4) The Exorcist (1973)
When it comes to the beginning of The Exorcist, it is less a behind the scenes anecdote that is needed, and rather a clarification of something that has often confused people about this most important, and infinitely terrifying of horror film openings.
The anatomy of the sequence is as follows. It starts with the sun, which turns a deep red as the shot lingers upon it. There is a heat haze thicker than London fog. The shot then cuts to an archaeological dig. People are labouring under the scorching sky. Something is found. A boy is dispatched to find a professor. A few short scenes following depict an old man looking at an artefact – a stone, demonic head – and having a brief conversation with an Iraqi professor, in which he says there is something he must do.
Finally, he arrives at the archaeological site. Quietly, he walks up to the top of the site, where he stops – a short distance away from a full-sized demonic statue, with a face identical to that of the head. Dogs begin fighting in the background. The camera slowly zooms in on the old man’s face, and then cuts to do the same on the demon.
[zergpaid]For many people (not everyone) who haven’t read William Peter Blatty’s original novel, the fact that The Exorcist opens with this scene might seem rather random. The film never returns to this location, and it is true that the blistering sands of the Middle East are indeed a long way from the infamous scenes in which a twelve year old girl spouts pig-related expletives (that’s the PG13 explanation of what really happens in that sequence), and pea-soup ectoplasm.
But it is unfortunate that this is the case. Because despite the burning heat of the Iraq desert, there are few other scenes in this film that are truly as chilling. In the first chapter of the book, to which this opening scene is minutely faithful, we learn that this statue represents the demon Pazuzu, the demon who will shortly begin its possession of Regan McNeill. That much is probably evident from the film. What might not be so apparent, however, is the fact that Merrin has actually met Pazuzu before.
Several years before The Exorcist is set, Merrin drove a demon named Pazuzu out from a little boy, the intensity of the experience almost killing Merrin in the process. And this is where the real significance of these earliest scenes is truly realized. For the rest of his life, Merrin has been aware that he may well encounter Pazuzu again. In these shots of the head being uncovered, and Merrin’s exchange with the scholar who can perceive from the artefact that it represents ‘evil against evil’ (which, we can probably fairly safely assume, did not involve playing Pazuzu “It’s a Small World” on loop), the sense is built that something is coming, for the world, for Regan – and for Merrin.
In the most suggestive shot, Merrin is standing on the right of the screen, with the larger statue of Pazuzu on the left, a large gulf of space between them. The impression is not just one of good versus evil, but of a far more personal war, waged between two polar but extremely powerful opponents. As Merrin stands looking into Pazuzu’s face, realizing that he is somehow being warned of the demon’s imminent return, Merrin is also painfully aware that he may well not survive this battle.
Merrin, unhappily, was absolutely right. When we consider the details such as the connection between Satan’s originally sitting at God’s left hand and Pazuzu’s own placement on the left hand side of the screen, we see that Pazuzu’s campaign to impersonate the Devil is evident from the start, as is his sadly superior might. Pazuzu is presented here as a character in his own right – and the entire movie comes even more completely alive.
