I Couldn`t Stop Laughing

Rating: 4/10 (3 November 2003)

I remember when THE EXORCIST was first released in Britain , I was 7 years old at the time and living in Edinburgh and a neighbour called Ann Lyon was just back from the cinema telling my parents how the movie lived up to the hype and what a truly shocking , gut wrenching experience THE EXORCIST was . My parents went to see it a few days later ( In 1973 this was the ONLY movie people were talking about ) and their verdict was that it was a bloody stupid film unworthy of all the fuss . I don`t know if that prejudiced my view in later life but I also found THE EXORCIST a bloody stupid film unworthy of the hype , but I will give it credit where it`s due - It`s also an extremely funny film too
I congratulate everyone for this classic comedy , the tears of laughter ran down my cheeks watching it . A young girl called Regan is possessed by a demonic force that causes her skin to turn blue , turn her head 360 degrees , float in mid air , speak in a booming voice and spit out large amounts of chocolate fudge . I bet David Blaine is cursing his luck about being overlooked by Satan . This is funny enough but it`s the words coming out of Regan`s mouth that caused me to split my sides , you`ll understand that I`m paraphrasing here " Go stick your toffee apple up his bottom you naughty priest " and " Your mother sucks toffee apples in hell " Be honest girls , does that second qoute seem like a fate worse than death ?

I do concede that this is a well made movie but this only adds to the unintentional laughs as the cast give genuinely shocked expressions as the profanity keeps spilling out of the mouth of young Regan . This is what I describe as " THE EXORCIST factor " ie the more the cast and crew try and convince the audience that all this is sickeningly horrible the more laughably ludicrous it all becomes . That`s why horror spoofs like REPOSSESSED an SCARY MOVIE 2 fail to out do THE EXORCIST as a comedy

As a footnote I mentioned that many people in Edinburgh saw this at their local cinemas as did a great many people in British cities in 1973 , but one exception was Glasgow where the local council banned the film from cinema chains in the city . Other films Glasgow city council have banned since then include THE LIFE OF BRIAN and ROMPER STOMPER