A 50-year retrospective on ‘The Exorcist,’ plus what’s a Skelly?

We’ve done a Halloween special each year for the past five years. And each year, and for no particular reason, we’ve spent a chunk of the show covering a classic horror movie celebrating, specifically, its 40th anniversary. I’m a little sad to say that this year we’re breaking the tradition, partly because 1983 was a strikingly barren year for horror movies (notwithstanding, uh, Cujo, I guess? Psycho II?). And partly because, well, one of the greatest horror movies ever made happens to be celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. So. This hour, our take on William Friedkin’s 1973 masterpiece, The Exorcist. And a look at filmmaker David Gordon Green’s turn away from indie dramas and Hollywood comedies and toward horror legacy requels. His latest is The Exorcist: Believer. Plus: There sure are a lot of those crazy 12-foot skeleton things showing up on people’s lawns, aren’t there? We investigate the Skelly sensation. GUESTS: Aislinn Clarke: A screenwriter and director and a lecturer in film studies at Queen’s University Belfast Bill Curry: Playing the part of Bill Curry playing the part of Standing Concerned Man Jesse Hassenger: Associate editor of Paste Movies and co-host of the New Flesh horror movie podcast Rachel Kurzius: A reporter for The Home You Own at The Washington Post The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode! Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show. Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter. Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.Support the show: http://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.