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The Exorcist

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Wikipedia article




{{Infobox film

| name = The Exorcist

| image = Exorcist ver2.jpg

| alt = A man with a hat on his head, holding a suitcase, arrives in from of a house in the night

| caption = Theatrical release poster by Bill Gold

| director = William Friedkin

| writer = William Peter Blatty

| based_on =

| producer = William Peter Blatty

| starring =

| cinematography = Owen Roizman

| editing =

| music = Jack Nitzsche

| studio = Hoya Productions

| distributor = Warner Bros.

| released =

| runtime =

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget = $12 million

| gross =

}}

'The Exorcist' is a 1973 American supernatural horror film directed by William Friedkin and written for the screen by William Peter Blatty, based on his 1971 novel of the same name. It stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty Winn, Jack MacGowran (in his final film role), Jason Miller and Linda Blair. It follows the demonic possession of a young girl and her mother's attempt to rescue her through an exorcism conducted by a pair of Catholic priests.

The book was a bestseller, but Blatty, who also produced, and Friedkin, his choice for director, had difficulty casting the film. Unable to hire major stars of the era, they cast Burstyn, a relative unknown, as well as unknowns Blair and Miller (author of a hit play with no film acting experience), choices vigorously opposed by Warner Brothers executives. Principal photography was also difficult. A fire destroyed most of the set, and Blair and Burstyn suffered accidental long-term injuries. Production took twice as long as scheduled and cost more than twice the initial budget.

'The Exorcist' was released in 24 theaters in the United States and Canada in late December 1973. Audiences flocked to it despite mixed reviews, waiting in long lines during winter weather, many more than once. Some viewers suffered adverse physical reactions, fainting or vomiting to scenes in which the protagonist undergoes a realistic cerebral angiography and later violently masturbates with a crucifix. Heart attacks and a miscarriage were reported among viewers; a psychiatric journal published a paper on "cinematic neurosis" triggered by the film. Many children were allowed to see it, leading to charges that the MPAA ratings board had accommodated Warner Bros by giving the film an R-rating instead of the X-rating they thought it deserved, in order to ensure its commercial success. Several cities attempted to ban it outright or prevent children from attending.

The cultural conversation around the film, which also encompassed its treatment of Catholicism, helped it become the first horror film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, one of 10 for which it was nominated, and winning for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound. It has had several sequels, and was the highest-grossing R-rated horror film (unadjusted for inflation) until the 2017 release of 'It'. 'The Exorcist' has had a significant influence on popular culture and has received critical acclaim, with several publications regarding it as one of the greatest horror films ever made. English film critic Mark Kermode named it his "favorite film of all time". In 2010, the Library of Congress selected the film to be preserved in its National Film Registry, citing it as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Plot



Theatrical cut

In northern Iraq, Catholic priest Lankester Merrin participates in an archaeological dig which unearths a medallion of Saint Joseph and an artifact representing Pazuzu, an ancient demon. As Merrin prepares to leave Iraq, he encounters a large statue of Pazuzu and observes two dogs fighting in the desert.

In Georgetown, actress Chris MacNeil works on a film directed by her friend Burke Dennings. Chris lives for the production in a well-appointed house with servants and her daughter Regan. Georgetown-based priest Damien Karras visits his mother in New York. He confides to a colleague that he feels unfit in his role as counselor to other priests, citing a crisis of faith. Chris hears noises in the attic, and Regan tells her of an imaginary friend named "Captain Howdy". In a local church, a statue of Mary is found desecrated.

Chris hosts a party. Karras' friend Father Dyer, a guest, explains Karras' role as a counselor, mentioning that Karras's mother died recently. Regan appears and urinates on the carpet. After Chris puts Regan to bed, her bed shakes violently. Dyer consoles Karras, and Karras expresses guilt at not having been with his mother when she died. Karras dreams of his mother, a Saint Joseph medallion andbrieflya demonic face.

Regan becomes violent. She is subjected to several medical tests which fail to find anything physically wrong with her. During a house call, a demon possesses Regan's body; the possessed Regan exhibits abnormal strength. One night, Chris finds the house empty except for a sleeping Regan. Dennings is found dead at the foot of an outdoor staircase beneath Regan's window. Homicide detective William Kinderman questions Karras, confiding that Dennings' body was found with its head turned backward.

Regan's condition worsens, and her body becomes covered with sores. A doctor mentions exorcism as a remote option, suggesting a possible psychological benefit. Kinderman visits Chris, explaining that the only plausible explanation for Dennings' death is that he was pushed from Regan's window. As Kinderman leaves, the possessed Regan stabs her genitals with a crucifix. To Chris' horror, the possessed Regan turns her head backwards and speaks in Dennings' voice. The possessed Regan is confined to her bedroom.

