Costume Discounters: The Exorcist Regan Costume

For the past two months, my job has been writing costume descriptions, and I love it! I recently had to write one for a Regan MacNeil costume, and it's one of my favorites of all the costume descriptions I've written, so I wanted to share it here. : )

The Exorcist Regan Costume

Movie Spotlight: Little Evil

Little Evil is a 2017 Netflix original movie starring Adam Scott, Evangeline Lilly, Owen Atlas, Clancy Brown, Tyler Labine, Donald Faison, Chris D'Elia, and Bridget Everett. When Gary (Adam Scott) moves in with his new wife (Evangeline Lilly), he tries to bond with his stepson (Owen Atlas), but when he sees Lucas exhibit some pretty strange behavior, he fears that he may be stepdad to a demon.

The Omen is my favorite horror movie, and I write plays (comedies, of course) about Satan, so Little Evil was right up my alley. This movie was written and directed by Eli Craig, who also wrote and directed Tucker & Dale vs. Evil (you can read my review here: Horror Movie Month: Tucker & Dale vs. Evil), so I knew I was in for a treat. Little Evil is an entertaining movie with superb performances from everyone, and it's a fun addition to the horror-comedy genre. I was really excited to see it listed on Netflix last night, and if you like horror-comedy or movies about demonic children, Little Evil is one you won't want to miss. : )

My rating: 8/10

Movie Spotlight: Incarnate

Incarnate is a 2016 movie starring Aaron Eckhart, Carice van Houten, Catalina Sandino Moreno, David Mazouz, Keir O'Donnell, Matt Nable, and John Pirruccello. Scientist Dr. Seth Ember (Aaron Eckhart) removes demons from the possessed by entering their subconscious, but when he tries this with 11-year-old Cameron (David Mazouz), he must fight for his life against a demon he has encountered in the past.

Movies about possession have the potential to be kind of cheesy, but Incarnate is a well-made movie with fine performances from everyone (the standout being David Mazouz as young possessed Cameron). I didn't like Incarnate as much as some other possession movies, but it's a new take on this type of movie, so if you like movies about demons and possessions, give Incarnate a shot. : )

My rating: 6.5/10

Movie Spotlight: Ava's Possessions

Ava's Possessions is a 2015 movie starring Louisa Krause, Whitney Able, Deborah Rush, William Sadler, Wass Stevens, Zachary Booth, Dan Fogler, Carol Kane, and Lou Taylor Pucci. After a priest exorcises a demon from Ava (Louisa Krause), she cannot remember the past month and must attend a Spirit Possessions Anonymous support group in order to avoid jail time for the things she did while possessed. She tries to get her life back on track, but that would be easier if the demon weren't trying to come back.

I've watched a bunch of movies about demonic possession, but I think this is the first one I've seen that deals with how the victims move on with their lives once the demon is gone...it's a really cool concept for a movie, and I'm glad I found Ava's Possessions. Louisa Krause was impressive, both as possessed Ava and Ava-after-demon. If you like movies about possession, you should check this one out...it's a fun movie with a new take on the demonic possession genre. : )

My rating: 7.5/10

AtomaCon Panel: Demonology: Is it real?

Of all the panels I attended at last weekend's AtomaCon, I have to say the Demonology: Is it real? panel was my favorite. It was led by Alex Matsuo, founder and director of the Association for Paranormal Study and author of The Haunting of the Tenth Avenue Theater, The Haunted Actor, and More Than Ghosts. A demon is a malevolent entity (or a fallen angel according to religion), and I never gave them much thought until I found out that The Exorcist was inspired by a true story. Alex said that she specializes in residential cases in her paranormal investigations and has come across a few demonic cases. According to The Bible, only Jesus can deal with demons, but he's not around to help out, so instead Catholic priests/clergy or pastors are called upon to exorcise a demon once they decide that someone is possessed. In order to get to this point, the individual in question must be evaluated by a priest, who assesses whether the person is suffering from mental illness or demonic possession (they have similar signs).

Signs of possession:

-anger

-hysterical laughter

-talking gibberish, speaking in languages the individual doesn't know, or speaking in tongues

-knowledge of things the individual has no way of knowing

-shifts in bone structure and body contortions

-aversion to holy objects/holy water

-changes in voice, personality, and appearance

-self-harm

Characteristics of demonic activity:

-foul odors

-banging/knocking

-oppressive feeling

-shadow figures

-growling

-reaction to religious objects/prayers

-heavy objects moving on their own

Stages of demonic possession:
1. Manifestation: when the demon is invited in (either directly or indirectly)
2. Infestation: when the demon makes itself known (growling, whispers, etc.)
3. Oppression: when the demon oppresses an individual physically, emotionally, and/or spiritually
4. Possession: when the demon has access to the body
5. Perfect Possession: when the individual accepts the demon, and an exorcism is no longer possible

In order to act on behalf of Christ, the priest must do an act of contrition before he performs the exorcism. Before the exorcism begins, the possessed person will be restrained so they can't hurt themselves or anyone else, then the exorcist will recite prayers both in English and Latin, which takes 35-40 minutes when read non-stop. The exorcist will also attempt to get the name of the demon and ask for the time and date of the demon's departure.

