King of Horror: Does Anthony Hopkins have THE RITE to Dethrone THE...

King of Horror: Does Anthony Hopkins have THE RITE to Dethrone THE...: "Short answer, yes he does, but he fails to do so. So my best friend Ed Scary sent me an urgent email a few weeks ago saying 'THIS MOVIE WI..."

Does Anthony Hopkins have THE RITE to Dethrone THE EXORCIST?

Short answer, yes he does, but he fails to do so.

So my best friend Ed Scary sent me an urgent email a few weeks ago saying "THIS MOVIE WILL DETHRONE THE EXORCIST AS THE SCARIEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME!! HANNIBAL LECTER GETS POSSESSED!!! THIS IS IT!!!" Yes, he and I are always on the lookout for the movie that will dethrone our beloved King of Horror films; William Peter Blatty's THE EXORCIST. I also had very high hopes to see one of the greatest, creepiest actors of our time take a swing at demonic possession on screen. I was ghoulishly, giggly with his performance. Let's see how the movies holds up to the King of Horror's "4 Quadrants of Terror"

• Great Story: THE RITE has a great story, it deals with a subject all of us  face at some point in our lives, doubt in our faith. A young Catholic priest Michael Kovak (Colin O'Donaghue) is having a serious second guessing of becoming a priest, until he find himself on the path to becoming an Exorcist. Father Lukas (Anthony Hopkins), goes through a similar inner doubt of his faith. Great character development, very good drama and of course, we have Anthony Hopkins
• Disturbing Imagery: Yes, but it could have been better
• Disturbing Sound: Definite, yes, one of the few movies who paid attention to this element and did a great job
• Creepy Music: No, although not creepy, the music is brooding and does build up when it needs to.

So I've been reading some of the reviews of these artsy, hollywood movie critics, some are saying that the ending was too much and blah, blah, blah. Well, I think the opposite, it could have been better, less was not more in this case.

We all know that Anthony Hopkins is going to get possessed and there is going to be a showdown between he and the protagonist, in this case, Father Kovak. I must say, Father Kovak is no Father Merrin so his being able to stand up to to a possessed Anthony Hopkins was not as believable as Max von Sydows Father Merrin going toe-to-toe with the demonic Regan (Linda Blair). I did like the exorcism scenes of the Rosaria (Marta Gastini) character as Father Lukas exorcises the demon from her. We had body contortions, pretty creepy voice, excellent dialogue between her (the demon) and Lukas, Kovak. But, there could have been more, it should, hell, it NEEDED to be over the top. Who can ever, EVER forget the "Let Jesus F*ck You" line and the scene to go along with it from THE EXORCIST?? And that movie was made in the 70s!!! Come on Hollywood??!!! You;re cutting up and torturing people on screen in filth like SAW and HOSTEL, just grow some balls and give us a movie to dethrone THE EXORCIST!!

I did like the creepy statue shots, the sound was great, I could hear the bones and ligaments cracking as the body contortions were happening, the eyes turning white, all very great details that need to be there. But, I was disappointed with the climax (yeah, thats what she said).

We have Sir Anthony Hopkins going demonic on us, lets pull out all the stops, lets make a phone call to the venerable Dick Smith to make Hopkins into the most hideous demon we have seen since Mr. Smith transformed a cute little pug nosed Linda Blair into probably the most hideous, terrifying manifestations of evil the silver screen has ever shown. But no, we were given a Hopkins with a bad case of liver spots and chain smoker wrinkles on his face. No red, demonic eyes, no long pointy tongue flicking out, no unforgettable smiling/laughing, no inhuman movement (crawling on ceiling or moving too fast to be human). We had all the possible elements that we may ever have in a film like this and they blew it.

But all in all a very entertaining movie and I will go out of my way to say probably the second best movie about exorcisms ever made. On a scale of 1-5 demon faces I give it a 4:

Until next time, keep up the FAITH!!

THE RITE

OK so THE RITE starring Anthony Hopkins looks promising. But if you read my initial blog post, it will ultimately be compared to the greatest: THE EXORCIST. I will be in line to see that in a few weeks no doubt and have high hopes...but then again I had high hopes for THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE and DOMINION especially since it was a prequel to THE EXORCIST. I will up date this blog with my review later this month.

