Does anyone know anything about those terrifying autopsy shears that appeared so prominently in the movie? Does such a tool even exist? I've searched the web and can't find anything that looks remotely like it.
Good question. I did an image search too and didn't find anything similar. They sure looked like the real thing in the movie, but who knows if maybe they were invented by the prop department...?
shareI too was curious, so after thorough research I found that the shears, or "giant scissors" you refer to were custom made for the film. No such giant tool exists for use in morgues, funeral homes, hospitals, etc... However, smaller versions of this instrument, which except for size look quite similar, ARE used. They are bone shears or rib shears and are used to cut ribs and/or bones in autopsies and dissection. There would be no use for such a tool capable of severing a spine/decapitating.
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after thorough research I found that the shears, or "giant scissors" you refer to were custom made for the film
So they were props after all... if you still have the sources, would you mind posting a link...?
I asked the person who originally posted the info for their source but that was 4 months ago and they never responded, so I'd call it circumstantial.
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Oh, okay - thank you.
sharewell that just ruins the movie for me.
shareNow that's just silly.
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No it's not, it's a huge part of the movie and it doesn't even exit???
shareOf course it's silly, if you can suspend disbelief to watch an insane movie like The Exorcist, certainly you can get over the fact that they created an insane weapon for it.
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Except the Exorcist is not insane, part of its power is the fact that it is so realistic in its portrayal of everything.
shareOh okay I see the problem here... I'm thinking the insane shears fit an insane movie, when the issue is simply that you're insane, and think The Exorcist is a documentary. Got it.
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you're beyond embarrassing.
shareNo, don't feel bad, I understand your confusion. Exorcist 1 was based on a documented case, part 3 on the other hand is a huge departure.
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Now you're just being rude.
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You got my point BACKWARD.
My point was to the guy who said it ruined the movie knowing the shears aren't real.
My point was if you can suspend disbelief and enjoy a crazy movie, it shouldn't be a big stretch to accept they created a crazy weapon for it.
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Okay, points well taken then - thanks for clarifying.
:)
Thank God, I was really starting to think I was in the Twilight Zone.
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No, not you. Me: Rod Serling is my constant mentor. He lives in an old pickle jar I've kept since the demise of his Night Gallery. He speaks to me every night.
Seriously, thanks for your patience in dealing with my misunderstanding and over-reaction.
:)
You are so very welcome. I loved Night Gallery when I was little, gave me nightmares, but man, Rod Serling was ahead of his time.
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Yeah! I'm ancient enough to have seen Twilight Zone in its original run. Scared the be-Jeezuz out of me, over and over again. And Night Gallery had some shockers, two of my favorites being the three-chapter pilot episode and of course, the one where bugs drill into Laurence Harvey's brain, to lay their eggs! A real skin-crawler.
shareBrilliant, mind bending series. Incident at Owl Creek Bridge of course is a masterpiece... I still have all of the twilight zone, One For the Ages is one of my favorites, but honestly, they're all so brilliant.
Check out The Quiet Earth, a little film that's reminiscent of The Twilight Zone.
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I love The Quiet Earth - imaginative, disturbing, with a really nice soundtrack.
:)
Oooh, that, I need to check out.
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It has a variety of styles, quite enjoyable -
http://www.amazon.com/Quiet-Earth-John-Charles/dp/B000003HC3/ref=sr_1_2?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1458510337&sr=1-2&keywords=the+quiet+earth
I've loved vinyl since I was a kid in the '70s and '80s, and even in 1989 when I had no record player, I loved vinyl and never felt CD convenience was better than vinyl... so my love never waned... and I watched the resurgence begin and grow slowly over 15-20 years... so when everyone was like, wow vinyl is back in 2014, I was sitting there like, it never went anywhere for me and a lot of my friends.
I do see the record of this soundtrack available, or as I like to say, avinylable.
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I grew up on vinyl and turntables and "needles", and 45 RPM and even some of my Dad's old 78 RPMs. There was a kind of magic in manually starting the turntable's mechanical process. I was always a fanatic about keeping my vinyl dust-free and regularly rotated. Of course, inevitably, they would get scratches and skips - to me the only advantage CD has over vinyl is the lack of scratch damage, and although it's completely subjective, I do think that the old playback stereo systems with vinyl records had a "warmer" sound. One label that was scratch-resistant was "RCA Dynagroove" - clear sound and a tough surface... My chief passion then and now was movie soundtracks, which were nearly always kind of hard to locate because they are neither Pop nor Classical. I did manage to get vinyl of Alfred Newman, Elmer Bernstein, Henry Mancini, Alex North and Jerry Goldsmith. Happily today's market offers a lot of soundtrack albums, some rare, some newly released...but I'm wandering...
shareHuge fan of soundtracks myself... I also keep a list on facebook i call my wish, want, found list, which is albums i wish existed on vinyl, what I want which does exist, and of course, titles i have found from my wish list.
Some of them I waited twenty years to see get a vinyl release, many more that still have a chance today.
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Yes, best of success on that process of getting more stuff on vinyl, since it seems to be enjoying a genuine resurgence. Also, it's nice to know that you like soundtracks, too. In my teens I used to drive my family crazy with my soundtracks...a different spin (PUN!) on kids who play rock and drive their families nuts...
shareOh, just another thought about those shears... I wonder if they could have a veterinary use for really large animals - bison, rhinos, elepants - that might explain their unlikely size...although the story is that the ones in the film were made especially for EX III...
shareMy mom met the director William Friedkin and got me a signed copy of his autobiography. Too bad I didn't think to have her ask him! Though he likely wouldn't have known anything about Exorcist 3.
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Good on your Mom! What a nice acquisition. ... but yeah, you're probably right that Friedkin wouldn't likely have known anything about the shears...
share