During the panel, we watched videos of exorcisms from other religions, which was pretty interesting, and Alex played an audio recording from one of the 67 exorcisms performed on Anneliese Michel (who was the inspiration for The Exorcism of Emily Rose), which really creeped me out. Anneliese died from malnutrition and dehydration at the age of 23, and her parents, a priest, and a pastor were all charged with negligent manslaughter. (You can find out more about Anneliese here: http://www.demonicpedia.com/exorcism/the-exorcism-of-anneliese-michel/)

I've watched a bunch of movies about demons/possession and read a few books on the subject, so I thought I knew almost everything there was to know about it...but the Demonology panel was fascinating, and I learned a lot. I didn't really enjoy riding home in the dark afterward or trying to fall asleep that night though. ; )

http://alexmatsuo.com/

Horror Movie Month: The Exorcist

The Exorcist is a 1973 movie directed by William Friedkin and starring Linda Blair, Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty Winn, Jack MacGowran, and Jason Miller. It is based on a novel by William Peter Blatty. Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) is concerned when she notices her 12-year-old daughter (Linda Blair) exhibiting strange behavior after playing with a Ouija board. Doctors can find nothing wrong with Regan, so Chris enlists the help of Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller), who agrees to perform an exorcism.

The Exorcist is considered by many to be the scariest movie ever made, and while it didn't scare me as much as I thought it would, I remember watching a DVD extra that talked about the real-life case that inspired the movie, and that scared the crap out of me. You can read about the case of Roland Doe here:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exorcism_of_Roland_Doe

The Exorcist is a creepy movie, and I can see why it has scared so many people. All of the performances were great, and Linda Blair was incredible as young, possessed Regan...such an impressive performance for a 13-year-old. The version I watched this time was the theatrical version, but I watched a different version a few years ago that had a scene with Regan running down the stairs like a spider, and I thought it was creepier than anything in the original version of the movie. I have to say that Chris MacNeil is the most devoted mom ever...if I had been in her shoes, I would've been out the door after the whole "bed shaking and lifting off the floor" thing. I guess it's a good thing I'm never having kids. ; )

My rating: 8/10

Followed by:

Exorcist II: The Heretic
Exorcist III
Exorcist: The Beginning

Book Review: A Head Full of Ghosts by Paul Tremblay

A Head Full of Ghosts is a 2015 novel by Paul Tremblay, and if you're planning on reading it, make sure you don't have anything important to do that day because this one is hard to put down (also, maybe don't read it right before you go to sleep).  When doctors are unable to prevent the more serious symptoms of schizophrenia in 14-year-old Marjorie Barrett, her desperate parents turn to Father Wanderly, a local priest who concludes that Marjorie's behavior may be the result of demonic possession.  In need of money, the family agrees to let a camera crew film their experience for a reality TV series (The Possession), and fifteen years later, a writer interviews Marjorie's younger sister, Merry, about that terrible time in her family's life.  The novel is told from Merry's point-of-view, both as an 8-year-old and a 23-year-old, and I really liked that Tremblay chose to tell the story that way so we could experience everything as it happened around young Merry and then learn more about what was going on from adult Merry fifteen years later.  Despite the fact that most people have never had to deal with one of their family members possibly being possessed by demons, I felt that the Barrett family was pretty easy to relate to, and I really cared about what happened to them.

I loved A Head Full of Ghosts, and if The Possession were a real show, of course I would watch it (what kind of paranormal blogger wouldn't watch a show like that?).  The novel had a great, surprising ending that I'm still thinking about long after finishing it, and that's something I always appreciate in the books I read.  I'm looking forward to reading more of Tremblay's work, and I hope someone makes a movie out of this novel ASAP. : )

My rating: 9/10

Movie Spotlight: Jessabelle

Jessabelle is a 2014 movie starring Sarah Snook, Mark Webber, Joelle Carter, David Andrews, Amber Stevens, and Ana de la Reguera.  Ben Garant wrote the movie, which surprised me since he's known for writing comedy (such as Reno 911, Hell Baby, and Let's Go to Prison).  Pregnant Jessie Laurent (Sarah Snook) and her fiancé are on their way to move Jessie's things into his house when they are hit by a car; Jessie loses the baby, and her fiancé is killed.  Two months later, it's time for Jessie to be released from the hospital, so she calls her dad, who she hasn't seen in a very long time (after her mother died of cancer, Jessie's dad sent her to live with her aunt, who is now deceased); he drives her to her childhood home and sets her up in her mother's room, where she finds a box of videotapes labeled "Jessabelle."  She watches one in which her mother says that there is a female presence in the house who does not want Jessie there. When Jessie's father discovers her watching the video, he flips out and throws her wheelchair in the bayou after telling her not to snoop around anymore.  Jessie sees a female figure in her room that night, but it disappears.  The next day, her father brings her another wheelchair and apologizes for acting like a psycho; Jessie watches the next video, in which her mother says that the presence is demonic and that Jessie shouldn't blame herself for an accident that occurred.

