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lizardman
Jun 30, 2007

by R. Guyovich

JeffLeonard posted:

What? Definitely cheaper.

Why are adjusted box office totals for older films higher? Ticket prices & inflation. In the mid 80s first run tickets were 4.50-5.00 in average US cities. The 70s were even cheaper!

On topic: this movie is still scary today. And (older) Linda Blair had awesome boobs. That Oui photoshoot is hot hot hot.

I think they're comparing the cost of movie tickets to the general economy. Like in absolute terms it was cheaper, but because movie prices haven't inflated as fast as the dollar it actually took more purchasing power to buy a movie ticket back then.

The 70s were a weird time for the economy, though. Stagflation and all that.

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JeffLeonard
Apr 18, 2003

TV Violence

computer parts posted:

Take a guess at what "The equivalent of" means in this post:

Hey, whatever. Your post sounded like you thought ticket prices were actually higher in the 70's. Enough derailing...you can win.

I like the Exorcist...and Linda Blair.

Neo Rasa
Mar 8, 2007
Everyone should play DUKE games.

:dukedog:
Speaking of prices, remember when some places in NYC like J&R or whatever would sell VHS copies of movies like ASAP instead of waiting til rental popularity went down so you could buy a VHS of a relatively recent movie for like $60~$120? I remember it was a big deal when Terminator 2 came out it was one of (maybe the first) huge movie where it was on VHS for like $30 the same year it came out in theaters.

VincentPrice posted:

Oh, I didn't mean that to counter you, more as an elaboration of sorts.

Sorry it's all good. :hfive:

computer parts
Nov 18, 2010

PLEASE CLAP

Neo Rasa posted:

Speaking of prices, remember when some places in NYC like J&R or whatever would sell VHS copies of movies like ASAP instead of waiting til rental popularity went down so you could buy a VHS of a relatively recent movie for like $60~$120? I remember it was a big deal when Terminator 2 came out it was one of (maybe the first) huge movie where it was on VHS for like $30 the same year it came out in theaters.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TWmVlgIR2HA

HUNDU THE BEAST GOD
Sep 14, 2007

everything is yours
RIP J&R by the way.

Neo Rasa
Mar 8, 2007
Everyone should play DUKE games.

:dukedog:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqDdrT2-bH4

InfiniteZero
Sep 11, 2004

PINK GUITAR FIRE ROBOT

College Slice

Everblight posted:

has very little to offer someone unless you're a Catholic or some other dumb poo poo.

I don't buy this. As a stone cold atheist I find the movie scary as hell. I don't understand why people think you need to come from the same frame of reference in general to find certain movies frightening: I don't believe that there's a planet of xenomorph aliens out there waiting to tear my face off but I find the Alien franchise scary. I'm not a teenage babysitter in the part of Illinois that has palm trees but I'm still unnerved by Michael Myers. I'm sure if you're a catholic you might find the movie even more frightening, but I don't think the frame of reference is a requirement.

Uncle Boogeyman
Jul 22, 2007

i do always find it kinda funny when someone refuses to buy into religious horror but will still buy into movies about, i dunno, space monsters or zombies or vampires and poo poo. like, people who got real mad about the ending to [REC].

Blood Boils
Dec 27, 2006

Its not an S, on my planet it means QUIPS
Yeah that doesn't make much sense, actual demonic possession is a fairly fringe belief in Catholicism, at least in the west. As a cradle Catholic, I've never heard any teacher or priest talk about demons or the Devil like they were real/external forces, which is kinda disappointing cuz the mythology surrounding them is fun.

I really enjoyed the humanity of the priest characters, but I don't think that's a consequence of being Catholic so much as having sympathy for human beings (as fictional characters) in general.

Neo Rasa
Mar 8, 2007
Everyone should play DUKE games.

:dukedog:
Same here I'd have stayed Catholic if the religion was as metal as it is literally. THAT said, as a Catholic, to me the dramatic impact of the movie is intensified a bit. However there's a lot going on in The Exorcist. It's not the horror action or the or whatever that it enhances, but rather Karras' general cynicism regarding what place Catholicism even has in a post Vatican II world where the church is now less strict and more open and welcoming compared to the fifties. Karras himself is an intelligent person (he even pulls a pretty slick trick on Regan early on during his investigation honestly, I know it didn't "work" because of course Regan is actually possessed but you can see why him and a cynical detective would become best friends) and after losing faith in God in general became a psychiatrist, moving from what (for the past decade before the movie was made) had become a dangerous and crime ridden NYC to Washington. Yet after all of this here he is confronted by something that is only sensible in the most fringe religious terms, something he and several other Catholics at the time had just moved away from. It makes this aspect of the character stand out more I think.

