The Rejection of Val Lewton
The basic premise of horror film imagery had been centralized for many decades around the low-budget horror films produced by Val Lewton in the 1940’s in which the overarching rule was that which is not shown is more horrifying than anything that can be shown. This worked well for much of Hollywood history for two reasons. One, masters of film aesthetics like Lewton and his writers and directors realized this theory through practical application that still has the power to terrify today. The other reason is that the premise was based on the fact that what could be shown was extremely limited. When the premise is altered to accommodate evolutions in censorship, it is one much more difficult to maintain.
The Exorcist is the film which almost completely destroyed forever and for all the Val Lewton approach to horror films. Absolutely nothing is suggested or implied; the audience bears witness to every single horrific sight which the characters see and this represents perhaps the single most revolutionary aspect of the film and cements it status forever as one of the key moments in the history of film. Because in 1973 the rules had changed to the point that a filmmaker could show a young child masturbating with a crucifix, vomiting soup, spewing expletives and turning her head around 180 degrees, it could be shown and the decision was made that showing these things would be more horrifying than not showing them. The box office returns and the history of film since its release can be offered as evidence that the filmmakers were right.
The Repulsive Tangibility of Evil
The imagery that directly reveals Regan as irrefutably inhabited and possessed by a tangible demonic force of evil is also thematically coherent. In addition to the most grotesque images and scenes being depicted without self-censorship by the filmmakers bearing external significance in the development of the horror film, they also exist for specific internal reasons. The film defiantly rejects the 20th’ century interpretation of evil as being merely the absence of good and consistently reiterates its theological position that evil is very much a tangible presence which through possession can take corporeal form. Thus, the film’s most infamous imagery—Regan’s twisting head, the projectile vomiting, the horrific transformation of the little girl’s physical appearance, the writing on her skin—all contribute thematically to the underlying conceit that evil is real and palpable and, needless to say, repulsive in comparison to humanity.
Science and Technology
For much of the first half of the film, the imagery associated with Regan is associated with the sterility of medical practice. This is done to establish that something is wrong with Regan, but winds up serving an unexpected purpose. One of the scenes most infamous for making audiences queasy occurs during this section when an arterial catheter is inserted into Regan’s neck in a manner every bit as gruesome as the scenes of demonic possession to come. The devotion of the movies’s first half to images of familiar sterility of hospital and doctor offices not only fulfills the purpose discharging any rational scientific explanation for her bizarre behavior, but sets up the completely unexpected moment when it is precisely this dependably rational and logical aspect of modern 20th century existence that becomes the entity which recommends to Chris MacNeil that her next step should be to stop outside the boundaries of 20th century science and pursue the guidance of medieval religious belief.
Near-Subliminal Imagery
The Exorcist famously became one of the few mainstream Hollywood films to use subliminal imagery to increase the sense of dread, although to be technically precise they last too on the screen to be considered actually subliminal. The whole point of subliminal imagery is that you do not see them and while they do flash by quickly enough for a viewer to miss them if he blinked or turned his face from the screen at the right time, they last long enough that they can be seen without having to freeze the frame. These images of become more abundant with each new re-release of the film and today range from a chalky white-faced demon to an image of the statue of Pazuzu to composite images placed over Regan’s face. The totality of the effect is to provide just a brief enough image to create an unnerving sense lying just below the viewer’s conscious apprehension.
