Listen to the “absolutely terrifying” rejected score from ‘The Exorcist’
When it comes to horror cinema, there are few films that are as iconic as William Friedkin’s 1973 masterpiece The Exorcist. One of the greatest supernatural horror films of all time, The Exorcist is an indispensable part of horror history whose unquantifiable impact on popular culture is still evident for younger generations of audiences.
Based on the book by William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist established a notorious reputation before the film was even completed. While the production process was disrupted by internal issues as well as a fire which damaged the set, some audience members actually fainted or puked when they saw some of the film’s (in)famous scenes.
The Academy has a history of ignoring horror films as lesser art but due to the heavy subtextual themes of The Exorcist and the widespread conversations it generated, Friedkin’s gem became the first horror project to score a nomination for Best Picture at the Oscars. Almost half a century later, the cultural significance of the film extends far beyond that noteworthy accomplishment.
Horror cinema is a visceral experience, with the soundtrack often being as important as the visual power of the images on the screen. However, Jack Nitzsche’s score for The Exorcist is relatively subdued and is often defined by Mike Oldfield’s ‘Tubular Bells’. Despite the fact that the soundtrack has also become iconic now, there was a much more scary one in the works.
Before Nitzsche, Lalo Schifrin had been working on the score for a while and had composed six minutes of music based on the original trailer. Unfortunately, audiences were terrified by the horrifying trailer as well as Schifrin’s extremely effective music which made Warner Bros ask Friedkin to make the necessary changes in order to tone it down.
Although Friedkin was instructed to convey the message to Schifrin, he never did. In an interview, the composer recalled how it was one of his worst professional memories: “The truth is that it was one of the most unpleasant experiences of my life, but I have recently read that in order to triumph in your life, you may previously have some fails.”
Schifrin added that he was willing to do what Warner Bros. wanted but he never got the chance: “I could easily and perfectly do what they wanted because it was way too simple in relevance to what I have previously written, but Friedkin didn’t tell me what they said. I’m sure he did it deliberately. In the past we had an incident, caused by other reasons, and I think he wanted vengeance. This is my theory.”
Some horror fans have claimed that Schifrin used the score for The Exorcist but The Amityville Horror but the composer denied those claims. On the contrary, it was reported that Friedkin took Schifrin’s tapes and threw them away in a parking lot.
Listen to the rejected score for The Exorcist by Lalo Schifrin below.