InfiniteZero
Sep 11, 2004

PINK GUITAR FIRE ROBOT

College Slice

Uncle Boogeyman posted:

i do always find it kinda funny when someone refuses to buy into religious horror but will still buy into movies about, i dunno, space monsters or zombies or vampires and poo poo.

"The whole movie was ruined by the monster being a demon from Catholic mythology: I demand that my monsters be something that doesn't lean on hokey spirituality, like say a naked space vampire awakened from suspended animation who harvests lifeforce energy or something easier to believe in and rooted in hard science."

Uncle Boogeyman
Jul 22, 2007

InfiniteZero posted:

"The whole movie was ruined by the monster being a demon from Catholic mythology: I demand that my monsters be something that doesn't lean on hokey spirituality, like say a naked space vampire awakened from suspended animation who harvests lifeforce energy or something easier to believe in and rooted in hard science."



there's almost certainly a minor religion based on Lifeforce

Astrochicken
Aug 13, 2007

So you better go back to your bars, your temples
Your massage parlors!

I always appreciated the fact that Lalo Schifrin's score was not (ab)used. The movie didn't need it.

Ehud
Sep 19, 2003

football.

My wife has never seen this movie, so we watched it last night. I haven't seen it in probably 15 years myself...Couple of takeaways:

- There are definitely some effects that are comedic now. The head rotation scenes made us both chuckle.

- I found the voice dubbing pretty jarring. Sometimes the dubbing didn't match Linda Blair's mouth movements very well, but what stood out the most was the production difference between McCambridge's lines and the rest of the sound. It took us out of the movie a bit.

- The demon's dialogue is hilarious. It's so over the top vulgar and evil that we laughed a few times.

But overall it's still a really good movie. The feeling of dread throughout is strong, and you get a genuine sense of hopelessness from Ellen Burstyn's character as she tries anything to help her daughter. I love Father Karras. His whole arc just resonates with me and I can't quite put my finger on why. Maybe somebody else smarter than me can talk about it.

I still find the movie scary, but not because of the demon itself. It's just the idea of something other-worldly oppressing you or your family, and having no control over what is happening.

My wife didn't think it was scary at all haha.

Lurdiak
Feb 26, 2006

I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and people that do.


HUNDU THE BEAST GOD posted:

Blair Witch is still a great movie, as is The Exorcist.

Those movies don't belong in the same sentence.

HUNDU THE BEAST GOD
Sep 14, 2007

everything is yours

Lurdiak posted:

Those movies don't belong in the same sentence.

Who gives a poo poo. They're both great movies.

Neo Rasa
Mar 8, 2007
Everyone should play DUKE games.

:dukedog:
Yeah it's not like he was like "The Exorcist is so great it reminds me of Children of the Corn 3" or something.

Edit:

Holy mother of God I knew about the existence of 666 but...

Children of the Corn (1984)
Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice (1992)
Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (1995)
Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering (1996) (Video)
Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror (1998) (Video)
Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return (1999) (Video)
Children of the Corn: Revelation (2001) (Video)
Children of the Corn (2009) (TV Movie)
Children of the Corn: Genesis (2011)

I had no idea there were not one, not two, but three attempts to restart the Children of the Corn "franchise." Uh....

Neo Rasa fucked around with this message at 05:05 on May 14, 2015

metavisual
Sep 6, 2007

Neo Rasa posted:

"franchise."

As far as I'm concerned only the first one exists :colbert:
They should have left well enough alone...

InfiniteZero
Sep 11, 2004

PINK GUITAR FIRE ROBOT

College Slice
If people are interested in what Friedkin thinks about a lot of what has been discussed here, this interview with him by Mick Garris is really good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Hih8yi5bHg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiQqyTVYoGM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMZ8eIBg8uM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsK1EGsWuPI

He covers topics like people laughing during the film, the role of faith in the creation and appreciation of the film, the line between good and evil, how he intentionally left the film open ended, his use of subliminal imagery, and a bunch of anecdotes about the creation of the film itself (like Regan's makeup, how he came across the script, and other fun stuff).

If you're pressed for time, you could start at Part 2, because Part 1 is mostly about his earlier career (but then you'll miss his story about meeting Hitchcock). Part 2 is where the discussion of The Exorcist really begins.

If you find it all interesting or like myself find Friedkin to be a really interesting listen, go and get the audiobook version of The Friedkin Connection because then you'll have hours of him talking about The Exorcist and all of his other great films.

InfiniteZero fucked around with this message at 14:27 on May 14, 2015

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

The greatest sensual pleasure there is is to know the desires of another!

Fun Shoe

metavisual posted:

As far as I'm concerned only the first one exists :colbert:
They should have left well enough alone...

