The Exorcist

The Exorcist, American horror film released in 1973, directed by William Friedkin and written by William Peter Blatty, who adapted the screenplay from his 1971 novel of the same name. The movie stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Linda Blair, Jason Miller, and Lee J. Cobb. The story chronicles a single mother’s struggle to save her daughter from a mysterious ailment, later revealed to be demonic possession. She enlists the help of two Roman Catholic priests, who attempt to perform an exorcism. Though it was initially received with mixed reviews, The Exorcist was a massive commercial success, bringing in $428 million in its box-office run. It also earned 10 Academy Award nominations, including for best picture and best director (the film would win two Oscars, for sound design and adapted screenplay). The Exorcist is a stylistic landmark for the supernatural horror genre and widely considered one of the greatest—and most unsettling—horror movies ever made.

Synopsis

The majority of The Exorcist—with the exception of the introduction, set in an archaeological site in Iraq and a brief scene in New York City—takes place in the Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C., where actress Chris MacNeil (Burstyn) has moved into a large rental house with her 12-year-old daughter, Regan (Blair), to shoot a film called Crash Course. Chris meets a Roman Catholic priest and psychologist, Father Karras (Miller), while on set. Karras is portrayed as having struggles with maintaining his faith, having been shaken by the recent mistreatment of his aging mother in New York City, whom he frequently visits and who later dies. Back in Washington, strange sounds begin emanating from the rental’s attic, and Regan complains that her bed is shaking in the night. At a dinner party, she urinates on the carpet, seemingly in a trance. Over the next several days, Regan becomes increasingly violent and is subjected to a series of invasive medical tests, which reveal nothing. Chris leaves her friend—also Crash Course’s director—Burke Dennings to watch over Regan one evening. Upon her return, Chris finds Regan alone and Dennings dead outside Regan’s second-story window, with his head turned forcibly backwards. Homicide detective William Kinderman (Cobb) questions Chris about the murder. Upon his leaving, Regan stabs her groin with a crucifix, turns her head backwards, and begins to speak in Denning’s voice.

Suspecting demonic possession, Chris enlists the help of Karras. He talks to Regan, who, speaking in a much deeper voice, claims to be the Devil and vomits green bile onto Karras. Chris then pleads for an exorcism. Upon a second interview, Karras reluctantly agrees with Chris and asks the Roman Catholic Church for permission to perform an exorcism, which it grants. Priest and archaeologist Lankester Merrin (von Sydow)—who was seen earlier in the film unearthing strange relics in Iraq—is summoned to assist Karras, and the two begin to perform the exorcism ritual. Regan reacts violently and proceeds to thrash, vomit, levitate the bed she is strapped to, and harass the priests. The demon, named Pazuzu, begins to take on the form of Karras’s deceased mother, forcing him out of the room. He returns to find Merrin dead and, while beating and choking Regan, begs the demon to take his own body as a host, which it does. In a final moment of clarity, Karras throws himself from Regan’s window, and he dies by suicide. Regan is healed and, later, has no memory of her possession as she and Chris leave town.

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Development and the “Exorcist curse”

The Exorcist is based loosely on accounts of a 1949 exorcism performed on a 13-year-old boy known alternatively by the pseudonyms “Roland Doe” and “Robbie Mannheim.” The screenplay was loyal to Blatty’s novel, though less ambiguous. Preproduction on the film was fraught and costly. The casting of the film was particularly challenging, as Friedkin stated that he wanted to cast unknown actors for the leading roles, a proposition that the film’s producers vehemently opposed. However, established stars, such as Jane Fonda and Audrey Hepburn, turned roles down. Eventually, Burstyn and Miller, the latter of whom replaced the more established and under-contract Stacy Keach, were cast, much to the chagrin of Warner Brothers executives.

Once the film began production, Friedkin was incredibly demanding of his cast and crew. Notably, he pushed for Regan’s room to be refrigerated to −20 °F (−29 °C) so that cameras could pick up the actors’ breath. He would also regularly shoot guns into the air to startle people on set. Friedkin’s insistence on pushing his cast and crew to physical extremes notably led to back injuries for Blair and Burstyn. Behind the scenes, a carpenter lost a thumb and a technician lost a toe.

The Exorcist is noted for the preponderance of accidents, injuries, and setbacks that occurred during production, which—Friedkin’s extreme directing style notwithstanding—has led some to believe that the film was cursed. Several people connected with the film in some capacity died while it was being made. An extra, tapped to play a nurse, was later convicted of murder and was also a suspect in a string of gruesome unsolved killings in New York City in the 1970s. In one particularly strange—and quite costly—incident, the whole MacNeil house set burned in a fire one weekend during production, with only Regan’s room left unharmed. This so-called “Exorcist curse” has become a legendary piece of film lore.