h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Great article Jimster! Thoroughly enjoyed reading that.

Interesting fact about it...(OK, so it might only be interesting to me)...Anton LaVey of the Church of Satan completely dismisses this film. Despite his intense involvement in Roman Polanski's "Rosemary's Baby" (which was out around the same time as The Exorcist) he was actively BANNED from the set of this film. Sounds like Blatty was getting a little too superstitious to me...!

Didn't know that - thanks!

Glad you liked the entry though

Jims

I have a million scary obsessive facts about Anton LaVey...

But yeh, great article. I didn't know that about the Linda Blair injury...shall look out for that next time I view the film!

Please don't think me rude, it's a common mistake.
LaVey was quite fond of creating legends about himself that had little or nothing to do with the truth.
Roman Polanski, Ira Levin, and countless other people associated with ROSEMARY'S BABY, all have stated that LaVey had nothing to do with the production of the film.
All the coven activity in the movie comes directly from Levin's novel.
Just thought you'd like to know.

Sure. Sure.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking LaVey for his creative mythmaking. It's one of the most entertaining (and truly Satanic--in his sense of the word) things about him. LaVey had a good deal of Barnum in him.
I'm not saying that he did not decry THE EXORCIST (he probably did, it's a very religious film and LaVey was an athiest with a strong contempt for Christianity) nor am I saying that Blatty didn't ban LaVey from the set. I have no idea.
All I'm saying is that LaVey understood mythology well; he founded his own church, invented his own rites . . . and came up with a lot of nifty stories about himself that were, perhaps 'Satanic' truth--if not historical fact.
Like any myth, anyone should feel free to believe or disregard it as they will.
I honestly didn't chime in to destroy anyone's beliefs, but as this article was about film history, I thought I might bring up the fact. Anton LaVey had nothing to do with ROSEMARY'S BABY. It's a fact, but that doesn't neccesarily make it the truth. Just depends on what you want to believe.

If he had nothing to do with the film, then why is he credited?

I don't believe he is credited on the film. (I can't find my tape of it to check for sure, though.) I checked Internet Movie Database, and the information there is confusing (or perhaps confused.) LaVey isn't in the credit list anywhere for ROSEMARY'S BABY, nor is the film mentioned in LaVey's own film credits, but the question of his involvement is brought up in his bio. The bio seemed to say that he might have been involved, but it doesn't specify how. If he was a consultant on the movie, it seems to have been in no official capacity, and not documented anywhere nor spoken of by anyone except LaVey himself. I had heard or read somewhere that LaVey claimed to have played the devil in the dream/rape sequence. I have never read LaVey himself claim that anywhere, so I have no idea whether he actually made this claim or not. The Imdb has Clay Tanner listed as the uncredited actor portraying the devil in the film. The reason I believe Polanski and Levin aren't lying when they say that LaVey had nothing to do with ROSEMARY'S BABY is--why would they? I can't see how LaVey's involvement would harm the film at all, and it might (as the rumor of it undoubtebly has) cause more people to see it.

1. He is credited.

2. Anyone who knows Dr. LaVey knows that that figure, and those eyes in the scene where the Devil impregnates Rosemary, are his. I know of numerous members of the CoS hierarchy that have had this discussion on another board that I use, and time and time again, they have stated, as they KNOW, that he was part of that film.

If Roman Polanski denies it, then he denies it. But ask yourself this: if he wasn't in the least bit interested in Satanism, then why did he make "The Ninth Gate"?

Very well, I'll defer to you. I am not terribly well versed in the facts of LaVey's life, and you seem to be, so I shall take your word for it. And even if it isn't true, I am rather disgusted to find myself attempting to deflate myth. There's nothing more irritating that some pinhead trying to muck up a good story with some little supposedly real factoid that said pinhead picked up from a source which is no more reliable than the original story. I shall desist, immediately, being that pinhead. LaVey working on ROSEMARY'S BABY is by far the more fun version, anyway, so I'll go with that. Apologies all round.
Also, we seem to have strayed somewhat from the point of the article, so in closing, I'll say this;
THE EXORCIST be good movie.
ROSEMARY'S BABY be good movie too.
As I can't seem to remember one single thing about THE NINTH GATE, I am inclined to say it be not as good movie.
But THE EXORCIST be very good and me likey much.

"There's nothing more irritating that some pinhead trying to muck up a good story with some little supposedly real factoid that said pinhead picked up from a source which is no more reliable than the original story."

Yup. There are plenty of reliable places to search out the truth (try www.churchofsatan.com NOT the .org site) though. Just beware of people that sound a wee bit too bitter.

"LaVey working on ROSEMARY'S BABY is by far the more fun version, anyway, so I'll go with that."

Exactly! And a good story wins over regardless.