I wouldn't call Jessabelle a great movie, but the acting was better than most horror movies, and I liked the ending.  Most of the scares came from the volume getting really loud all of a sudden though, and it annoys me when movies do that.

My rating: 6.5/10

A Haunting: Demon Child

I recently watched a 2006 episode of Destination America's A Haunting called "Demon Child," and since I'm freaked out enough by regular kids, I should've known better to watch this while I was home alone at night. Jan and Dale Foster live in western Kentucky with their two children: Cody, 5, and Pamela, 16.  One day Cody's nanny tells Jan that Cody has started using bad language, threatening her, and talking to someone who isn't there.  Could Cody's imaginary friend be...SATAN?!  Jan asks Cody the name of his new friend, and Cody tells her it is Man; when she walks in on Cody having a conversation with no one, she asks who he is talking to, and he responds, "I'm playing with Man." (That's something no parent ever wants to hear.) While fixing breakfast, Jan tells Dale about Cody's imaginary friend, and they turn around to see Cody staring at them like a creep, and when they tell him to eat his breakfast, he starts screaming at them and acting like a little shit.  Later, Cody tells them that Man is 6 years old and "has brown hair, brown eyes, and pale skin."  When Dale asks where Man came from, Cody says, "from behind the park where the lake is, deep in the ground."  Jan asks if something happened to Man, and Cody tells her that Man was taken away from his mother by a man who did awful things to him.  That's when Jan and Dale realize that Man is the ghost of a murdered child.

Jan asks her friend, a Native American shaman, for help, and he tells her that he thinks Cody invited the spirit into the house, and they must revoke the invitation to get rid of it.  He tells Jan and Dale to burn sage and sweetgrass, put olive oil at each of the home's entryways, and pray.  For three months, everything goes back to normal, then Jan hears Cody talking to Man again.  He then gets really quiet, and when Jan goes to check on him, Cody is holding a Polaroid picture of an old woman and a little boy.  When she takes the picture from Cody, he starts screaming at her, and when Jan asks about it, Cody says that Man is the boy in the picture and that Man gave it to him.  And then things get really weird: when Jan drops Cody off to play at her cousin's house, the woman soon calls Jan at work, crying and saying that Jan needs to come get Cody immediately.  When Jan shows up, her cousin tells her that when Cody was playing with her daughter Kaylee, she heard a deep voice, and then Kaylee started screaming.  She ran into the room to find  toys floating in the air around Cody.

One night, Dale catches Cody cutting up his teddy bear, and Cody tells him that "Man said it would be fun."  Cody uses the same excuse when Pamela is searching for her cat and finds it underneath the couch cushion that Cody is sitting on.  Jan is cleaning one day and realizes that Cody has been peeing on everything in his closet; he says that Man said it would be okay and that he doesn't have to listen to his mother.

Cody finally gets fed up with Man when he starts making his bed shake.  After Cody falls asleep in his parents' room, Jan goes into his room and soon awakes to see Cody standing in the doorway.  He hugs her, and Jan sees his body grow into a full-grown demonically-laughing entity, but he looks normal again when Dale and Pamela come in to see why Jan is screaming.  Jan calls the shaman again and tells him that Man is a demon; he tells her to bless the house again and pray specifically for the demon to leave.  She does, and when she comes back inside, she feels a presence.  Jan continues the blessing inside the house and tells the demon to leave and never come back.  The family sometimes hears strange noises and feels like someone is watching them, and they worry that it's Man trying to reappear in their lives.

This episode of A Haunting was pretty creepy...I'm definitely going to watch some more episodes.

My rating: 9/10

http://www.destinationamerica.com/tv-shows/a-haunting

Free paranormal book: Psyched by Juli Caldwell

I saw Psyched by Juli Caldwell listed yesterday in one of the free ebook email lists I subscribe to, and it sounded really interesting and has great reviews (it's rated 4.6 out of 5 stars)!  I downloaded a copy last night, and it's still free, so I thought some of you guys might want to check it out.  Here's the Amazon description:

"Aisi Turay has it all under control.

At least, she thinks she does. Forget that the most popular girl in school hates her guts and will stop at nothing to embarrass her. Forget that her little brother is tormented by the ghosts and demons she sees all the time. Forget that her mom is a con artist who pretends to be psychic to make some cash. Forget that her dad is hiding a secret than can destroy everything she knows about herself. Nope, she's got this one...until that one awful day when she nearly loses it all.

With ghost-hunting hottie Vance, a guy who stumbled into her life at the worst possible moment, Aisi must search for the messages hidden in visions and memories to protect her family. Maybe, just maybe, they can reclaim what she thought was lost forever."

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00D4C4HOQ/ref=pe_245070_24466410_M1T1DP