The Exorcist

I wouldn’t dare try to put into words how passionate I am about The Exorcist. This entire website alone says how crazy I am about this film, no? I’ll continue to pack this particular page and (and of course the whole website) with Exorcist paraphernalia while writing commentaries about the film and including snippets as I go. I might even write a complete review one day…

I’d give anything to be able to see this film for the first time all over again. No film before or since has been able to catapult me to such heights of fear, doubt and terror. In one swift viewing, The Exorcist restored my faith and opened the door to a world of films that I didn’t yet know existed. I was 14 when I first saw it, and it is something that I will never forget. The film is such that everyone always remembers where they were and who they were with when they first saw it.
What started as a developing story in a newspaper about a possessed boy inspired William Peter Blatty to pen the novel. It became a best-seller and was quickly optioned by Warner Brothers to be developed into a motion picture. Blatty would go on to write the screenplay and William Friedkin, fresh from his film highly acclaimed and award winning film The French Connection, was brought on to direct. In 1972, production on The Exorcist would begin– and what a famous production it would become.
Millions of dollars over budget and tales of people dying on set, it is now common legend that The Exorcist production was cursed. Even the set burned down at one point. Director Friedkin was ruthless at milking performances from his actors and the studio watched the dailies in horror as a 12-year-old girl cursed obcenities beyond her years and masturbated with a crucifix.
There will never be another film like The Exorcist.
The film went on to be the highest grossing motion picture of all time (until ’77 when Star Wars would sweep the screens) and even today remains the highest grossing horror film ever produced (as listed in the Guinness Book of World Records).
The Academy awarded William Peter Blatty an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay as well as Robert Knudson and Christopher Newman for their efforts in sound. Linda Blair’s nomination for Best Supporting Actress was surrounded by controversy when it was believed that her stunt double Eileen Dietz had performed most of her scenes (a false claim). While Ellen Burston, William Friedkin, Jason Miller and Owen Roizman would all be nominated but miss out on Oscars, the Academy’s big snub (in retrospect) may have been not awarding Th Exorcist Best Picture; that honor went to The Sting (a great film, sure– but hardy as genre defining and affective as The Exorcist). At least the Golden Globes got it right that year.
Over thirty five years later and The Exorcist still remains one of the defining horror films of all time. We still discuss and critique every aspect of the film. The original true-story, the startling Captain Howdy subliminal images, the spider-walk scene, the crucifix scene, the levitation, the pea soup… There’s been nothing like it since, and one has to wonder if, in today’s seemingly religious-free and desensitized society, we could ever see a film as horrific, frightening, nauseating and creepy as The Exorcist.