The 1973 original horror flick shares deep secrets on how they got their "special effects."
There are few who have seen The Exorcist who could ever forget the scenes where little Linda Blair spins her head all the way around, her mouth spitting green bile and uttering horrifying obscenities. Her possession is real and captivating.
Considering the film was released in 1973 you have to give it to the special effects team, they did a pretty sufficient job considering how special effects were in its infancy stage at this time. Having this considered, one must question, how did the directors manage to make the film look so real? That is because my fellow horror movie lovers, it is real. Well, don’t get to excited... Linda Blair was not officially possessed by a demon. When I say real, I mean that the actors had no stunt doubles they actually did the stunts. For instance, the director of the film insisted that Linda Blair and Ellen Burstyn (Blair’s on-screen mother) be placed in harnesses while crewmembers yanked them violently about. As a result, Ellen Burstyn suffered a permanent spinal injury because of a harness jerking her too hard during the filming of the sequence where her possessed daughter throws her away from the bed. Want to hear something cooler? Want to know how the directors captured the eerie and haunting ambiance of the film? Well, the bedroom set, in order to imprison a genuine icy breath, had to be refrigerated and was chilled by four air conditioners, which every so often sank the temperatures to 30-40 below zero!
If you thought that the actors were simply acting being freezing cold in parkas, and seeing their own breath... think again! This film doesn’t need any more help climbing the controversial ladder, then it already has. Even when The Exorcist was released in 1973, there was still uneasiness due the sensitive subject matter it brought with it. This is because at that point in time, there were few movies that dealt with demonic possession, principally a coloured film with horrifying, high-tech special effects.
But, for now,
“Let the Power of Christ Compel You!.”
C.M.L
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