The first one isn't even all that great. Its decent I guess...

HUNDU THE BEAST GOD
Sep 14, 2007

everything is yours

InfiniteZero posted:

If people are interested in what Friedkin thinks about a lot of what has been discussed here, this interview with him by Mick Garris is really good:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Hih8yi5bHg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OiQqyTVYoGM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMZ8eIBg8uM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsK1EGsWuPI

He covers topics like people laughing during the film, the role of faith in the creation and appreciation of the film, the line between good and evil, how he intentionally left the film open ended, his use of subliminal imagery, and a bunch of anecdotes about the creation of the film itself (like Regan's makeup, how he came across the script, and other fun stuff).

If you're pressed for time, you could start at Part 2, because Part 1 is mostly about his earlier career (but then you'll miss his story about meeting Hitchcock). Part 2 is where the discussion of The Exorcist really begins.

If you find it all interesting or like myself find Friedkin to be a really interesting listen, go and get the audiobook version of The Friedkin Connection because then you'll have hours of him talking about The Exorcist and all of his other great films.

Friedkin is a great, brusque interview. Everyone listen to this.

Madurai
Jun 26, 2012

The Exorcist didn't make me afraid of the devil, though it did give me qualms about sheets of plate glass.

HUNDU THE BEAST GOD
Sep 14, 2007

everything is yours

Madurai posted:

The Exorcist didn't make me afraid of the devil, though it did give me qualms about sheets of plate glass.

Pretty sure you're thinking of The Omen and the way they milk that plate glass shot.

Madurai
Jun 26, 2012

HUNDU THE BEAST GOD posted:

Pretty sure you're thinking of The Omen and the way they milk that plate glass shot.

Oh, right. It's been a while.

HUNDU THE BEAST GOD
Sep 14, 2007

everything is yours
It's definitely memorable, that's for sure.

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

The greatest sensual pleasure there is is to know the desires of another!

Fun Shoe
There are a few scenes in The Omen that are just as memorable as any in The Exorcist(the plate glass, and the beginning when the nanny hangs herself being the most obvious).

But the Exorcist is consistently better in almost every way. More interesting memorable characters, better atmosphere, the cinematography is more interesting, it has Max Von Sydow, better soundtrack, and on and on.

Neo Rasa
Mar 8, 2007
Everyone should play DUKE games.

:dukedog:
The editing of the dog attack scene in The Omen is extremely effective. Compare to the CGI hyena attack in Exorcist: The Beginning. That was Blade II splotlight caliber. :barf:

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

The greatest sensual pleasure there is is to know the desires of another!

Fun Shoe

Neo Rasa posted:

The editing of the dog attack scene in The Omen is extremely effective. Compare to the CGI hyena attack in Exorcist: The Beginning. That was Blade II splotlight caliber. :barf:

Dominion vs. The Beginning could would probably make a good thread of its own. Its such a unique circumstance, the fact that I can buy a blu ray set that features both versions, and watch them back to back and compare. When you watch Exorcist: The Beginning directly after Dominion, the specific changes that were made are just baffling. There isn't one single change that improved the movie, and most made it worse. Dominion was a decent, in my opinion worthy entry in the series, I don't understand why they thought they needed to start over.

Neo Rasa
Mar 8, 2007
Everyone should play DUKE games.

:dukedog:
The super actiony climax in The Beginning is the most baffling. Even when I first saw it before I knew in detail how they basically shot the whole movie again it was like, "What?" The entire way it attempted to be shot like an action fight scene with one liners and everything was insane, even compared to the bombastic nature of the rest of the Harlin version. Also the way The Beginning ends, like how on earth would that restore his faith in God and give us that amazingly bad green screened Vatican?

And like you say, Dominion is a bit slower, and it doesn't have tons of jump scares like they tried to fit into The Beginning, but it's a perfectly fine movie. It's just a shame that due to its later and cheaper release it didn't get the Vittorio Storaro touch. Beginning is crap but is at least lit like a million bucks.

Lurdiak
Feb 26, 2006

I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and people that do.


I don't think it's on the same level as the original but I really like The Exorcist III. I like that they only tie it in with the original near the end, I like how the movie has all these surreal creepy shots. Too bad it's lost amidst the sea of bad ripoffs and sequels to The Exorcist.

Lurdiak fucked around with this message at 23:19 on May 15, 2015

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

The greatest sensual pleasure there is is to know the desires of another!

Fun Shoe

Lurdiak posted:

I don't think it's on the same level as the original but I really the The Exorcist III. I like that they only tie it in with the original near the end, I like how the movie has all these surreal creepy shots. Too bad it's lost amidst the sea of bad ripoffs and sequels to The Exorcist.

