The Exorcist

Chilling, exploitative horror at its best, The Exorcist grips and disgusts in equal measure, and is an enthralling horror experience.

Young girl Regan McNeil (Blair) begins to exhibit signs of what appears to be demonic possession, around the same time as a series of violent and anti-Christian crimes begin to occur around the area. Regan’s frightened mother Chris (Burstyn) enlists the help of conflicted priest Damien Karras (Miller) and learned, mysterious Father Merrin (Von Sydow) to exorcise the demon from her.

Jason Miller and Max von Sydow play the two priests charged with exorcising the demon from young Regan, and Miller takes much of the share of screentime; his character Damien Karras faces the demons of his past in his mother’s illness as well as the literal demon in possession of Regan. Miller manages to present a conflicted yet strong-willed man whose faith eventually shines through, whilst Von Sydow sagely portrays the elderly priest as the saviour of the piece – a withered man who has fought evil before and must once more. There is nothing that can be said against Linda Blair’s portrayal of Regan – the actress is believable as the normal child and disturbingly, horrifically so as the possessed and changed one. How Friedkin got such a young actress to convincingly act out what she has to in the course of the film is beyond belief, and in some cases rather disturbing to consider. Ellen Burstyn plays Regan’s mother Chris McNeil, and as the audience centerpoint of the film, Burstyn does well to portray the utter horror and fear any parent would feel in such a situtation!

Of the supporting cast, the most significant appears to be the policeman Kinderman, played by Lee J. Cobb, whose utter confusion and disgust at the events leading up to and surrounding the exorcism suggest a man who cannot quite believe what is going on – the outsider’s view on the situation if that’s possible to comprehend. The fellow priest to Karras, Father Dyer, is played ably by William O’Malley, a real priest – adding another layer of complexity to the already confusingly-structured production.

William Friedkin achieves a vast amount for so little onscreen here – whilst the film went well over-budget, the movie maintains an air of independent, tight drama beneath the horror and demonic subtext. Friedkin, having already made The French Connection, clearly had a hold on the New Hollywood conventions of filmmaking, crafting a taut and tense masterpiece of disturbing horror using subliminal imaging, effects and a steadily-built, tangible tension that is almost unbearable at points. The dialogue on show is impressively written; again, Hollywood’s adaptation of a novel takes on the novel’s author as scriptwriter, as William S. Blatty crafts his novel into a workable, dramatic and chilling series of conversations. From the initial silences, conversations break up and differentiate the tension – the debates between possessed Regan and the priests are intricately constructed and religiously-based, and the permeating idea of age-old religious conflicts between good and evil bubbles up from under the surface.

Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells is used to such interesting effect in the movie, along with the brooding score, that you will never hear it in the same way afterward. The movie effectively ruins what positive and optimistic overtones that the piece may have had by irrevocably linking it in my mind with the visuals in the movie, and its mystical, ominous tones synchronise perfectly with the film’s content. I think it’s obvious to many that may have seen the film that the visual horror stands tall alongside the tension and psychological frights onscreen – the subliminal presentations of a demonic face throughout the film begin to pinpoint upon the viewer that something’s up, and the image itself is almost burned into your mind. By the time Regan is possessed by the demon, we’ve been treated to madly moving beds, disgusting bodily contortions and a scene with a crucifix that must go down in history as one of the more disturbing scenes in a mainstream movie. Regardless to say – visually speaking, this film will leave its horrors embedded in your mind for a while afterward.

This is a truly horrific horror movie - one that horrifies, as befits its generic title, and lingers in the conciousness longer than many others will. Genius.

10/10

The Graduate

The Graduate, unlike most of the films trumpeted through the ages, is one that lived up to the promise and surpassed it; this quirky and altogether morose comedy/drama is certainly a film that succeeds in aiming to eviscerate adult expectations of young people as well as give the young the idea of rebellion. A must-see relic of the dawn of New Hollywood.

Hoffman is a revelation; his quirky, completely uncomfortable Benjamin like Rain Man in his social awkwardness and reaction to others. This is the film that set Hoffman off toward stardom, and in his delightfully out-of-place performance the actor cemented his place in film history. Katharine Ross and Anne Bancroft play Elaine Robinson and her mother respectively, with Ross in particular standing out as the innocent Elaine, manipulated and forced around by Ben’s philandering and her mother’s seduction. Bancroft is what most people will remember about the film though, the actresses’ dark looks forcing through the screen and presenting a woman with no qualms about taking advantage of a younger man or her own daughter.

