The Exorcist Uses Accurate Christian View’s
...ent enemy. At this time he is aware of the presence of a demon. He has had to face this demon in the past with prior exorcisms. The director shows a long shot of the priest walking up a hill of stone. As he is walking he sees a shadow of a monument of the demon. The Father looks to the left and sees two dogs attacking each other as the camera gives a roll effect. The dogs represent the chaos that has entered the world. The camera then cuts to zoom in on his face to show his great concern. Then it zooms in on the demon’s face and cuts to a long shot that pictures the demon and the priest looking at each other face to face. This represents the ancient confrontation of good vs. evil that has affected the world throughout time. At this point, there is no real sign of danger, but the way the director uses his slow pacing and panning lets us k now that there going to be a major struggle with evil. The camera fades from the previous scene to the present day in Georgetown, Washington D.C. The director relays to the audience signs that the demon has entered the house of the MacNeal’s and entered the little girl’s (Regan Teresa) body through the following scenes. The scenes start off when the mother (Chris MacNeil) of the demon-possessed girl enters her home. The director takes a medium shot of the lady while the lights flicker on and off. She walks closer into the shot as all the lights turn off. Now all there is to see is a light on her eyes. Then the lights flicker on and you see a face of the demon for an instance. She then walks out of the room all in one shot. Then she goes to the room of her daughter where another face flashes in an instant on the black dark door. This gives the effect that something supernatural is in the house. She then walks over to her daughter and leaves the room as a statue of the demon, Pizzou, appears on the left-hand side of the dark room. The director was using different forms of symbolism to represent the dark presence in the house. He let the audience know that even though the characters cannot see the demon, the audience can and we know that the evil presence is real. The symbolism shows that even in a peaceful house with a peaceful girl, evil can corrupt and destroy the peacefulness at anytime. That shows even as good Christians, evil can enter our lives in a form we may not be able to see. The director only uses two shots for all of the 5 minutes of film and shows many effects by flickering the lights to give the illusion that a demon literally infects the world around it. The girl is now completely taken over by the demon. The room where she is tied down to the bed is below zero temperature to show there is a supernatural presence there. Now two priests (Father Damien Karra and Father Lankester Merrin) are going to fight the demon, head to head with a real exorcism. This is now the final battle representing the ultimate struggle between evil on earth and God’s power. The director sets up the scene with frost and ice on the window to make it apparent that something beyond human control is in the room. He does a long shot as the two priests walk in the room. This shot illustrates that the priests are now fighting the demon on the demon’s own turf. As the exorcism starts, the photo shots and cuts become much quicker. They cut from the girl’s screams to the expressions on the priests’ faces. It goes back and forth as the scene gets more intense with the demon screaming out profanities and then levitating off the bed. The way the cuts and camera angle down so quickly give the audience a feeling that the situation is very intense now. When the girl levitates past the two priests, the audience senses that evil is winning the battle. Then the priests yell and chant, “The power of Christ compels you”. As they profess the truth, the body floats back down to the bed. As they tie her back up, it signifies the end of round one in the battle. The director through the use of special effects and symbolism is communicating that the power of God is stronger that evil. As the priests walk back into the room the demon in the girl starts yelling at the young priest, using the voice of his dead mother. The young priest thinks it is real, so the old one sends him out. Father Karras finally gets enough courage to go back in the room. He sees the Father Merrin on the ground. There is no music playing, and it is a long camera shot from the demon’s eyes looking out. The girl is no longer tied to the bed, implying that the demon has defeated the priest. The camera angle shows the demon above both priests with a devilish grin on the girl’s face. In reality, the old priest died of a heart attack, but the scene gives the illusion to the audience that the evil has taken over. This leaves the audience doubting that God will prevail. The young priest now is desperate so he picks up the demon girl and fights her hand to hand. The photo cuts are fast and the shots are medium view. The camera rolls from the bed ...