idea was that it was
It was an Academy Award winning horror double feature. Yeah, because this is one of the only horror movies that has been recognized by the Academy. I think it won best screenplay. I think it won a lot. I think it was a bit of a sweep. No, I think it got two. I think I got screenplay and score. I think it was nominated for best picture though, which is like, we got nominated.
Should have won. Got nominated. Oh, a fucking movie made like a billion dollars. I looked it up, actually. The budget of the movie, which was crazy. It was $12 million in 1973. It should have only been five. I mean. Yeah. Adjusted for inflation, that's $85 million. And it made, adjusted for inflation, a billion. A billion! It's a pretty fucking good movie. That's the thing. That's what's great about it. It might be hard to try and find new things to say about it, but.
Every single time we watch this movie, I'm convinced that it's the best horror movie ever made. Well, I mean, it doesn't help that. So recording this early November, we watched this Halloween night. This was our Halloween night watch. So the vibes. We're high. But also, the expectations were high on making it a really great movie night. And holy shit, does this movie always deliver? Always. So good. You ask me in two weeks from now what I think some of the best movies ever made are.
or what my favorite horror movies are, my five-star picks, I might not say The Exorcist, but every time I watch it, I'm like, this is a fucking masterpiece. It's just because it feels expected, but then when you... It's the basic bitch answer? Yes. It is the pumpkin spice latte.
on October 1st. It really is. But it deserves to be. Okay, so what are our three good things? Like as people who have seen this movie a hundred times, and it keeps getting funnier, what are our three good things about The Exorcist? One of the greatest things about this movie for me is, and I'm just going to say like full sweep the performances.
All of the characters are really fleshed out. The actors know who they're portraying, and they are interesting, and you want to watch them, and you want to see their story. You want Chris... to figure out what's going on with her daughter. You want Father Karras to figure out what's going on with his faith. And the performances are just...
Yeah. You're so invested. You're just like, is he going to find a nice place for his mom to live? Good thing number two. This is something I bring up every opportunity I can. Incredible nightmare sequence. Like, real-to-life nightmare sequence. Not just a nightmare sequence that looks like a Salvador Dali painting that came to life, but like a true nightmare that you had that they somehow beamed into the... the movie screen.
Yeah, it's got that sense of like waiting in water and you can't get to the things you need to get to. There's literally a scene where he's running and you can't get to it. And like he's shouting and his voice isn't making any noise. And you're just like, oh, those are dreams I haven't woken up from a couple times.
Yep, had one of those nightmares the other night. Apparently we were getting eaten by turtles. Oh, don't tell them. Don't tell them what it was. It was a real dark night. All right, and our last good thing. The Exorcist has an incredible... theme song or at the very least a very memorable theme song. It's one of those songs that had a life before this movie but it was completely taken over by The Exorcist. Wait, this song existed before The Exorcist? Yeah, this was just a song someone wrote.
The full version is 25 minutes. It's called Tubular Bells. And it's not the Exorcist song? No, and it's partly responsible for, was it Russell Brand? What's the guy's name? The guy who started Virgin Records that then became Virgin Everything and is now like Virgin Space Rides. Like this was like one of the biggest successes that he- originally had was signing the artist who made this song and putting it out.
What was the audience for Tubular Bells before it came out? That's the funny thing. The guy who wrote it, I did not expect to be talking about this. The guy who wrote it was a bit of a recluse, or at the very least, just like a shy guy who just made music at home with synthesizers. And they got him to come out and do a...
live performance and he hated it he never wanted to do it again he never wanted to play the song he just wanted to make his music quietly at home and have nobody bug him about it and it was like pulling teeth i think russell it's is it russell no it's not what's his name i don't know so okay
Mr. Virgin had to like give him his car. Like here as payment, I'll give you my car. Just come do it. Why do you know this? And why are we going here? Because I'm good at trivia. Wow. So. But despite that, the movie is super scary. Despite having what I think is a very silly theme song. That's what I wanted to say. Why are you saying that that's your good thing then? Because it's terrifying. I think the sound design, the sound design in this movie is utterly horrifying.
I thought you were going to say bad, and then I was just going to be like, why are we here? What are we doing? No, not at all. Most horror movies are scary because of the score, the omen. Jason takes Manhattan. These are all movies that have given us nightmares because of that haunting score. Well, The Shining, and that's got some classics in it that aren't written for The Shining. Now your brain is just like, oh, this is the song from The Shining.
And The Exorcist has a very silly theme song, but incredible. It's not silly. It's good. Incredible sound design and atmosphere. And it just gets in your goddamn bones. I will say. Watching this time, the theme song, the like whatever. Tubular bells. Yeah. Doesn't appear as much as I remember in my mind. OK, well, oh, man, we this is the other thing. So this year.
we got a new copy of The Exorcist. We got it on 4K because it was on sale at Walmart. Heads up, it might still be on sale. Go run and get yourself a cheap copy. It comes with both the theatrical cut... And the director's cut, like the 2000s director's cut. And we decided to watch the theatrical cut. Because we'd never seen it. And there's a really good chance at the song. No, I don't know. I don't think we have. I don't know, man. I think this is my first time seeing the theatrical cut.
And there's a pretty good chance. Yeah, but if you'd seen it before 2000, that would have been the cut that you saw. I didn't. Okay. I remember renting it because it was such a big deal. It came out on VHS. I went to the video store. This is back when my mom still worked at the video store, so I had a sweet hookup. the longest good thing we have ever done in my whole life. I'm never giving John coffee again before we record. I tried to move on.