What few female co-stars there are pepper the film with a realistic bent, Benjamin’s mother (played by Elizabeth Wilson) is almost the antithesis of Mrs. Robinson; a woman who is happy with her life and anxious that her son continue along the path she has set for him. The only significant co-stars appear to be Ben’s father and Elaine’s father, played respectively by William Daniels and Murray Hamilton. Ben’s father has Ben’s life planned out for him, and Daniels conveys that sense of expectation and forceful parenting that many young people will find uncomfortable to watch. Hamilton conveys the image of a man damaged beyond repair by the affair between Ben and his wife, and the scenes in which he encounters Ben are at turns comedic and tragic.

Mike Nichols peppers his film with unforgettable quotes, trail-blazing visuals and direction, presenting in effect a movie entirely compromised of New Hollywood motifs and themes. Nichols expertly subverts Hollywood archetypes of film-making with The Graduate; such a sexually frank movie, with daring presentations of seduction and adultery, would doubtless have been nipped in the bud ten years beforehand. What Nichols helped achieve was the next step in Hollywood movie-making; that of an unafraid director who sees no problem with sensitive subject matter nor pioneering filming techniques. “Are you trying to seduce me, Mrs. Robinson?” – there is no person on Earth interested in films that does not know that quote, and besides this, the film features many comedic and sardonic lines of dialogue, peppering the film with a sense of humour that many people would not expect.

The soundtrack, to me at least, is a failing of the film, only a slight one mind. Simon and Garfunkel were, at the time of production, a popular band, and commissioning them to make the soundtrack is an idea that has carried forth onto modern times. It’s a great idea, but as with newer films like Juno, Nichols elected to repeat the songs over and over, and as a result the effect of the music is somewhat lost amongst the endless repetition of “Scarborough Fair”, “Mrs. Robinson” and “The Sound of Silence” in particular. California seldom seems to have been presented onscreen with such understated emphasis – from the Golden Gate Bridge to Berkeley University, Nichols evokes a sense of space and time, and the interesting fades and angles that the cameras take throughout the movie permeate through the narrative to suggest that at the time, Nichols was a true innovator of visual film.

Much has been said about The Graduate, not all of it true. It comes heartily recommended from me as a movie that speaks to the young, telling not only of the dangers of temptation but also of becoming the person others want you to be, and not the person you want to be.

8/10

Natural Born Killers

Bizarre, acerbic to the extreme and highly overhyped, Natural Born Killers is like a Bonnie and Clyde for the ’90s – quick, quirky and not all that satisfying nor interesting.

Mickey (Harrelson) and Mallory (Lewis) are a married couple on a killing spree across small-town USA. With the law (Sizemore) and the media (Downey Jr.) on their tale, the killers engender a public frenzy, presenting themselves as the kind of sociopathic individuals that the public loves to hate.

Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis play the two killers with a semblance of insanity, both appearing to be the kind of individual that could and would flip and kill. Harrelson is the heart of this film; just look at the poster for proof. The traditionally top-notch actor is great here (one of the few shining lights actually), and it’s disturbing to think Harrelson is so convincing as the suave and dangerous Mickey. Juliette Lewis has disappeared from Hollywood for a while, but this performance is proof that at the onset of the ‘90s she was one of the more promising actresses. She combines innocence and cold-blooded psychopathy in Mallory, Mickey’s partner in crime and wife, but in comparison with Harrelson her performance somewhat suffers, which is a shame. Robert Downey Jr., as sycophant TV personality Wayne Gale gives the film its greatest satirical moments, and you can see even here just how good an actor Downey was. Tom Sizemore does little more than mug around onscreen as Scagnetti, the cop after the couple, whilst Tommy Lee Jones plays insane (Two Face insane) as the prison warden of Mallory and Mickey towards the conclusion of the movie. Rodney Dangerfield is perhaps the most impressive performance here, as Mallory’s abusive, repugnant father, the comedian presenting the idea that he can act seriously and be perhaps one of the most disturbing aspects of the movie.

Oliver Stone tries to upset the establishment again, and did with this movie. It’s a shame that more people didn’t recognise it for the satire that it was, but despite this, the film is bizarre and suffers from too little focus. Many people will let the bombardment of images and dialogue wash over them, and this is a shame given that Tarantino wrote the script – this collaboration between two of Hollywood’s more maverick, edgy filmmakers should have been far better. Stone decided to shoot the film in a quasi-documentary style, and intersperses jump cuts and flashes of subliminal images. Whilst I get his point, it doesn’t mean that it makes the film easy to watch or understand; rather, the satire is lost amongst the hyperactive edits and stupid vignettes that intersperse the main action. If he’d shot the film straight, as I actually expected him to have, it may have been more enjoyable.