Chris seeks out Karras, who visits Regan. Over two meetings, the possessed Regan claims to be the Devil himself, projectile vomits into Karras' face, speaks in tongues, and reacts violently when tap water is sprinkled on her, which Karras had claimed was holy watera point against genuine possession. The demon says it will remain in Regan until she is dead. Desperate, Chris confides that the possessed Regan killed Dennings. At night, Regan's nanny calls Karras to the house. They witness the words "help me" materialize on Regan's skin. Still ambivalent, Karras nevertheless concludes that an exorcism is warranted. His superior grants permission on the condition that an experienced priest leads the ritual while Karras assists. Merrin, having performed an exorcism before, is summoned.

Merrin arrives at the house, warning Karras that the demon uses a psychological attack. As the priests read from the Roman Ritual, the demon curses them. It focuses on Karras, verbally attacking his loss of faith and guilt over the circumstances of his mother's death. The priests rest momentarily and Merrin, shaking, takes nitroglycerin. Karras enters the bedroom where the demon appears as his mother. Showing weakness, Karras exclaims that the demon is not his mother. Merrin excuses Karras and continues the exorcism by himself. Karras assures Chris that Regan will not die and re-enters the room, finding Merrin dead. Karras beats the possessed Regan and demands that the demon take him instead. The demon rips a medallion of Saint Joseph from Karras' neck and begins to possess him, freeing Regan. Karras hurls himself out the window, tumbling down the stairs outside. Chris and Kinderman enter the room. Chris embraces the healed Regan, and Kinderman surveys the violence and confusion. Outside, Dyer administers the last rites as Karras dies.

The MacNeils prepare to leave, and Father Dyer says goodbye. Despite having no memory of her ordeal, Regan is moved by the sight of Dyer's clerical collar to kiss him on the cheek. As the MacNeils leave, Chris gives Dyer the medallion found in Regan's room.

Director's cut ending

In 2000, "The Version You've Never Seen" or the "Extended Director's Cut", was released. In the ending of this version, when Chris gives Karras' medallion to Dyer, Dyer places it back in her hand and suggests that she keep it. After she and Regan drive away, Dyer pauses at the top of the stone steps before walking away and coming across Kinderman, who narrowly missed Chris and Regan's departure; Kinderman and Dyer begin to develop a friendship.

Cast



Production



Aspects of Blatty's novel were inspired by the 1949 exorcism performed on an anonymous boy known as "Roland Doe" or "Robbie Mannheim" (pseudonyms) by the Jesuit priest William S. Bowdern. The novel changed several details of the case, such as the sex and age of the allegedly possessed victim. Harper & Row, strongly believing the book would sell well, published it and sent Blatty on a 26-city book tour to promote it. But despite enthusiastic reviews, sales were not as strong as the publisher had hoped; at one point on the book tour the bookstore cancelled Blatty's appearance because, it told him, so few copies had been sold that it was remaindering the unsold ones back to the publisher. Harper was about to give up and had even, according to Blatty, treated him to a farewell lunch, when an opportunity to appear on 'The Dick Cavett Show' came up after one guest canceled and the other, actor Robert Shaw, was too drunk to go on. Cavett was uninterested in the supernatural, but let Blatty talk about 'The Exorcist' at length, captivating the audience with discussions of whether the devil existed. Soon afterwards the novel was atop the 'New York Times' best seller list.

Despite Blatty's previous experience working in Hollywood as a writer for Blake Edwards' films, film studios had generally been uninterested in adapting 'The Exorcist' before its publication. Shirley MacLaine, a friend of Blatty's on whom he had based the Chris McNeil character in the novel, to the point of using some things she had said in the past as dialogue, had been an exception. But she and her partners refused to back the film if, as Blatty insisted, he not only write the screenplay but produce.

After it became a bestseller, Warner Bros. bought the movie rights for $641,000 ($ in modern dollars). He recalled that studio head John Calley had been reading the book at his home, alone, in his bedroom, and found his dog unusually unwilling to join him on the bed. He tried to drag the dog onto the bed but the animal resisted vigorously. When he finally succeeded, he found the book was hot to the touch.

Writing



Blatty's screenplay follows the plot of his novel closely, but narrows the story's focus. Subplots like the desecration of the churches (and the relationship between Karras and Kinderman that develops from the latter's investigation), Karras's efforts to get the Church bureaucracy to approve the exorcism, and the ongoing medical investigations of Regan's condition, are acknowledged in the film but to a much lesser degree than they are in the novel. Similarly, characters such as Chris's household staff, Dennings, and Regan's father, play a much smaller role, and the overall time frame of the plot is condensed.