I'd already tried to move on. All right, continue comparing the theatrical to the director's cut. All I was trying to say. Good thing about the silly score. I was trying to say that I think maybe in the director's cut that the song gets used more. Does it? I don't know.
Anyway, we're going to play the trailer for The Exorcist. Somebody's going to take a deep inhale. I'm going to take a huge breath. And we're going to try and we're going to talk to you about the differences between the theatrical cut and the director's cut. And I've got a... couple questions that I want to ask him that have always bugged me about this movie that I'm dying to get answered. Yes. Okay. That was fast. Somewhere between science and superstition.
There is another world The world of darkness Nobody expected it. Nobody believed it and nothing could stop it. There are no experts. You probably know as much about possession as most priests. Look, your daughter doesn't say she's a demon. She says she's the devil himself. I'm telling you that that thing upstairs isn't my daughter.
Now I want you to tell me that you know for a fact that there's nothing wrong with my daughter except in her mind. You tell me you know for a fact that an exorcism wouldn't do any good. You tell me that! The one hope. The only hope. The exorcist. The Exorcist. Directed by William Friedkin. What year is this? 1973.
Good year. Good year. Is currently sitting at an 8.1 out of 10 on IMDb, a 78% on Rotten Tomatoes, with an audience rating of 87%. I saw that. One of the rare films where the audience rating is high. But critically, well-received movie. Yeah, I don't remember the last time I met anybody who was like, oh, bad movie, not good.
But the rating would assume so. Yeah, I was expecting like 95 sweep. People accidentally uploaded the review for Exorcist Believer on The Exorcist. That's had to be what happened. Letterboxd. The heretic. It also has a four out of five on Letterboxd. And I already mentioned what the box office and budget were. It cost a lot and it made more.
Yeah, so this movie was definitely plagued with some issues during production. I think they originally were like, yeah, 85 shooting days. Great. We got this. We're going to go to Iran. We're going to come back. We're going to shoot on some stairs. We're going to fridge up a little...
girl's bedroom and then bam bam we're done and then uh a bird flew a bird flew into some tech and like lit the set on fire everybody's family members were dying and they had to keep keep taking leave to you know like go to funerals do you think part of the reason that the movies quote unquote cursed and that lots of bad stuff kept happening is just that the shoot went so long probably life happens right like in a nine month period with hundreds of people under your employer
like of course some shit's gonna go like somebody got a cold on a day where it was bad for them to get a cold yeah the wikipedia just goes like a filmmaker's third daughter died of dysentery or some shit Some of it's also like these old actors that we got later died of natural causes. Cameraman 92 cut off his toe. There was that doctor who did eventually murder his mom. Yeah, that one technician.
it was a bit of a murderer there was somebody in a lab coat in this movie who's definitely maybe still behind bars I'm not entirely sure but definitely did some murderlier it happened yeah don't say it like that we gotta we gotta chill out I'm not saying we're against murder on this podcast is that something we have to say and curses I guess that's true like as a podcast that talks a lot about people dying and saying
Yay! We do have to occasionally. Oh, we like it fictional. At least once a year. Not cool. No bug. Yeah, no, it's nuts that the part of the filming that didn't go haywire or cost a lot or get crazy was when they went to a completely other country. Well, except for the Pazuzu statue got shipped to Hong Kong instead of... and that also caused a delay. Was it Iran or Iraq? Iraq, sorry. Yeah, Iraq.
Does that mean they all had to just hang out in the Middle East like at a bazaar or something? Probably. That's fun. Okay. Well, that sucks. Man, the world was so different back then. Not really. No? No. It was just ballsier, I think. I was thinking about shipping complications. Oh, no, we still have those. We have lots of those. Think of the pandemic and that one ship that got stuck sideways for like six months and everybody's like, but I need a mattress.
Fucking Blu-rays that I got from Criterion that still aren't here yet. It's been a week, John. It'll be okay. They were supposed to be here in three days. Okay, so The Exorcist. Great movie, guys. Goddamn, I love this movie. On 4K. incredible I always poo pooed 4k like we don't need that bullshit we still watch movies on VHS who gives a shit about 4k and then I happen to get a 4k player for free and it's changed my life as somebody who doesn't have 20 20 vision anymore it puts a
lot of pressure on me you were so upset about this i don't take good care of my glasses and they have scratches on them you kept remarking like oh my god this is the most crystal clear movie i've ever seen but also my glasses are scratched like you had to keep looking
at the movie sideways. I had to like pull my glasses down and like watch the movie like an angry librarian. Oh, man. Yeah. So I need new glasses. We got to get you some new glasses. But Blu-rays. Uh-huh. Yeah. No, the sound is deaf. and the thing that always stands out the most to me when we're re-watching these movies that we've gotten upscaled and the haunting creepy sounds happening in the background are fucking awesome.