For a Tarantino-scripted film, there are no extended conversations on esoteric subjects, but it’s easy to spot the Quentin-infused dialogue here, and when it’s needed, it works. With a soundtrack masterminded by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor, it’s no surprise that the film’s soundtrack employs edgy, diverse music, and even features some of the performer’s early music. Ravaging murderers and the dark, gothic metal of NIN gel perfectly together, and this is one of the standout tenements of the movie. As with the direction, it can be said that Stone is aiming to satirise above all here, and in the unbelievable bevy of visuals on display, it can clearly be seen that the director is mocking the advertising agencies and MTV-style TV channels (rapid cuts and wipes aplenty). But, again as I said before, this is detrimental to the film at large, and as a result the more subtle imagery is lost.

The film is, to me, a failure. I expected too much of it, I know this now, but it’s apparent in watching it that the film doesn’t know which way to go, nor how far the satire should go.

4/10

The Maltese Falcon

A film noir twisting and turning and presenting Bogart at the top of his game, The Maltese Falcon is a deservedly classic Hollywood movie packed with subterfuge and manipulation from beginning to end.

P.I. Sam Spade (Bogart) becomes ensconced in a tangle of events involving a client (Astor), mysterious men (Greenstreet and Lorre) and an expensive, jewel-encrusted Falcon statuette. Spade endeavours to reach the bottom of the conspiracies that stand in his way, but the revelations he unearths go deeper than just the treasure – and it soon becomes a question of who to trust.

Bogart dominates proceedings here – Sam Spade is, in the vein of previous and future Bogart characters, a sour and emotionless man who will do anything for profit – but for whom doing the right thing will always be the prerogative. The famous actor is at turns sinister, hilarious and sensitive (though he doesn’t present the latter until the conclusion). If you’re to watch a Bogart movie to get a sense of his best performance, this film is probably one of the more recommended flicks to catch.
Mary Astor, formerly a silent movie actress, features here as Brigid, the woman who comes to Sam for help, and who entraps him in the Falcon conspiracies and manipulations. Astor is not the most attractive woman, but she makes up for that here by subtly changing her performance – Brigid is constantly lying to Sam, who sees right through her, and it’s a strength of her performance that Astor is so sneaky, so manipulative. Lee Patrick plays both secretary and confidante to Spade as Effie – a woman who clearly will do anything for the man, and the only person he can actually trust throughout the film. Gladys George, playing Iva Archer (Spade’s partner’s wife) adds one of the big mysteries to the film in that her character appears more significant at the onset than might be believed.

Peter Lorre plays Joel Cairo, a bizarrely eccentric man who seeks the Falcon, and the famous character actor once again presents his distinctive voice and face to the viewer as a man who is prepared to make any deal or tell any lie to get what he wants. Sydney Greenstreet, making his film debut at 62, plays the Fat Man, a rich opportunist by the name of Kasper Gutman, and the veteran stage actor creates an icy, somewhat disturbing persona on-screen as another individual seeking the Falcon. Barton McClane, as Lt. Dundy, projects some hard-handed police cynicism into the film also, reminding the viewer that Spade is not operating beyond the reaches of the law.

Director John Huston’s movie is an example of exemplar film-making; tight, focused scenes oozing with tension and terse, edgy dialogue. Huston was given this film as his first directorial outing, and you really wouldn’t think this on watching the movie. He edits the scenes together with skill, Bogart hardly ever seeming to be out of frame and the camera capturing what it needs and nothing more. The actors, all at the top of their game, are presented respectfully onscreen, and Huston’s career after this first film is a reflection of the vision he had whilst making this. As you might expect from a Dashiell Hammett novel, the script is taut, with Bogart and Lorre in particular getting many of the best lines. Bogart’s character Sam Spade receives many of the more dialogue-heavy scenes, but they seem to have been perfectly made for the actor’s infamous drawl.

The music, for what it is, suffices. Being an older film, the symphonic scores were not so popular nor necessary, and whilst this is a factor in the lesser significance of the music to this movie, it still doesn’t take away from the dramatic orchestration in the most tense scenes. Filmed in black-and-white (obviously the limitation at the time) the movie makes the most of the monochromatic presentation – bright lights of interiors making the different tones stand out, and the night scenes reflecting the great amount of darkness during the evenings, as well as accentuating the tension.

For an older film, this is a fantastic and taut thriller that still holds up sixty years later – a movie that for all its twists and turns is the Humphrey Bogart show, and the better for it.

9/10