It's actually fairly sad that Morgan Creek seems to have lost the alternative footage Blatty shot. I'm really into Exorcist 3, and getting to watch an "uncompromised" Director's cut would really be fun.

I don't think it was in the movie at all - it's kind of extra-textual to bring Pazuzu into things, I just thought it was an interesting note. It certainly was in the book, and that creepy statue in the movie at the beginning in the desert is in his image.

He's a remarkably balanced character in this movie. The jagged glass voice and sudden bursts of anger matched with the calm, cool blue eyes and sweet old man smile to his family and those close to him.

Technically it was the demon Pazuzu, who merely called himself the Devil to fuck with the priests (and give himself higher standing), but yeah, good point still. It's still a movie that (more or less) holds to Catholic dogma. Catholic priests are literally the heroes!

I think you're right in thinking "penned by the novelist" affects the movie. One of my favorite parts of Hell House by Richard Matheson is when the characters are all sitting around a table on the first night in a haunted house, and describing in graphic detail all the years and years and years of debauched, fucked up…

Not to slam Jason Miller, but his inclusion in this movie is a little strange. I kind of wish he was more "cameo" and gave more screentime to Brad Dourif, who just eviscerates every moment with pure, vitriolic EVIL. It's so great.

My favorite part about the exorcism scene in this movie is that it doesn't fucking work. There was no chance of the demon being truly exorcised, just merely abated for a few moments long enough for Kinderman to blow Karras-demon away. The goal isn't to save the girl, it's to put Karras at rest. That's a cool…

Thank you for being reasoned and measured. These topics tend to get out of hand, unfortunately.

Ive been meaning to watch that for years. Using your rec as the catalyst. Thanks!

If you're okay with scruffy near-classics, Strange Days takes the cake. There's a lot of prescient stuff paired with lots of cheeseball 90s "futurey" stuff. A pretty fun, really weird movie. The found footage bits are pretty gorgeous/terrifying, and they play a big role in the plot.

Have you ever seen Strange Days? You should totally watch the opening few minutes (then the rest of the movie, cuz it's a great "diamond in the rough") for a robbery through found footage. It's incredibly exhilarating and before its time.

There's a struggle that's gone on in horror movies for decades that's trying to capture what our protagonists role can be.

Ugh, thanks for the heads up: the girlfriend microtransactions are so, so not worth it. The debate minigame wherein she asks you if you think her sister is cute reminds me of Dark Souls. I'm pretty confident you can't beat it.

Oh no, I didn't mean to be dismissive! Apologies.

I'm behind both of them all the way, but I think the first is better overall. I was under the impression that my opinion matched the general consensus. Whatever!

There's a glitch where the ex-girlfriend NPC never calls me back, I hope they patch that.

Considering the framing devices on these anthology movies are usually pretty dire (especially the animated faux-crypt creeper in Creepshow 2), I wouldn't mind a "best of" cutting together a bunch of these type of movies. Make the real crypt-creeper present, make them just start with jarring cuts, I don't really care.…

I do not want to be dismissive, so can you explain your sexism complaint? There were always parts of the movie that didn't sit well with me, so I'd like to unpack it with you if you're willing.

Since horror and sci-fi don't often trouble themselves with trying to look "respectable," they're often the genres of great innovation in sound design, editing, and story structure, not to mention cinematography. The clean imaginative world of THX 1138 or the raw naturalism of Texas Chainsaw Massacre are both in…

It's only sad in that you can't enjoy those classics for the first time ever again. But to have experienced them is wonderful.