And we don't have a crazy setup at home. You know, like we've got a nice TV and we've got a soundbar. That's it. But it's still like, I feel like I'm hearing shit that I'd never heard before. And I think it's just because it's all, well, it's all just louder. I think it's all. that comes down to it's all just louder but even like the the subway train going through the tunnel or the of all of the x-rays sliding up and shit like it's it's it gets to you yeah that is true that the editing
is so good combined with the sound editing. Hell yeah.
that's where the you find the jump scares are in this movie like it's not a jump scary movie it's a very unsettling get under your skin movie but yeah those two specific moments you're talking about like the slide going up and like just taking over the entire screen the sound there it just gets in your ear and festers in such a yummy little way what do you so man up until reagan gets fully possessed and like her skin's cracking and her center color and she's changing color
And she's got that gross demon tongue. The scariest thing that happens, it's like a candle sort of getting a big flame, right? Like if we're talking quote unquote horror movie scares. It's just Ellen Burstein in the attic, maybe looking for a rat, right? Everything else is doom and gloom and dread. Yeah, I mean, if you're talking about physically, visually, objectively. Yes, but...
I would argue that this movie does such a great job getting you into the headspace of the character. Like you are so on side with Chris McNeil that when she's having that dinner party so early on in the movie and everybody's like just enjoying their, you know, like they're singing.
song we got rid of the drunk guy we're all just having a ball and her daughter just starts peeing on the floor and it's just a not normal thing to be doing socially that for me is when things really turn because you're just like Something's not right here. Yeah. And she apologizes, too, by saying that she's been sick. The time jumps in this movie are crazy. This movie does...
things in a 70s way that we don't really have anymore where stuff happens off camera. Like, Karis' mom dies off camera. Time passes off camera. Like... When we finally see Regan fully possessed, she's been fully possessed for the characters for at least a few weeks. Like we come in and it's just like, wow, this escalated. The funny thing about that too is that Chris McNeil...
Her character is in town in Washington because she's shooting a movie. She's an actress. Do you think she's also on some production that's going crazy long? Like she's been there for nine months or something. Like how long have they been in Washington? For us to have all these time jumps and for her daughter to just progressively keep getting worse. Maybe it was a series.
Oh, you think it was television? I know, I don't know. Okay. But I also do, so like there's things you pick up on having seen this movie so many times. They sold their house and they're kind of in between houses. That's right. So she's rented this house and I'm assuming it's kind of an extension. Yeah. Like the shoot probably finished at some point, but we're just staying here for the sake of being here. Or maybe it all happens over three months. Who knows? Yeah. Who fucking knows?
So one thing I did want to ask you, actually, is whether you think there's any significance to Chris McNeil being an actress. I don't know. It's something that has always sort of bugged me about. the movie and it's probably just coming from watching movies like modern movies now like everything is so intentional or at the very least everything has to be explained there has to be a reason for everything it's not just that it would be fun to see a character
who's also an actress have something awful happen to her yeah I think about that every single time we watch it because it just seems like such a specific yeah career choice for her to have and for us to follow her to set it's not just we talk about her Yeah, like we see her film a scene. It's a protest scene. I don't know. It's very interesting because maybe it's supposed to further kind of lean into this thing about fate and how like...
everything is lining up because there is kind of this faded thing about father Karis losing his faith, but being the person who's supposed to do the exorcist because that's how he sees her for the first time. And she sees him and she. There is a moment where they recognize each other. And he's just like, he looks back as he's walking away. Yeah, everybody has a sense of fate in the movie.
And maybe that's just another thing that it's just like the universe brought her to live here, to be in this town. Oh, okay. Like her set makes her walk past his parish. Maybe that's it, but I also think there's other elements too, like something about her being like an affluent woman who's on her own. She's famous, so it's very insulating. She has her guard up naturally, but she's also like a powerful woman.
And so she's OK to speak up, you know, to the medical professionals. And she's she's the right mom to be defending her daughter with the medical professionals, with the priests. So I think it's.
good for her personality i think she's the right woman for this situation and also butting up against that cop who's actually a fan of hers like there's some really unique situations she's put in because she is a woman who's recognizable yeah it's really I never thought about the fact that like yeah so they're all chess pieces on a board moving toward a conclusion or something right moving towards the devil coming out and like
I don't know what the devil's... Every single demon possession movie, I'm like, what does the devil ultimately want? And I think Karis Astley's like, what do you want? And she's like, I don't know. In time or some shit. In time. Yeah. I think she...
I think it's just the ultimate evil. It's just like killing a little girl, making everybody question their faith, and then letting... letting a little girl die is maybe like the ultimate cruelty because she doesn't deserve it yeah no she didn't she just wants to make her little clay animals and live her best life talk about fucking horses horses Anyway, yeah. So what's interesting, I never necessarily thought about that aspect of it because Karis also... No, it's not Karis. It's Damien...
Karis is the brown haired one. Marin is the Marin is the old one. Yeah, that's that is not actually. Oh, man. So the best aging makeup of all time. Yeah. And here's another. here's another point for 4K stuff like sometimes you watch movies that have been you're like we should not have enhanced this no yeah like you just see so many mistakes the makeup looks great the makeup still looks good holy hell this holds up like
It's a combination, too, though. You were saying this while we were watching. It's a combination of his physicality and his performance. Oh, my God. He does a really great job of looking like an old man with a heart condition. Yeah, just the way he carries himself. Hunching his shoulders. Yes, just standing up. digging a hole in the dirt and you're like, this man is in pain just walking around. The aging makeup is seamless. So good. It's incredible. But Karis is also not...
A Washington native. He's from New York, and he doesn't want to be where he is. Because he's been assigned here. Yeah. He's a priest that became a psychiatrist for the church. He hates his job. taking so much out of him. He can't be near his mother. It's not home for him. And he's taken the train back to go see his mom as often as he can. Not often enough, obviously. It hurts him. It pains him. But...
