Skegness Magazine

It was with much interest that I read these 1973 local news stories about whether to ban showing The Exorcist horror film at the Tower Cinema, Skegness, and the clergy standingby to help the affected.

The film shocked the world when it was first released and reports of people ‘going mad’ after seeing it were ricocheting all over the world. I saw the film when I was (almost) eighteen and must admit, I had to leave the lights on at night for a long while after! Loved Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells soundtrack but I had to skip playing the bits that sounded like the satanic voices! Expresso coffee machines had the same bone-chilling sounds!

You may laugh, but don’t forget back then, we weren’t subjected, or anethetised to such horrors as is today’s generation.

Committee vote to see The Exorcist

SIXTEEN letters objecting to the controversial X-film, “The Exorcist” being shown at the Tower Cinema, Skegness, turned East Lindsey District Council Health Committee into a reluctant board of censors on Friday.
They decided to see the film before allowing it to be shown to the public.
Representations had been received from Skegness Town Council, two Methodist ministers, the Baptist minister, and the Salvation Army lieutenant as well as private people.

The committee were given a synopsis of the film about the struggle by two priests to rid a 12-year-old girl of an evil spirit which has, made her dangerously and obscenely violent.

OFFENSIVE
The administration director, Mr David Laverick, told them they had powers to stop it being shown on certain grounds, two of which were that they considered the film to be offensive to public decency or injurious to morality.

Coun Harold Fainlight (Skegness) said: “There’s a body of opinion in the town which feels this is not a suitable film to be shown. We ought to see the film first. Unless one has seen it one can’t say what it’s like.”

REGULARLY

The chairman, Coun Roosevelt Wilkinson (Little Cawthorpe), said: “Some people go regularly to the cinema regardless or what the film is. I understand that at Grimsby some people were fainting at every performance.”

Coun Syd Patchett (Mablethorpe) thought the committee would be most irresponsible to say “no” on hearsay. He was doubtful about sitting in judgment on what mature adults should see. Some of the other X-films might have an equally bad effect on people.
The Rev Douglas Tunbridge (Louth) replied: “I am bothered about the immature adults and the people who are under age and will get in to see it. It happens with every film.

DAMAGE
“As we have a responsibility in law we ought to exercise it on behalf of those who are immature and might well receive some damage to their lives by seeing it.”
Asked if they should deprive those who wanted to see it, he said: “We have a right to protect the weaker even at the expense of denying the stronger.
“The ultimate is to allow everything, unchecked, unchallenged. I believe there must be certain checks and safeguards within our society.”
CLERGY PRAISE CINEMA CHIEF

Exorcistmania help just a call away

EVERYONE who buys a ticket to see “The Exorcist” at the Tower Cinema, Skegness, next week will also be handed a leaflet from the Skegness Council of Christian Churches.

Ministers were among those whose protests led to the East Lindsey District Council’s Environmental Health Committee seeing a preview of the controversial X film. They decided by one vote to allow it to be shown to the public.
Mr Fairhurst said this week: ” We are pleased to have the co-operation of the cinema manager in this regard. I think this is quite a new approach.”
He said that having made their protest, the ministers had accepted what had been democratically decided and were now seeking, in cooperation with the management, to do the best they could for anyone affected by the film.
Mr Wells, Rector of Skegness, who is also chairman of the Council of Churches, expressed pleasure at the management’s cooperation. He said he would take an early opportunity to see the film as he thought that would make it easier for him to help anyone distressed by it.

The manager, Mr E. R. Morgan, said there would be no banners or other church activity at the cinema — just the leaflets offering a service to those who came to see the film.
“We shall be very hot on under-18’s,” he declared. In addition to the usual practice of asking anyone whom they suspected of being under age to sign their name and write their address in a special book before issuing them with a ticket for an X film, he said he was asking the police to have a long-serving Skegness officer on duty outside who could help sort out any doubtful cases.
Mr Morgan said he would also approach the St John Ambulance Brigade to be on duty in case any of the filmgoers fainted.

DISTRESS CALLS
The Rev Tom Willis, Vicar of St Paul’s, Hull, who was a member of the counselling team in Hull that answered 100 calls of distress from people after they had seen ” The Exorcist,” is to address an open meeting in St Matthew’s church hall on Saturday and preach in St Clement’s and St Matthew’s churches on Sunday.
Mr Willis said that he would be speaking about the occult, which a lot of people were dabbling in, and would be referring to “The Exorcist.”

When the film came to Hull he had 15 of the counselling cases to deal with.
Mr Willis, who has seen “The Exorcist”, said : “I wouldn’t condemn the film as such. It’s a very powerful art form. It’s very strong meat and not everyone is capable of seeing it and not being bothered about it.
“If people are of a nervous disposition or if they have had any deep psychological problems in recent years or if people have a squeamishness about physical things like sick and blood and are put off by hospitals, then they ought not to go.”