When I line up movies to watch during Halloween time Exorcist III is just as important to me as the original. I must watch it every year. I find it to be not as scary as The Exorcist but just as entertaining.

lizardman
Jun 30, 2007

by R. Guyovich
I'll dissent re: Exorcist: The Beginning Vs. Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist. Neither are particularly good, and while The Beginning is pretty trashy, it at least tries to evoke a visceral response from the viewer, which for me is an Exorcist trademark. Also, I thought the twist where the possessed person is not who you think it is despite (or maybe because of?) it flying completely in the face of what we've heard about this incident in the series prior. Dominion is almost purely a cerebral experience, and IMO, wasn't a very compelling one.

Also, Dominion has the distinction of being the only movie I've seen where a scene of a classroom full of kids getting blown away by a madman with a rifle can come off utterly boring.

VincentPrice
Jun 26, 2009

Lurdiak posted:

I don't think it's on the same level as the original but I really like The Exorcist III. I like that they only tie it in with the original near the end, I like how the movie has all these surreal creepy shots. Too bad it's lost amidst the sea of bad ripoffs and sequels to The Exorcist.

It's a great movie, it's a shame they tacked on the actual exorcism after finishing the movie.

Quote-Unquote
Oct 22, 2002



Yeah the actual exorcism in III is pretty crap and adds nothing. It works better as Legion where it's set in the same universe but focusses on a different set of characters - a bit like how The Ninth Configuration features the astronaut from the party in The Exorcist (the one Reagan says "you're gonna die up there" to before peeing on the floor), having had a breakdown (possibly because of what Reagan said? I haven't read the book).

Alhazred
Feb 16, 2011




HUNDU THE BEAST GOD posted:

It's definitely memorable, that's for sure.

The rest of the movie is pretty bad though.

Quote-Unquote
Oct 22, 2002



I wish there was a cut of The Exorcist that had a few of the director's cut additions (like the first time Reagan is at the doctor's and is shown getting violent, and we see Captain Howdy 'waking up' in her, or the extra bit with Karras and Merrin talking in between the two 'rounds' of the exorcism which I think adds a fair bit to both characters) but not poo poo like Captain Howdy's face randomly appearing in fridges and extractor fans, and other pointless additions like a random shot of the house at the start.

Or, for that matter, the infamous spiderwalk scene which comes kind of out of nowhere and completely breaks the flow of the movie at that point. It's a cool looking scene - though the director's cut used the version where she vomits blood and the scene ends really abruptly; I much prefer the 'original' spiderwalk where she crawls at the mum and nanny while flicking her tongue. It looks a little goofy now but the music is loving brilliant, and the actual spiderwalk is slower and wayyyy more tense. Still makes no sense in the movie (it happens before any of the really major manifestations of the demon happen), because you'd think someone would, y'know, mention to a doctor that she was able to contort her body and run down the stairs upside down and then spew blood all over the place, especially considering how early on in the possession that it happens. Plus it completely takes away the impact of Burke's death.

Quote-Unquote fucked around with this message at 17:50 on May 17, 2015

HUNDU THE BEAST GOD
Sep 14, 2007

everything is yours

Alhazred posted:

The rest of the movie is pretty bad though.

Yeah, I don't much like The Omen, although Peck is very good in it (obviously) and I respect that they follow up on it as far as it'll go in the sequels.

Honest Thief
Jan 11, 2009
Probation
Can't post for 24 days!

Neo Rasa posted:

Yeah it's not like he was like "The Exorcist is so great it reminds me of Children of the Corn 3" or something.

Edit:

Holy mother of God I knew about the existence of 666 but...

Children of the Corn (1984)
Children of the Corn II: The Final Sacrifice (1992)
Children of the Corn III: Urban Harvest (1995)
Children of the Corn IV: The Gathering (1996) (Video)
Children of the Corn V: Fields of Terror (1998) (Video)
Children of the Corn 666: Isaac's Return (1999) (Video)
Children of the Corn: Revelation (2001) (Video)
Children of the Corn (2009) (TV Movie)
Children of the Corn: Genesis (2011)

I had no idea there were not one, not two, but three attempts to restart the Children of the Corn "franchise." Uh....

I never saw anything of this franchise, anything good abou tit?

Neo Rasa
Mar 8, 2007
Everyone should play DUKE games.

:dukedog:
The first one is almost watchable but that's it.

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david_a
Apr 24, 2010




Megamarm
The first one has pre-Terminator Linda Hamilton. "Almost watchable" is a pretty fair description, honestly. The Great Plains setting is probably the creepiest part because it somehow feels plausible that a little town out in the vast nothingness can turn into some cult hellhole.

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