He's also stuck here the same way that Chris McNeil is kind of, quote unquote, stuck there. So they really are colliding at the perfect time. Yeah, I think pieces on a chessboard being brought towards each other is a really- interesting thought and it's it's always great to have fate in in things that are so profound like when you're going biblical and you're adding demons and stuff that uncanny feeling is
It just fits so perfectly. Yeah, where you're sort of just like foot soldiers in a bigger, larger war that's happening that you can't see, that you don't know anything about. Well, yeah, and especially like as a parent of somebody, of a child who's either...
being possessed by the devil or going through a mental illness, that sense of powerlessness is so magnified when it feels like the universe is colluding for this to happen. Oh, man. And if it were a medical, an actual genuine medical problem. that's still what it would feel like exactly the movie doesn't change really whether or not it's a medical issue or a metaphysical issue the movie does take a stance like I will say I think it's undeniable at some point
Reagan's talking in different voices. She's talking backwards. She's impersonating Karis's mom. She's writing inside out on her body. Oh, my God. She's stabbed. Well, I guess that could just be mental illness, the stabby stabby. But like the bed rocking. I love her. Levitating.
some paranormal shit happening. I love when she finally gets the doctors to the house to do a house call and they've exhausted everything and they finally see her whipping around in the bed. The bed's rattling and there's just like a quiet moment. And they're like, we still think it might be the frontal lobe.
Like they've got fucking nothing, right? It is great though that these people who have dedicated their lives to science can't see the other side, but they do recommend that she get an exorcism, but purely for like placebo. effect psychosomatic reasons i mean maybe that's what under the guise of what they're saying like they're like yeah maybe uh maybe she needs an exorcism because of science things still, but that girl needs the Lord. That girl's got the devil in her.
It is also interesting when we think about the pieces on the chessboard because they aren't in the town where Father Marin is. He's called in from up in Woodstock, I think is where they said he's staying. He's working on a new book. He's basically... Like you were mentioning while we were watching it. He's just hanging out waiting for somebody to call. Yeah. So because this movie has so much in it, it does feel like there are things cut out or just like missing. I think there is a lack of.
Us seeing the process of being like, okay, this girl needs an exorcism and Karis having to convince the diocese or whoever it is to let him have an exorcism and also be... be part of the exorcism we have a couple maybe it's just one scene where he's meeting and they're like they're like I don't know and then they call in Marin and it's like shows on the road yeah we've got
20 minutes left in the movie when he shows up and he's got such an entrance like all of us like that's when we hear tubular bells and the fog machines going and the lights coming down from behind the house and they're like this is the motherfucking poster bitch yeah Yeah, and he's basically just like pulling out his fucking guns. He's rolling up his sleeves like, let's do this, you know? And I think that's who we always assume is the exorcist. I don't think that's true.
I think Father Karras is the exorcist. Yeah, I think it's a complicated situation. I think it's about passing the torch. Like, I think it's about, it is... Marin at first, he is the exorcist and it has to come to Charis to believe. Yeah, it is. Man, it's such a great story for somebody to get their faith back and then but to then also essentially just die immediately. I mean, at least it happened before.
At least it happened before. It could be a lot worse. But even when he goes to see Reagan for not for the first time, but like when he's starting to like do some. exploratory exorcist sort of research. Some recon on the devil. Pretty much, yeah. This is where he shows up with regular tap water, pretends it's holy water, and she still reacts all crazy. What is your feedback or what is your thoughts on that scene when he taps? Chris like, oh, it's just tap water. Yeah.
I think that the demon is obviously on to him and knows everything. Like the demon knows a lot about him. It's fucking talking in his mom's voice. One of my favorite moments is when it talks in the voice of a homeless guy that he just sort of. of passes by in New York. That is...
Truly like a scene in this movie that always stops me dead cold in my tracks. Cause he's in New York. He's like, come on father. Can you spare some change for an old altar boy? And it's that exact voice that the demon uses when he sees her for the first time, which either. that it knows something that he feels guilty about, or he's dead and in hell.
And that's how they can use his voice. Oh, my God. I never even thought of that. And maybe if he had just spared him some change or just a little like been more of a good Samaritan to him, he wouldn't be dead. Kind of like how his mom wouldn't be dead. Not that that's his.
fault but that's how he feels anyway I think the demon is so smart and in that moment it's pretending that it's holy water because it knows that when he brings this evidence back to the church they won't bring in the big bad gun Really coincidental. I learned something really interesting about Holy Water that...
If you have, say, like a half a vial of holy water, you can fill it up to 50% with tap water and the whole bottle is still considered holy water. Oh, there's a dilution point? There is a dilution point. It's like homeopathic. Okay. But I think there's something to the fact that if you believe it is holy water, then it is. Because a lot of this movie is Chris being told, your daughter believes she's possessed, so she is. Yeah.
I think there's something interesting there. I don't know quite what it is. I haven't fully figured it out. Maybe 30 or 40 more times we'll get there. Exactly. About it becoming holy water in the process of believing that it is. Yeah. Man. Like if the devil believes it's holy water, shouldn't that be pretty powerful? But isn't the devil smart enough to know that it's not?
That's the other thing. If water is being yielded by a priest, does that not make it holy? This is if a tree falls in the woods. But if a priest does not have faith, does the holy water... There's the question, right? There is... Also a great moment in that sequence where it, where it, the demon, the devil says that it's, it welcomes an exorcism. It wants the exorcism because it'll bring us closer together. You know, not me and Reagan, but me and you like it.