Stay cool and don't let those red eyes in the corner of your room scare you....

King of Horror: The Exorcist

Allow me to introduce myself, I am the King of Horror. How did I gain such notoriety and fame? Well, here are my credentials:

• been watching horror movies since the age of 3
• still watching horror movies
• subscription to Fangoria (although with the advent of the internet i never renewed my subscription)
• read most of Stephen Kings books
• love the genre with all my bloody, pumping heart

You will see that I am very critical of the movies I watch these days, since I just don't have the time I used to (This happens when you decide to reproduce). Which is why I would like to begin this blog by talking about the KING OF ALLLLLLL HORROR MOVIES: THE EXORCIST.

THE EXORCIST is the King of Horror films because it contains all my criteria for a perfect horror movie, hell, it contains all the criteria for a perfect movie...period. Before I get into exactly what that criteria is....this is how bad ass this movie was:

• Nominated for 10 Academy Awards including Best Picture in 1973 (it won for Best Sound and Best Adapted Screenplay)
• It is the highest grossing horror movie of all time
• At the time, it became the highest grossing film of all time (i mean in terms of dollars not grossing you out)
• Not surprisingly, it was selected to be preserved by the Library of Congress

No other horror film comes close to those achievements (and please don't say SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, that's a thriller not a horror movie).

Now, here is the King of Horror's criteria for a great horror film:

• Great Story: involves character development, crisis, resolution.
• Disturbing imagery, yes, those images that stay in your head and wake you in the middle of the night.
• Disturbing sound, no other horror film made me close my eyes and cover my ears.
• Creepy music

How THE EXORCIST achieves my criteria:

• Great Story: the first 90 minutes of the film is basically a drama. As a 13 year old, I identified with Regan, and I did not touch an Ouija Board until the age of 16 ;). As an adult, I identified with both her mother and Father Karras. How horrific to see your child going through such a thing. Father Karras, is a true character of us all, always at conflict with good and evil. At conflict with the world and our inner world.
  
  
• Disturbing imagery: head turning scene, the spider walk (found on the re-released version), the hideous demonic face that the legendary Dick Smith created, the crucifix scene (i know you know what i'm talking about...."Let Jesus xxxx you"), the statue of the Virgin Mary blasphemed by phallic vandalism (i just coined that term), demonic Regan laughing on the bed as Father Karras tries to resuscitate Father Merrin.
  
  
• Disturbing Sound: like I said, few movies nail this one, and it is all due to one woman: Mercedes McCambridge. She was the voice of the demon and the raspy breathing you hear. This was achieved by the fact that she was a chain smoker and suffered from bronchitis. I always prayed I didn't hear that voice in my bedroom.
  
  
• Creepy Music: Can't you hear it now?

My Catholic mother waited an entire year to see the movie because she was pregnant of me when it was released. Her mother warned her about seeing it while pregnant with me....I guess it didn't work, look what I have become.

This movie still stands the test of time. Yes, I did attend the re-release premiere in the year 2000 in Hollywood where I met Elvira and Linda Blair. I asked Linda about something that I had been wondering for years. Was that her actual tongue in the scene where she is on the bed sticking it out at the priest as he is exorcising her? And she said "To put your mind to rest, no that was not my tongue, they used an attachment". Oh darn, that was kind of sexy if it would have been her tongue.

I praised the addition of the Spider walk scene. The elements that make it disturbing is the unnatural distortion of the human figure and the speed at which it descends the stairs. I personally like the version of the Spider walk scene, in which Regan sticks her pointy, demonic tongue out and quickly crawls to her mother. I recently watched the re-released version on a DVD and was disappointed that it has been changed to show Regan growl and blood gush out of her mouth. First off, why the hell is blood gushing out of her mouth? Oh wait, to appeal to the gory lovers of garbage like SAW.

I must also add, it is one of the very few movies that matches and even surpasses the book. When I read the book, I was not saying "well, the book was much better". The movie truly brought the book to life.

Unless I get my act together and write the script myself, THE EXORCIST will never be dethroned as the KING OF ALLLLLLL HORROR MOVIES!!!!

Join me in my appreciation, my passion for all things horror...I am the KING OF HORROR!!