Some scenes, particularly those with sexual content, were toned down for the movie since an actress of approximately Regan's age was expected to be playing the part. The scene where Regan masturbates with a crucifix was, in the book, more prolonged and explicit, with Regan seriously injuring herself yet attaining orgasm. The film also excludes the detail from the book that when possessed, Regan experiences constant diarrhea, requiring that she wear a diaper and giving her room a strong odor. One of the film's religious advisers, Father John Nicola, who had opposed including both the crucifix scene and the desecration, nevertheless advised that the language used by Pazuzu when possessing Regan should be even more profane than it was in the book, to an extent he considered more realistic; it was changed accordingly.

Blatty also made the screenplay unambiguous about Regan's condition. In his novel every symptom and behavior she exhibits that might indicate possession is counterbalanced with a reference to an actual case where the same phenomena were found to have natural, scientific causes. Beyond Karras' initial professional skepticism, that perspective is absent from the film.

When Friedkin came onto the project as director, Blatty expected that, as directors usually do, he would propose some changes to the story. But Friedkin did not, insisting on following the novel closely. According to Blatty, Friedkin even asked him, in one scene, to restore some slight changes to his dialogue to what it had originally been in the book.

Casting



The film's lead roles, particularly Regan, were not easily cast. Although many major stars of the era were considered for the role, with Stacy Keach signed to play Father Karras at one point, Blatty and Friedkin ultimately went with less well-known actors, to the consternation of the studio.

Chris and Father Karras



The studio wanted Marlon Brando for the role of Lankester Merrin. Friedkin immediately vetoed this by stating it would become a "Brando movie". Jack Nicholson was up for the part of Karras before Stacy Keach was hired by Blatty. According to Friedkin, Paul Newman also wanted to portray Karras.

Friedkin then spotted Jason Miller following a performance of Miller's play 'That Championship Season' in New York, and asked to talk to him. He originally went to talk to Miller solely about the lapsed Catholicism in the play, as background for the film. Since Miller had not read the novel, Friedkin left him a copy.

Three A-list actresses of the time were considered for Chris. Friedkin first approached Audrey Hepburn, who said she was willing to take the role but only if the movie could be shot in Rome, where she had moved with her husband. Since that would have raised the costs of the movie considerably, created language barriers and made it impossible to work with crew members Friedkin was comfortable with, like cinematographer Owen Roizman, he looked next to Anne Bancroft. She, too, was willing but asked if production could be delayed nine months as she had just gotten pregnant. Again, Friedkin declined her request as he could not wait that long; he also did not think the material was something she would want to be working on while tending to a newborn, which would also pose its own challenges. Jane Fonda, next on the list, purportedly derided the film and turned it down.

Blatty suggested his friend Shirley MacLaine for the part, but Friedkin was hesitant to cast her, given her lead role in another possession film, 'The Possession of Joel Delaney', two years before. Ellen Burstyn received the part after she phoned Friedkin and emphatically stated that she was "destined" to play Chris. Studio head Ted Ashley vigorously opposed casting her, not only telling Friedkin that he would do so over his dead body, but dramatizing that opposition by making Friedkin walk over him as he lay on the floor, then grabbing the director's leg and telling him he would come back from the dead if necessary to keep Friedkin from doing so. However, no other alternatives emerged, and Ashley relented.

With Burstyn now set in the part, Friedkin received a surprise return call from Miller. He had read the novel, and told the director "that guy is me", referring to Father Karras. Miller had had a Catholic education, and had studied to be a Jesuit priest himself for three years at Catholic University of America (also in Washington) until experiencing a spiritual crisis, as Karras does at the beginning of the story. Friedkin thanked him for his interest but told him Keach had already been signed.

Miller, who had done some stage acting but had never been in a film, asked to at least be given a screen test. After taking the train to Los Angeles since he disliked flying, Friedkin had the playwright and Burstyn do the scene where Chris tells Karras she thinks Regan might be possessed. Afterwards, he had Burstyn interview Miller about his life with the camera focusing on him from over her shoulder, and finally asked Miller to say Mass as if for the first time.

Burstyn felt that Miller was too short for the part, unlike her boyfriend at the time, whom Friedkin had auditioned but passed on. The director felt the test was promising but, after viewing the footage the next morning, realized Miller's "dark good looks, haunted eyes, quiet intensity, and low, compassionate voice", qualities which to him evoked John Garfield, were exactly what the part needed. The studio bought out Keach's contract.