It knows the score. It knows what's going to happen. I don't know if it knows. I think it does. I think it knows. And I think it hopes. I think there's because there's a brief moment when he takes the demon into himself or the devil into himself. Yeah. And he looks like mid-American werewolf in London transformation. Yes. The eyes look amazing. And he goes.
to strangle reagan which would be all so fucking brutal for this girl to act to finally get an exorcism and then also to just be like to have a life strangled out of her by this priest and he he's able to pull it back that's why his
change back to like the regular human eyes and then that's the moment where he just throws himself out the window to the danger stairs yeah but it's okay it's not it's it's it's kind of it's kind of a suicide but we do get our last rites and our confession before we go so everything's OBKB as far as the Catholic Church is concerned. Because suicide's a big no-no. So you think, what do you think the demon knows? All of this? I think so.
I don't know. Why possess if you're just going to get smooshed out at the bottom of a stairwell? Well, I don't think it knows the stairwell part. So that's the Kansas City shuffle. Breaking fate, yeah. Yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Because I think it knows that at that point now it gets to also... kill reagan and be in this priest well yeah i think for a demon like it's grand to possess a little girl but how great would it be to be inside a priest yeah
especially one that's uh that's that's so racked with guilt and this is that's also the reason why i mean that's a juicy dinner for a demon absolutely right you want that you want that like that is food for you is is the guilt and the shame and that's what it wants yeah Yeah, like who has more guilt or shame? They even talk about that in the movie too, about how that's when it can or when it does get inside you. And there's a very quiet, very subtle little moment. This is something I don't...
think i've ever noticed before but you brought up on this watch and i think it is a hundred percent right yeah so the way it's all edited together and i'll just try and like go over this real quick because it's like such a small moment it's when just great character stuff i thought but is great
For the story. Yeah, Chris and Regan are talking about what they're going to do for her birthday and how much fun they're going to have. We're going to go see the sights. Exactly, yeah. And we're going to go shopping and stuff. And then the next scene is Chris on the phone with Regan's father. She's not even on the phone with...
him she's like yelling at a hotel clerk in rome trying to get him on the phone to talk to her on her birthday and she's freaking the fuck out rightfully so um but it's taking over the whole day it's ruining everything and reagan either
sad that her father doesn't want to talk to her like probably sad that her dad doesn't want to talk to her and sort of sad that the day's ruined completely just like quietly goes off into a room and starts taking her shoes off because she's either she's not going out anymore or she doesn't want to go out
anymore and she probably feels like that's her fault because there's there is like this quiet sad moment where she does sort of express that she thinks the divorce is kind of her fault yeah well and at that age you're so impressionable like if your dad
doesn't want to be part of your life, your first thought is going to be like, what about me? Is it that he doesn't want to be my dad anymore? And it's that low point that the fucking devil gets in. There's a couple of questions here that I do want to ask before. we go.
One is a question you actually asked me during the movie that I don't have a genuine answer for. Do you think Reagan is the person that desecrates the church at the beginning? I have no idea. Yeah. This is why I think I ask you this every single time we watch.
because it's a very interesting desecration. Yeah, it's like melted pylons on a statue, right? Yeah, it looks like melted pylons. Is it just supposed to be... I love that you're tapping the desk. I'm sorry. This is real important. I'm really intense about this because it's something I have always wondered.
I'm sure it's answered in the fucking book, and I've read the book, and I should fucking remember. We have the book. It's somewhere in the other room. Is it just... supposed to signify a point of turmoil and kind of you know life out there is life in here like there's a crisis of faith happening outside people aren't respecting the church kind of like it's the right climate for this type of thing to be happening oh yeah um because also
to the film scenes it's a protest like there's yeah there's unrest I've thought about that in the movie there's unrest in Iraq there's also just unrest in America at the time like I think it's one it's kind of like Suspiria like the 2018 Suspiria but how we talked about like the time
tide turning and the power shifting. Yeah, I tried to repeat the line, like the something out there and the something in here, but I can't remember what it is. It's a great line. Yeah, I think that has something to do with it, yeah. But do we think Reagan just like quietly crept off into the church? I don't know.
I feel like that's unlikely. I think so too. But it does have that feeling of foreboding like the devil got in. I think it's the devil pulling a prank. 100%. The same way that I think it's like an angel that takes the crucifix and brings it up to Reagan's room. because we clearly see that crucifix in the foyer and nobody else brought it up but it makes its way up there and ultimately becomes oh I think Pazuzu got it yeah well I think Pazuzu got it once it got in the room I think I think maybe
force an angel or a force of good. You mean the first time when she's like who put this in here? There's a moment where she goes to answer the door and she just sets the crucifix down and then later like Regan's like fucking herself with it. Yeah.
I think that's fully just like, look what the devil can do. Like, he can just apparate it up. I don't think there's an angel being like, any one blessing for you. But Kim, have you forgotten the introduction from director William Friedkin at the beginning of the movie?
he talked about like you bring what you believe to the movie and you know if you think the world's a dark place you'll find evidence that for that here but if you believe that there are forces of good out there then you'll see what we were trying to make when we made this movie. I don't believe him for a second. I don't think that he was trying to make a movie about how there are angels in America that are here looking out for us. No, I think it is a positive ending even though everyone...
