Demon seed

>> Linda Blair on the rumours surrounding The Exorcist, God as winner and teenage Satanists

by MATTHEW HAYS

Linda Blair remembers only too well the hell that was raised when The Exorcist was released in '73. Prominent American evangelist Billy Graham damned the film. The Roman Catholic church hierarchy condemned it as blasphemous. And, as Blair recalls now, she was at the centre of it.

"A lot of the attacks were on me," she says, from her L.A. home. "There were press conferences held around the world about it, as it was such a popular film. They had to find something wrong with the movie. They couldn't believe that I could leave the work behind at the end of the day."

The film, an adaptation of William Blatty's novel by director William Friedkin, was about a young girl who finds herself possessed by the man downstairs. Soon enough, her mom (Ellen Burstyn) is being driven nuts as daughter dearest is coughing up what looks like green soup, urinating on the rug in front of guests and speaking in a voice that sounds strikingly like legendary Hollywood dyke Mercedes MacCambridge. Time to call in Max von Sydow, the original ghostbuster.

Now, the film has been recut to include 11 minutes of footage which make it more spiritual and uplifting, in accordance with the wishes of Blatty. And Blair agrees, it's much improved. Though not attached to any established religion herself, she does state that "now the film is more clearly about God winning."

Fighting the curse

Though much filmic lore surrounds The Exorcist and its making, Blair says there was little or nothing scary about the shoot itself. "There was nothing creepy about it at all. While you're making a film, there are so many technicians about." And despite the deaths of two people involved with the shoot during the film's making, Blair says she doesn't feel there was--or is--any "Exorcist curse." "The actual filming of The Exorcist went on for months and months, close to two years. Someone might have had an accident, someone might have gotten hurt, but that was over a long period. Just coincidence."

And the fire that burned down one of the main sets on a Sunday? "That was an electrical shortage. There were tons of fans and lights on that set. That's something that could have happened on any film at any time.

"Frankly, I've watched Bill [Friedkin] during interviews. Sometimes the rumours around the film's shooting are just rumours. Other times they're real. I think he's just having fun with it all."

Blair's strongest memories from the set are of Friedkin himself. "When I look at the film now, I recall Bill blocking scenes and looking through lenses. He was such a perfectionist. Everything was blocked to a T. Nothing I did was casual. I did everything he wanted me to. When I see the film now, all I can see is his genius."

After the glaring spotlight The Exorcist provided the then-15-year-old Blair, she went on to a few other film projects, including Sara T: Portrait of a Teenage Alcoholic, Roller Boogie and Airport '75. She even starred in the much-maligned sequel, The Exorcist II: The Heretic, directed by none other than John Boorman (Deliverance, Hope and Glory) and made a cameo appearance in Scream.

God is good

But Blair says fans express a mysterious concern for her, even decades after the film came out. "People want to see that I'm fine. I do a lot of meet-and-greets with fans. There are some sensitive young people out there who get swung in the wrong direction. People have come up to me and said that they're into the devil. I tell them that's not cool, to follow God. The film is not about giving praise to the devil, but about praise to God.

"I won't sign crucifixes. Someone even brought me a Bible once to sign. I refused. I said, 'I didn't write that.' I just didn't feel I should sign it. She was so angry with me."

Blair says she herself has no belief in the occult, though she is a very spiritual person. "I meditate twice a day. I'm positive. People get depressed and angry. People need to spend more time thinking about the positive." :

The new version of The Exorcist opens Friday, Oct. 13