Regan



Directors considered for the project were skeptical that a young actress could carry the film. Mike Nichols had turned down 'The Exorcist' specifically because he did not believe a 12-year-old girl could play the part, as well as able to handle the likely psychological stress it would cause, could be found. The first actresses considered for the part had been in other successful films and television series. Pamelyn Ferdin, a veteran of science fiction and supernatural drama, was a candidate, but was ultimately turned down because she was too familiar. Denise Nickerson, who had apeared in two roles on the horror-soap opera 'Dark Shadows' and had played Violet Beauregarde in 'Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory', said in later interviews her family refused to let her play the part because the film was too dark. Jamie Lee Curtis was asked to audition, but her mother Janet Leigh declined.

Friedkin had started to interview young women as old as 16 who looked young enough to play Regan, but was not finding any who seemed able to. Then Elinore Blair came in unannounced to the director's New York office with her daughter Linda; her agency had not sent her for the part, but she had previously met with Warner Bros. Pictures' casting department and then with Friedkin. Both mother and daughter impressed the director. Elinore was not a typical stage mother, and Linda's credits were primarily in modeling and a single soap opera role; she was mainly interested in showing and riding horses around her Westport, Connecticut, home. "[S]mart but not precocious. Cute but not beautiful. A normal, happy 12-year-old girl", Friedkin later recalled.

With Linda having demonstrated the personal qualities Friedkin was looking for, he then went on to see whether she could handle the material. He asked if she knew what 'The Exorcist' was about; she told him she had read the book. "[I]t's about a little girl who gets possessed by the devil and does a whole bunch of bad things." Friedkin then asked her what sort of bad things she meant. "[S]he pushes a man out of her bedroom window and she hits her mother across the face and she masturbates with a crucifix." Friedkin then asked Linda if she knew what masturbation meant. "It's like jerking off, isn't it?", and she giggled a little bit. "Have you ever done that?" he asked. "Sure; haven't you?" she responded.

She was quickly cast as Regan after tests with Burstyn; Friedkin wanted to keep that level of spontaneity on set. "After all these difficult scenes she'd tiptoe around and giggle, after every bit", Blatty recalled. "It was all a big funhouse ride for her. She was disturbed only one time, and that was when her pet mouse died."

Friedkin originally intended to use Blair's voice, electronically deepened and roughened, for the demon's dialogue. He felt this worked fine in some places, but the scenes with the demon confronting the two priests lacked the dramatic power required and selected Mercedes McCambridge, an experienced voice actress and Oscar winner, to provide the demon's voice. After filming, Warners did not credit her, until Screen Actors Guild arbitration. Ken Nordine was also considered for the demon's voice, but Friedkin did not want to use a man's voice.

Actress Eileen Dietz, 15 years older than Blair, stood in for Blair in the crucifix scene, the fistfight with Father Karras, and other scenes that were too violent or disturbing for Blair to perform. She also appears as the face of Pazuzu.

Supporting roles



The film's supporting roles were more quickly cast. After Blatty showed Friedkin a photograph of Gerald Lankester Harding, his inspiration for Father Merrin, Friedkin immediately thought of Max von Sydow for the part; he accepted it as soon as he finished reading the script. While out seeing a play starring an actor who had been recommended to them for the film, Blatty and Friedkin ran into Lee J. Cobb, who was cast as Lt. Kinderman. Father William O'Malley, another Jesuit priest who taught English and theology at McQuaid Jesuit High School outside Rochester, New York, had become acquainted with Blatty through his criticism of the novel. After Blatty introduced him to Friedkin, they decided to cast him as Father Dyer, a character O'Malley had considered clichd in the novel.

Greek actor Titos Vandis was cast as Father Karras's uncle. He wore a hat in one shot to obscure his face, as Friedkin felt that it would be connected with Vandis's previous role in the Woody Allen film 'Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Sex* (*But Were Afraid to Ask)'.

Direction



Warners had approached Arthur Penn, Stanley Kubrick, and Mike Nichols to direct, all of whom turned the project down. Blatty recalled in 2015 that one director wanted to relocate the film to Salem, Massachusetts, which he rejected because he considered the contrast between the worldly nature of the capital and the supernatural aspects of the plot to be essential to the film.

Originally Mark Rydell was hired to direct, but William Peter Blatty insisted on Friedkin as he had been impressed by 'The French Connection'. He also knew Friedkin, having met him before that film was made, and had lunch while working with Edwards on the 'Darling Lili' screenplay, some of which the director had critiqued for him. For 'The Exorcist', Blatty recalled thinking in a 2000 interview, "[h]ere is a director who can bring the look of documentary realism to this incredible story, and also, just as important, here is a guy who is never going to lie to me." Even after all of the other higher-profile directors Warners wanted had turned the film down, the studio was still resistant, until 'The French Connection' was released to commercial success and a Best Picture Academy Award.