You love dies in it. Yeah. Okay, so rapid fire. I got a couple quick questions that I want to ask, but I know we're running long here. Are we? A little. Because I feel like we haven't talked about anything yet. This is the problem when you talk about a movie you've seen 100,000 times. You get stuck in like little time. any details. But I think this will solve some of the things we haven't mentioned yet. Number one, what do you think is the scariest scene in the movie?
The scariest scene in the movie for me is when Father Karis comes back in the bedroom and Father Marin has died. And Reagan is untied. Full possession at this point. So I'll just say the devil is untied. is in the back corner of the bed, just like giggling gleefully. First, no, first there's- First is she's dead silent. There's this weird look of like a cat who's caught a mouse and didn't expect the mouse to die. She's just staring at him. Like a cat who was just like playing with a mouse.
mouse and then it's like oh the game is over yeah like a little bit of disappointment but also a little like It's like a little bit of a shame. It's a little bit of disappointment. I don't know. It's raw and really carnal. And then she giggles. It's too much for a 12-year-old girl to be able to emote on her face.
It's she does an incredible job. It's crazy. Yeah. And like the visual performance is all Linda Blair. And like we know that there is a voice actor who's overdubbing a lot of her dialogue where we get a lot of the voice of Pazooza.
you in the demons and she did an incredible job i listened to an interview with her once and she just she went places to get that performance like she's like locked in a room smoking like a pack of cigarettes and like gargling whiskey and just like doing all kinds of crazy shit to get into like the demon voice is really good and it does sound like it's coming from Reagan yeah it is it was a really great
performance and like pairing of the two. Absolutely. Yeah. Like the, but, but everything you see on screen is a hundred percent Linda Blair and she's doing amazing work. There is though, there is another actress who did the stunts and stuff and it's been argued that she.
did way more than she was credited for we see her face so much in this movie though you know what i mean yeah and well there's stuff that you couldn't just in terms of stunts that you couldn't have a 12 year old girl doing like that stuff where they where they have her flipping on the bed Where she's like going like.
I'm pretty certain that's where she fucked her back up. Oh, is it? Yeah, I think that's actually her. I think she actually got her. Oh, I thought she fucked her back up when the bed was shaking, not when she was doing the... Oh, I mean, maybe... I'm not entirely sure. You're right. That could have been...
a different actress because we don't see her face. My guess is if I had to put money on it, I'd say it's a stunt actress because Linda Blair was in the hospital at the time. The same way that Ellen Burstein wound up in the hospital because they yanked her way too. Yeah, didn't she break her coccyx or whatever, like that butt bone thing? Injured for life. Oh, man. Great shot, though, and they used it in the film. Great shot.
I'd say my favorite scene, I've talked about it already, is the nightmare sequence. I think it's utterly terrifying. You love a nightmare sequence. I'm a connoisseur of nightmare sequences. It's the sound design, too, in all of it that sounds amazing. I talked about it a bit at the beginning. It's a strange movie to be so scary without having an iconic scary score. And it all comes down to the sound design, the sound mixing.
Truly incredible. So two things I want to say to that. I really love the dream sequence because... I think it further moves along that faded thing that we're talking about because there's the necklace and all of that comes into play in the end. I could talk about the necklace for 40 minutes. But what you're saying about sound design is really great. And I think there's a really great... example of it is during all of those medical scenes how they let them be so silent and it it feels like
It really transports you into those scenes. You feel like you yourself are having a medical procedure done just because you're seeing them insert the needle. You're seeing the initial blood spurt. You're hearing the dun-dun, dun-dun, dun-dun. Oh man, it's punishing. Of the old brain tech. It is very raw in that sense. And it's so stark and quiet.
Maybe those are some of my favorite scenes of the movie. Those are apparently the scenes where people would, you know, the people that fainted or like walked out of the theater because it was too much. Apparently it was those sequences. I can see that. You don't go in a supernatural horror film expecting to come out with.
medical trauma no that medical stuff is integral to the movie though because they do an incredible job of just like knocking down all the things you think it could possibly be like it's going through like the Sherlock Holmes checklist I love that stuff Just because it's scary enough in its own right. Like there's a whole horror movie there of her just not finding answers as to what's wrong with her daughter. Yeah. That makes it so that if it was ambiguous, you don't feel any.
less scared for Reagan and you don't feel any less bad for Chris because the journey they're going through and the fact that they have to go through the test again and they have to do a different test because we didn't see the things on the brain that we were expecting but we still think it's this thing and we have to rule it out like anybody who's ever had to have a procedure before or who's had like a medical mystery can feel these scenes in their gut and yeah it's a very real horror it also
Takes away all the skepticism where you're like, oh, it's probably this. It could be this. I mean, it's probably that. That all gets knocked away and it's completely it solves no problem. So inevitably, we end up pigeonholing ourselves into the only possible explanation.
demon possession yeah well I think too because the McNeil family isn't a religious family so you would have to take them to the precipice like you would have to show them that this is fully supernatural like by a girl you know like floating on a bed right for her to get to the point where she's considering exorcism yeah like she's just like i just want to help my daughter like go ahead
do whatever the fuck yeah it doesn't matter like I'm probably I might not even believe in God after you're done but let's get her well what do you think makes this movie so much scarier and so much more effective than literally every other possession movie, exorcism movie ever. Is it just that it was the first one? Because I don't believe that's true. I think it's just so well fucking made. So I think it's a combination of those.
