This is the second episode of our two-part Exorcist episode.

We will continue our look at The Exorcist (the book by William Peter Blatty and the film by William Friedkin).

We will do our Dream Cast and Schrödinger’s Cast for the 1973 film. We will look at six key characters in the movie, and pick the actor/actress that would have best fit that role, and also an outside-the-box cast:

Regan MacNeil | Linda Blair
Chris MacNeil | Ellen Burstyn
Father Damien Karras | Jason Miller
Father Lankester Merrin | Max von Sydow
Lt. William Kinderman | Lee J. Cobb
Burke Dennings | Jack Macgowran

Troy Harkin and David Clink will continue to look at the book and the movie, and talk about the impact that they have had.

Our special guest, from episode 1, is back for episode 2. Valentino Assenza will have a lot to add about the 1973 film. See author photo and bio below.

Valentino Assenza has been a published poet and performing spoken word artist for over the last two decades.

In that time he has released four chapbooks and performed all over Canada and the US.

Valentino has been a co-host and co-producer of HOWL on CIUT 89.5FM, where he has interviewed names such as George Elliott Clarke, Anne Michaels, Denise Donlon, Ron Sexsmith, and Margaret Atwood.

The Exorcist is a book by William Peter Blatty, a film by William Friedkin, and there were sequels. The novel (1971) and movie (1973) tell the story of demonic possession. An actress’s daughter is the victim, and after exhausting all medical and psychological possibilities, they are left with a Catholic ritual to “exorcise” the demon from the child.

The book received a lot of praise, and the movie was a hit. Not since Psycho and Rosemary’s Baby has a film gripped the public’s imagination.

Here are six key characters in the novel and movie, and the actor/actress that played the role in the 1973 film:

Regan MacNeil | Linda Blair
Chris MacNeil | Ellen Burstyn
Father Damien Karras | Jason Miller
Father Lankester Merrin | Max von Sydow
Lt. William Kinderman | Lee J. Cobb
Burke Dennings | Jack Macgowran

Troy Harkin and David Clink will look at the book and the movie, and talk about the impact that they have had.

Our special guest is Valentino Assenza. He will also be our guest for part 2. Valentino will have a lot to add about the 1973 film. See author photo and bio below.

Valentino Assenza has been a published poet and performing spoken word artist for over the last two decades.

In that time he has released four chapbooks and performed all over Canada and the US.

Valentino has been a co-host and co-producer of HOWL on CIUT 89.5FM, where he has interviewed names such as George Elliott Clarke, Anne Michaels, Denise Donlon, Ron Sexsmith, and Margaret Atwood.

     “The trouble with Jim was he looked at the world and could not look away. And when you never look away all your life, by the time you are thirteen you have done twenty years taking in the laundry of the world.”

Chapter 9, page 40, Something Wicked This Way Comes,
this selection is from ISBN 0-380-97727-3. Avon Books, Hardcover, June 1999.
copyright (c) 1962, 1997 by Ray Bradbury.

This episode of Two Old Farts Talk Sci-Fi is part two of our “Something Wicked This Way Comes” episode.

Something Wicked This Way Comes is a novel by Ray Bradbury, one of the great writers of speculative fiction of the 20th century. Bradbury was (and is) an influence on a generation of writers, including Stephen King.

The story idea began in Bradbury’s head, and found its way out via a short story, a comic, a screenplay, a novel, and a movie.

Troy Harkin and David Clink continue to look at the pivotal novel, in all its iterations.

We will also do our Dream Casting, and our Outside-The-Box Casting, which David has referred to as “Scream Casting,” but, going forward, may be called “Schrödinger’s Cast.”

Our special guest continues to be Sandra Kasturi. She was our special guest for pt. 1 (Episode 13). See author photo (a different one, this time) and a bio (same one from episode 13) below.

Sandra Kasturi is an award-winning poet, writer, and editor, with work appearing in many places including ON SPEC, several Tesseracts anthologies, and 80! Memories & Reflections on Ursula K. Le Guin.

Her two poetry collections are: The Animal Bridegroom (with an introduction by Neil Gaiman) and Come Late to the Love of Birds (both from Tightrope Books).

Sandra recently won second prize in The New Quarterly’s Nick Blatchford Occasional Verse Contest. She is also the winner of the Sunburst Award for her story “The Beautiful Gears of Dying” and ARC Magazine‘s Poem of the Year Award for “Old Men, Smoking.”