In trying to remember, as a tribute to All Hallows Eve, the first horror flick I remember really scaring the bejesus out of me, it’s difficult. The old Park Theater used to be where Crye-Leike now sits, on John F. Kennedy Boulevard in Park Hill. It was there that I saw “Count Yorga, Vampire. I remember there was an attractive undead lady eating a cat. Images like that tend to stay with you awhile.
My scary movie partner is back in town. I refer to my daughter Alexis, who has returned from places not so close. She had a job for the summer at Glacier National Park, and was able to wrap things up like a mummy before some of our zombie-like leaders in D.C. shut Glacier and other federally funded national parks down, while they attempted to exorcise budget difficulties that were keeping them up at night.
Maybe I will suggest Alexis and I watch “The Conjuring” tonight, which we’ve both seen before but would probably be worth another peek, for those many eye-shutting scenes I missed the first time.
Melissa here at work says “The Descent 2,” is very scary. It is surprising she watched it, as freaked out as she says she was by the first one. Advice: Stay out of caves.
Or maybe I’ll go retro, with something like “The Birds,” or “The Exorcist.” Advice: pass on visiting all archaeology digs and never, ever buy lovebirds, or any birds for that matter, that you keep in a cage in your home.
I saw the great film, “The Exorcist,” back in 1974. It grossed $128 million in its initial release, a figure that, when adjusted for inflation, would make it the most successful R-rated film in American history.”
One segment of the movie that was originally edited out has become known as the “spider-walk” scene. You have probably seen it by now, if you watch the genre. It shows Regan MacNeil, well into her possession stage, bent over backward and coming rather quickly down the stairs on all fours. Warning: 14-year old girls can be devilish at times, but if you know one who can contort and walk upside down on all fours, there is probably more going on there than your normal adolescent terrorism.
In the book by William Peter Blatty, which I read in high school (Catholic High, thank the saints) Regan follows Sharon around the house in that upside down position, licking at Sharon’s ankles, which, should have let them know there was something more than issues with popularity troubling young Regan.
Another scene from the film that was more than disturbing was when a sleepwalking Regan came down to the cocktail party, looked at the astronaut and said something like, “You’re going to die up there.” Probably if I had been that guy, well, let’s just say I would have put in for a desk job.
Back in 1974, a buddy and I stood in line at the Center Theater, which wrapped around the block, to get our tickets.
People walked quietly out of the theater when it was over, likely in shock, having never seen anything quite like it. It was reported that the film affected many audiences so strongly that at some theaters, paramedics were called to treat people who fainted, or who went into hysterics.
Trivia: Years later I read that the young priest who gave Father Karras confession at the end of the film was (and still is) a Catholic priest (Reverend William O’Malley). In order to make him visibly shocked in the final scene, the director Blatty slapped him across the face unexpectedly and yelled “action!”