Thursday, July 3, 2014

Saving animals; TerrorCon, and Linda Blair



Photo: Linda Blair and an unshaved fan.  You can still see the little girl from The Exorcist in her face.

Not too much to say here, except that some time ago I was fortunate enough to go to TerrorCon and to get my picture taken with Linda Blair and a few others, as well as with many Jaws props.  (In blogs to come.)

In case you didn't know, Linda Blair was Regan in The Exorcist, still one of the best (and creepiest) horror films ever made.  (Though I am seemingly amongst the minority who sees Ridley Scott's Prometheus as a masterpiece.  I saw it again last night [or this morning, depending on your POV] and was still jolted a few times.  Every time I see it I get something new, important, and scary out of it.  How many films can you say that about?)  A blog entry to come will be about The Exorcist, as well, so stay tuned.

I don't have anything new to add about Linda Blair's filming of The Exorcist.  If you're reading this, you're probably a fan of the film, and if you're a fan of the film you already know that the really bad lines to come out of Linda Blair's mouth was over-dubbed by Mercedes McCambridge (though initially said by Blair), and that she didn't know the meaning of what she was saying most of the time.  She was a down-to-Earth kid (so much so that William Friedkin, the director, was a little surprised by the directness of her answers during their interview) and she had a good time during filming.  She did, and didn't, like the incredible attention she received afterwards.  And, of course, she was never able to repeat such a success.  (Though who could?)

And so I just want to take a moment and mention a cause she and I have in common, as I promised her I would, and I am a man of my word.  We talked a bit about adopting animals (I have a greyhound, as you may know, who was left in a cage for two years)...








...and she mentioned that she had just bought many acres of land to use to house and treat abused and neglected animals.  She takes in dogs and cats and other animals who have been abandoned, left to die, abused and/or neglected, and she gives them a safe haven and the best health care available.  It's her Worldheart Foundation.  Read about it at http://www.lindablairworldheart.org/ 

Give, if you can.  And report those who abuse and neglect animals.

Have a nice fourth, everyone.

2 comments:

  1. Love the EXORCIST, although I'm not sure if I'd call it one of the creepiest movies all time. SINISTER, gets me every time, it's terrifying, but the EXORCIST never had me really scared or creeped out. I think that maybe it's because by the time I saw it when I was 12 special effects were better and I just couldn't take it seriously?

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    1. Nice to hear from you again, Marishka.

      I'm surprised--The Exorcist isn't meant to be a special effects film, even by 1974 standards. It's mostly a drama; in fact, the exorcism itself only takes place over the last 20 minutes or so of the movie. The priest's mother haunting his thoughts is supposed to be just as scary, if not more so, than the demon. And, believe me, when you get to be my age, and you think about your regrets in life, your parents may enter your thoughts to the extent that your regrets are indeed more scary than any movie demon could ever be.

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