With that title, it probably isn't that hard to figure out which movie I am talking about but to those who may not be familiar with who he is, it's The Exorcist. His film from 1973 based on the book by William Peter Blatty (who also wrote the screenplay and produced the movie) about a girl who is possessed by a demon named Pazuzu (which now I associate with not only this movie but also Futurama) and how two priests try to get it out of her. I watched this movie as a young boy because my mom was one of those who knew that watching those kinds of movies at a young age wouldn't turn me into an evil kid nor make me scared of everything for the rest of my life. I have grown up to be a normal person, at least in my sense of the word normal which might be a little crazy by anyone else's eyes, and there aren't really any horror movies that can actually scare me anymore. Some might startle me and give me nightmares for a few days, but not really stick with me the way that this one did. I haven't seen it in nearly ten years and it still gets under my skin and looking at some of what went into production, it really shows how much went into getting that sort of tone for the movie out. Some things of what could have been make me really interested about those situations, such as Tangerine Dream scoring the film and how the girl who played Violet in the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was considered for the role of Regan MacNeil (which would have turned out worse but it would have been hilarious to have seen her try and say some of those lines or the whole mutilating herself with the cross thing). I also like how Friedkin picked out Jason Miller out to play Father Karras after watching him perform on stage (his own award-winning play as well) and that it was his first film role, which is really surprising since from the clips of the movie I have watched, he really held his own against Max Von Sydow and that really fucking terrifying voice of Mercedes McCambridge. That relationship with stage production and Friedkin also brings me to the only two other films of his that I remember seeing (only one of which I remember any of) part of his collaboration with Tracy Letts, Bug and Killer Joe.
This brings me to shame though, since I do regard Friedkin as one of my favorite directors ever and probably one of the biggest influences if I ever actually get my foot off the ground and make my own damn movies, that I really only have seen three of his movies at this point and only one of them recently (which is also the only one I own so far, Killer Joe). He has directed a great amount of movies that are considered classics that I know I would love immediately such as The French Connection, Sorcerer, Cruising, To Live and Die In LA, Rampage, Blue Chips (which might be the only movie that has Shaquille O'Neal in it and could actually be considered a good movie without any irony), Jade, his version of 12 Angry Men, and there's also the episode of the 1985 Twilight Zone, Nightcrawlers. I am also looking forward to his future collaboration with Blatty, adapting the latters book Dimiter, which also brings me to the what could have been that was Legion (which became Exorcist III) which is one of those movies that really could have been one of the best horror films of it's time and one that could rival the original if it weren't for the studio involvement fucking that movie over, especially with the tacked on ending but even then it still is an admirable effort and makes me wish that Blatty did more movies in the director's chair.
Which brings me back to Killer Joe, which I might cover in more detail another time, which at this point in time is his most recent directing credit. It was one of those movies I got curious about mainly because of the rising star that was Matthew McConaughey and his surge as a well-respected actor and picked up from a used media store on a whim although I did do some research beforehand and also really liked the cast, especially with the underrated talent Emile Hirsch who I've always liked but haven't really seen him in all that much, which could also apply to Juno Temple, who left an impression on me from her performance in Mr Nobody. There is also that Tracy Letts, who I didn't realize that they had worked together on Bug (which is a movie I saw but cannot remember any of it and which apparently had Michael Shannon in it, before I knew who he was). This movie does make me feel bad though since I didn't realize that it was kind of a black comedy until the chicken leg scene even though I did find the movie pretty funny at times but I mean watching Joe Cooper as a character was really tense at times and almost serves as a precursor to McConaughey's performance as Rust Cohle in True Detective
But back to Friedkin, it's hard to really say what I really like about his directing style since I have very few references to go on. I mean I've seen more Nicolas Winding Refn films than Friedkin films and I have almost the exact same kind of skill at deciphering what it is they do although they do seem kind of insane in their own ways when it comes to production. If anything, I wish I could have my family watch the kind of movies these guys make instead of them watching the worst crimes committed to cinema in the past couple of years because they think it's more kid friendly. If it comes to having my kids watching either Killer Joe or Grown Ups, it's pretty obvious which direction I'd be going to, even if the former is NC-17 (and deserving of that rating). I'm pretty sure that if I had kids and let them watch movies like that, people would think I'm a terrible parent and I could agree with them to an extent since I think that I would know if they could handle the content, like my mom did with me. I just would rather have them watch good movies regardless of the content. Maybe I should pick up that copy of The Exorcist that I've been eyeing behind that glass case (since it's the 40th anniversary edition) and give it a watch again. And then show it to my five year old sister. I'm just kidding on that end. I'll just have her watch Taxi Driver.
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