One Of The Scariest Scenes In The Exorcist Director's Cut Does A Spider Walk
(Welcome to Scariest Scene Ever, a column dedicated to the most pulse-pounding moments in horror with your tour guides, horror experts Chris Evangelista and Matt Donato. In this edition, Chris comes down the stairs with "The Exorcist" Director's Cut.)
In 2000, "The Exorcist" returned to theaters. But this wasn't the version of the film horror hounds were used to — it was a director's cut billed as "The Version You've Never Seen." This cut restored several deleted scenes to the film, including a new ending which lightens the mood a bit (whether or not that's a good thing is up to you; many critics found the additional ending scene superfluous). Most of the new additions to the film are small — a subliminal face here and there. But there's one particular restored scene that's become the stuff of legend: the infamous spider walk.
The setup
Released after Christmas in 1973, "The Exorcist" became a smash hit, with lines around the block full of people ready to be terrified. It's often hailed as one of the best horror movies ever made, and it's one of the biggest hits of director William Friedkin's storied career. In the film, Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) is an actress working on a film in Georgetown. During the course of the shoot, she's living in a rented house with her young daughter, Regan (Linda Blair). When Regan begins acting strange, Chris (and various doctors) suspects some sort of strange illness. Is she a sick little girl, or is there something far more sinister at work? Something ... demonic? Well, what do you think, reader? I'm sure you already know. Everyone does. It's "The Exorcist" we're talking about here.
The story so far
Things get worse and worse — Regan grows violent, her voice changes, she harms herself, scars appear on her body, and the furniture starts moving around on its own. An unthinkable answer presents itself: Regan isn't sick — she's possessed! Enter a kindly but troubled priest, Father Karras (Jason Miller). Like Chris, Karras is skeptical at first — until it becomes abundantly clear that Regan really is possessed by a demon, and an exorcism needs to be performed to save her life. Eventually, another priest, the elder Father Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow) will be called in to help perform an exorcism, a ritual that can be dangerous to everyone involved if it goes wrong. Thus the stage is set for the ultimate battle between good and evil.
The scene
Why was the spider-walk scene cut? Friedkin thought it came too early in the film, and that makes a certain amount of sense — the scene takes place before Father Karras gets involved with the case, and Karras' entry really signifies the supernatural elements of the film coming together and rearing their ugly head in full force. Up until then, there's an air of doubt over everything — the sense that there has to be some sort of rational explanation for everything going on. The spider walk changes that — it's a creepy, strange, nightmare-inducing moment that points to something horrifying and preternatural.
During the scene in question, Chris returns home to find the house empty and Regan seemingly asleep — with her bedroom window open. Chris' assistant Sharon was supposed to be watching Regan, but she had to run out for something — leaving the sick child in the care of Burke Dennings, the alcoholic director of Chris' film. But Burke is nowhere to be found. Chris assumes he simply, and irresponsibly, left Regan alone. Not so — a man shows up at the house to inform Chris that Burke is dead. And that's when it happens — suddenly, Regan is on the stairs, upside down, and crawling towards everyone like a spider. She stops at the bottom of the steps, opens her mouth, and spits blood with a horrifying sound.
Originally, the scene was shot with Regan sporting a fake lizard-like tongue licking in and out, but the bloody mouth version is far scarier. Perhaps most impressive of all is that stuntwoman Ann Miles performed the scene with no harness; she really came down those stairs upside down.
The impact (Matt's take)
I mean, listen. I'm going to keep this simple. BODIES SHOULDN'T DO THAT. It's the pain and agony in poor Regan's face as blood cascades out of her open mouth like she's still conscious but not in control, her body inverted, the inhuman spectacle bringing only pain-fueled reactions. It's why practicality will always be king. The contortionist's act is so viscerally appalling when delivered in such a punchy shot, as we watch a demon brutalize an innocent child's body. Good horror imagery is good horror imagery — not must else to say.