things I think it had a level of novelty to it but it is also just really well written and I think the fact that it's the screenplay was written by
William Blatty or Peter F. Blatty? William Peter Blatty. I did pretty good. You nailed it. I was pretty wrong, but I was pretty right. The fact that the... original themes kind of were retained and intact and there was like a full source material like he had meditated with those characters for years because he wrote the original novel it took a while to get the film off the ground so he really wanted to be a part of the film
He either wanted to be a producer so he could have some say on it or he wanted to write the screenplay. Sometimes it's not great when the fiction writer does the screenplay because it's hard to translate fiction to screen and it's a different writing style. There's a lot like less is more.
more in cinema and more is less in fiction. Well, you have more time to stretch out character development too. But the characters are so interesting and fleshed out and they weave together in a really interesting way. The movie is so watchable.
regardless of the horror elements, regardless of the possession. Like, I think I would love to just see, you know, Chris on a movie set just because she's such an interesting woman. Yeah. I think some of it comes down to belief. Like, you believe in the character. you buy into the characters you're invested in them but also the characters themselves believe which is great because we literally have a guy who's like I think I've lost my faith but
The sequence where they, like we all joke about it now because it's just, it's practically a trope now. Like the power of Christ compels you. Like it should be boring seeing them shout that. 36 times in a row. It is truly one of the best scenes of the movie. And it's. Well, she does levitate. Sure. She's levitating. She looks spooky. But it's in how they say it. You know, it's like in the repetition of it. Compose you. Yeah. Every single time they say it. Lots of spit.
There's a lot of spitting. There's a lot of cold breath in these scenes, which I got to say.
was probably a nightmare when you think about how much crew was in the room and you can't get anybody else's breath on camera i bet that happened a bunch and i bet it ruined a lot of takes but uh but every single time they say it it means something different every single time and I just think it's the power of their performance in that scene that makes it so good because this exact scene is in every fucking movie and I hate it almost every time
And it's probably also true that this movie is just smart enough to know that like immediately after this, we have a huge loss, you know, like this is such a, this is a good win for us. But afterward, we're exhausted. We're beaten. We're bruised. We might not make it out of here. And we still had to go back in and fight this fucking thing.
more time so i think ultimately yeah it's it comes down to the performances like we believe them because they believe what's happening to them in the moment yeah and i think the exorcist 2 knows that the exorcism itself is maybe the least interesting portion of the exorcism so that's why most of it is the journey there it's convincing all of these characters that were possessed it is this girl going through this possession it's the priest trying to get on board with it
and wrestling with his faith, because those are the human moments that make The Exorcist what it is. Whereas I think a lot of modern day films are just following the exorcism formula, you know, possession. climbing up the walls, bending backwards, a little bit of contortion, and then a lot of yelling at a teenage actress.
Yeah, no, absolutely. Do you think the same way? Oh, absolutely. Yeah, it also helps a little bit that there's some novelty to it. There's a whole chunk of this movie where they're explaining what demon possession is. Yeah, and like...
some things we used to do but don't do anymore is an exorcism like that was something that was kind of remarkable to me because we're just so used to like oh you're possessed by the devil like go get an exorcism yeah they always say how hard it is but they seem to be happening all the time like Exorcisms are fucking rare, especially in North America.
You have to be very, especially a modern day one when we have, you know, like the advent of mental health. That's kind of why the church has psychologists employed. Yeah. Because. A lot of times it's not the devil. And that's why there's one here. Man, that's what makes him such a great character. Because he's just like, hey, I got to tell you, she probably just needs to go to the hospital. Like the whole time. Even after he sees her, he's like, I don't think it's the devil.
And last question. Theatrical cut or? unrated director's cut. What do you think is scarier and or better? This is difficult because I love me a hidden Pazuzu. I love the backwards down the stairs. You can't. Unfortunately, you can't really beat the backwards down the stairs.
It's just good stuff. But I do like that the original cut... boogies it's really well paced I think the original reason why the stairs thing was cut out was freaking thought it came too early in the movie like it was just too much too soon it was too heavy too hard so
You kind of want to stay with the director's original vision. It's funny that it's called the director's cut that has it in because for the longest time, I think he was like, no, we never filmed that. We never filmed that. We were going to do a stairs crawl thing, but we never did it. And then they found it and they were like. We're putting it in. I guess we have it.
Yeah, I had heard him mention in an interview somewhere that it was partly like a favor to William Peter Blatty to put some of that stuff back in. The extra Pazuzu's, I don't know how I feel about them. Like I've grown up with them. It's always been there for me. Okay.
I think it's... And especially, too, we were watching the theatrical cut and I knew there were less Pazuzu's, but it didn't stop me from being like, it's right there, though, in the other one. Yeah, but in the other one, it's right here in the stove. It's on that hood face. It's in the attic. But I don't think I ever...
I don't think there was ever a time where I watched it and didn't see them. I think if it was a fight club situation where you had seen this movie a bunch of times and somebody finally pointed it out to you and you're like, whoa, whoa, that's crazy. That was there the whole time. The internet ruined the...
