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http://www.livingdeadmafia.com/
I like to do something Halloween related ,once a weekend ,all October long.
One of the guests ,is a woman named Eileen Dietz.
Now having seen the exorcist ,opening night ,as a,child ,left a lasting impression upon me.
My mom made me read the book,before she would allow me to see them movie .
My mom was a single parent ,with no money for a baby sitter . She took me with her to these movies,for which she had read the book .
These books were blockbuster best sellers at the time.
So I read jaws,the other ,and the exorcist,despite my age,long before they came out.
I always said :no ma,the book didn't scare me .
So I was very young when I saw the exorcist .
I watched all the interviews ,read articles .
The full compliment of facts of the case the oobookis based upon ,didn't even come out ,until decades later.
It was rumored,it was also loosely based on Shirley McClaines daughter . The character ,even the last name ,is very close to the facts as well . Shirley,if no one knows this,packed her daughter up ,and shipped her off the Japan ,as a teenager .She lived there for years . No one ever knew why,but it was suggested ,it was after the exorcism ,and she did it to keep her in an environment,devoid of a lot of Catholicism .
It's possible,if you ask me ,and the story is a combination of the two cases .
All that aside ,as I just wanted to convey just how into the whole exorcist story I was.
So ,I met this woman ,Eileen,last night ,and she was touted as the face you see. The white face with the blackened eyes that flashes on the screen here and there .Pazuzu with a "human" face .
But,what she told us ,stunned me .
At the time of filming .1970-71 I think. No one was allowed on the set ,save crew and actors . No press.Everyone was gag ordered .No one was allowed to take and keep photos,including the princlple photographer.
She said william freidkin was an utter dictator.
Most of the actors were loners. The star was a child,usually in the company of her mother.
(I did ask about the alleged curse .She didnt seem to want to go into detail ,but she said; yes,a lot of odd occurances ,and bad luck befell most of the cast ,in one way or another,including death ,or close relative death .)
So she kept talking,and I realized ,she kept referring to herself as the character ,Reagan.
So I asked what she meant.
The scenes where the child is possessed by the demon,are her,not Linda Blair.
A secret that is now about to be 40 years old.
The 40th anniversary of the movie,is 2013.
She said she's written a book about it all. It will be out on kindle first ,but it sounds fascinating . She does the horror circuit ,so she does conventions a lot.
She was also in Planet of the Apes ,and did a few soap operas .
I think,in the original movie,she is completely uncredited .
She said she doubts it would ever be remade ,given the curse . She said its absolutely based on a true story ,and she herself is not sure if exorcism is a valid recourse in such instances ,but its definately utilized a lot .
She said in total,six people created the full character of Reagan McNeil ,and if that had come out at the time ,instead of being such a secret,so it seemed as if a little girl did it all,they might have won more than just two oscars.
All in all,a fascinating story . All these years,and I never knew .
Edited by Simbi Laveau, 20 October 2012 - 11:20 PM.
