The Dendy on George Street in BrisVegas is closing down. Yes after years of being the rare shining beacon of independent and foreign films in the cultural vacuum that is Brisbane they are closing their doors. So tonight instead of being led down the garden path of American traditional candy grabbing myself and Yale went to the Dendy for a special Halloween double feature showing of ‘The Exorcist‘ and ‘Carrie‘.
I had to check as I couldnt remember the release date of the Exorcist, but it was apparently filmed in 1973 and I’m pretty sure I would have seen it in about 1986-87 and vaguely remember being alarmed and shocked by some of the concepts in the movie which was probably not difficult given that I was a good little Catholic schoolgirl at the time (can you see the cha-ching on my halo?) The Rotten Tomatoes guys seem to think that "The Exorcist has withstood the test of time, and it still has that renegade feel and the power to shock." but I think they’re way off base on that one judging by the audience’s reaction to most of the film. There was more laughter at the pea soup and bone crunching neck swivelling than any other reaction and I don’t personally recall any noticable sensations of foreboding, suspense, impending doom, fear or even drama for that matter. It was all a bit ho-hum really.
I think we’ve become a bit immune. The effects look quaint and old fashioned, the foul language is no worse than any number of teen flicks these days (a la American Pie genre) and the violence looked like a kindergarden spat compared to something you might see at the cinema or even on TV these days. So old and jaded are we.
Unfortunately I had to pike on ‘Carrie’ my back just wasn’t up to sitting still through a second movie in those ancient cinema seats, so I’ll have to make it up to Yaleman by finding a copy of it to inflict on him. Might try and find The Shining while I’m at it ….. Jack Nicholson – now there’s a scary dude I don’t care what decade it is 🙂
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