Easter egg. Yeah. Well, that and like the featurettes that played before the VHS that you rented from the store shows you where all the Pazuzu's are. You're like, oh, wow, this is crazy. Yeah. So I don't know. I also have never loved the very, very...
end of the movie where we see the uh the other priest meet up with the detective and they have like a cool little chat after reagan and her mom have fucked off out of the movie you're like the lead characters are gone but for 10 more minutes we're gonna talk about movies and how it's good that she doesn't remember and yeah you know like it's just it's
Too long at the end of the movie, so I like how quickly it ends here. I do like that third priest, though. He isn't in the movie enough. He just looks like a nice guy. He does look like a nice guy. Yeah. I like the detective. I love when he gets her autograph, and he's like, yeah. can you sign this for my daughter? When he asks for more coffee and the fucking look she gives him. He can't take a fucking hint. It's such a good movie. It's incredible.
love watching this movie and it it's it's weird because everybody talks about how monumental it is and how it's like one of the most quintessential horror films and you're like yeah it totally is yeah i guess yeah sure and then you're watching it and you're just like Damn, this is good. Yeah, undeniable. Damn, this is a solid movie. No, it's an unquestionable four out of four from me. Yeah, both of us. Yeah, goddamn.
Always delivers. But that's just our opinion from two people who have watched this movie 100,000 times. You have probably also seen this movie a whole bunch. We'd love to hear what you thought of it, especially if you rewatched it over the Halloween break. I said that like it was summer vacation.
It is summer vacation. It kind of is. Yeah, absolutely. If you rewatch this movie around Halloween, I'd love to hear your thoughts on your reevaluation. And also, obviously, theatrical or director's cut. Like, what do you think is the better version of this movie? Right now, we're saying theatrical. Next year, we might say we're back on director's cut. Who knows? What we need is a fan edit that includes the spider walk.
Later in the movie, maybe one Pazuzu. Like, I just want to cherry pick a couple details from that the director's got. Or some new Pazuzu's. Yeah. So you're not expecting them. Yeah. I like that idea. New Zuzu. Yeah, one of the Pazuzu faces is in the crowd at the beginning when she's filming on set. Protesting Pazuzu. Or one's hidden on that nun that's walking down the street when she's going home on Halloween night and those kids are running by in their Halloween costumes.
costumes uh yeah so this is obviously a favorite of ours and it's absolutely why we included it in the cocktails from the crypt book that's coming out soon in our satanist chapter in our satanist chapter that's right We got a whole bunch of satanic drinks. The chapter is called six, six sips. And we close out that chapter with the Pazuzu punch.
It's delicious. It's green. The photo recreates the scene where Regan's getting her exorcism on the bed. Like Kim mentioned earlier. You mean her exorcism or her ectoplasm? Both, basically, yeah. It's a really nice punch. It's not just your standard seven-up punch, which are also delicious. I'm a big fan. And there's one in the book. I can't shit on him too much. No, yeah, no, this one's great. It's like gin and elderflower liqueur.
as well as green chartreuse to give it that color. But oh man, does it give it like this great herbal scent? We also garnish the sucker with some cayenne pepper, which... It gives it a kick and it also just gives it a look for a scene that I, it's reminiscent of a scene that I find hard to watch in this movie.
You can find all the details of that cocktail and more info on where to preorder your copy of the book at nofspodcast.com slash go. There's a link in this podcast wherever you're listening to it. Cocktails from the Crypt is out November 26th. Join us for our virtual launch party on November 27th. All the details will be posted on our social media. If you are in Winnipeg, Manitoba, join us on November 30th for our Canada launch party.
We're going to be watching movies, slinging custom cocktails, doing book signings, and chatting about some cruel horror movies. I'm really excited for, I'm excited for both of those, but like, I'm really excited for the Raven's end event because I'm Canadian, I guess. But also because like, we've got a couple of different cocktails and we're letting people vote on what movie we'll be talking about. What movie we'll be watching based on what. They're ordering.
Raven's End is also the local horror bookstore that we've partnered with for signed copies of the book. If you pre-ordered a copy on Barnes & Noble or Amazon or wherever, we will send you a signed plate to... include in the book but if you want the actual book signed and doodled on by us uh you can find links for that at nofspodcast.com slash go by pre-ordering through raven's end you support our local horror hangout
and you get a signed copy of the book. No extra charge. That's it from us this week. We'll be back at you next week with another crypt pick and a film that is featured in the book. But until then, I'm Kimmy. I'm John. Stay creepy. It appears you made it out alive. But we'll get you next time. Help us to grow the horde. Leave a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you subscribe. More terror can be found lurking on our website, nofspodcast.com. Until next time, stay creepy, fiends.
Do you like horror movies? Do you like cocktails? Do you like cocktails while you watch horror movies? Oh boy, we have a surprise for you. Cocktails from the Crypt is finally here. You can get a copy of our new recipe book, 60 Terrifying Concoctions, inspired by your favorite horror movies, right now, wherever books are sold.
how to make the drag Mai Tai to hell. The Negroni Namacon. Surprise your friends with a Jason X inspired slushie. Get sloshed drinking a Texas Chainsaw Margarita or six and why not blow your brains at the back of your head with the kill bot kamikaze thank you have a nice day you can learn how to drink you can You can learn how to make these drinks and more in Cocktails from the Crypt, available wherever books are sold, like Amazon or Barnes & Noble.
Okay, this infomercial bit has been really fun, but seriously, one, thank you so much to everybody who has pre-ordered a copy of Cocktails from the Crypt. And if you are looking for a gift for the horror person in your life and you have no idea... Cocktails from the Crypt is here to help them punch up every Friday movie night and turn it into a graveyard smash.
Plus, the cover's in Boston. It looks great on your coffee table. Oh, Kim's still stuck in infomercial land, guys. I'm sorry. I think she's gone forever. It's purple. You can get Cocktails from the Crypt right now, wherever books are sold. Or you can head over. to nofspodcast.com slash go. There's links for everything.