Early in production, Blatty fired Friedkin per the latter's challenge to do so after the two clashed over what the director alleged was his poorly handled refusal of Burstyn's request that a limousine pick her up from the airport, a policy Friedkin himself had instituted. Blatty assumed the two would soon reconcile. Two days later, according to Blatty, he was summoned to a meeting with not only Friedkin but his agent and seven studio lawyers who told Blatty he could not under any circumstances fire the director. After that, Blatty recalled to Peter Biskind, he informed the studio he could no longer have any responsibility for controlling the film's budget, which he had believed to be his primary role as the film's producer; he and Friedkin did reconcile and got along well for the rest of the picture. Production costs soon exceeded the film's initial $4.2 million ($ in modern dollars) budget.

Friedkin went to great lengths manipulating the actors, reminiscent of the old Hollywood directing style, to get the genuine reactions he wanted. Later, Friedkin was unsatisfied with O'Malley's performance as Dyer administers extreme unction to the dying Karras at the end of the film, telling him he was doing it "by the numbers". O'Malley protested that it was 2:30 a.m. and he had just administered last rites to his friend for the 15th time. Friedkin then asked if O'Malley trusted him, and when the priest said yes, Friedkin slapped him hard across the face to generate a deeply solemn yet literally shaken reaction for the scene, offending the many Catholic crew members on set. He also fired blanks without warning to elicit shock from Miller for a take. Friedkin also told Miller that the pea soup would hit him in the chest during the projectile vomiting scene, and rehearsed it that way. But when filmed, the soup hit his face, resulting in his disgusted reaction.

Other members of the crew found Friedkin demanding and sometimes difficult to work with. One of the first shots for the movie when production began in New York was bacon being cooked in a griddle. The shot begins as a close-up and then pulls back. A wall had been built opposite the stove, leaving almost no space for the dolly, so Friedkin had shooting halted while it was removed. After that, he decided he did not like the way the bacon curled as it was being cooked, so the prop master was sent to look for preservative-free bacon, difficult to find at the time, further delaying the scene. Another crewmember recalls returning after three days of sick leave to find Friedkin still shooting the same scene.

As Blatty had with him, Friedkin also fired and rehired crew regularly. One crewmember recalls seeing the director shake hands warmly with someone, and then seconds later tell a second person to "get this guy outta here". This mercurial behavior led the crew to call him "Wacky Willy".

Cinematography



Director of photography Owen Roizman had worked with Friedkin in that capacity on 'The French Connection'. The two collaborated again on 'The Exorcist', with Roizman in charge of filming every scene in the film save those in the Iraqi prologue, shot by Billy Williams. In a 1974 interview with 'American Cinematographer', the magazine of the American Society of Cinematographers, Roizman discussed 'The Exorcist' at length.

"[H]e figured that since we'd done so well the last time, maybe we could do it again", Roizman said, recalling how Friedkin had gotten him to work on 'The Exorcist'. They agreed that, like their earlier film, they wanted the next one to look as if shot with available light. But this time they would eschew 'Connection's documentary look. The MacNeil house was, unlike house interiors in horror films such as 'Psycho', designed to look normal and inviting. "What we tried to do, by means of the lighting, was to give it a kind of ominous feeling as if some lurking, mysterious thing were hanging over it. That's about as far as we went with photographic style."

There were nonetheless scenes in the house that were challenging to film, most notably Regan's bedroom, where the exorcism takes place. Following the novel, Friedkin wanted that set to be cold, cold enough that the actors' breath could be seen. A refrigeration system was installed that could lower the temperature within to . Originally it was hoped that the room would not have to be chilled to that point, but at just below freezing, while the actors' breath 'was' visible, the filming equipment warmed the set enough to quickly negate that. Going down to worked, but according to Roizman Friedkin decided on the maximum in order to improve the actors' performance. "An actor on his knees for 15 minutes at 20 below zero is really going to feel cold. It worked out very well."

Having gotten the actors' breath to appear, the next challenge was filming it. This required backlighting the actors, which while it is easy enough to do in still photography is much harder while filming a movie. "[W]ith the actors moving all the time, it got to be a bit difficult. It was always a matter of finding a place to hide the backlight and finding a way to keep it off of the actors", Roizman said.

It was easier to film some of the other supernatural manifestations, such as the bed rocking and the curtains blowing, in Regan's room since the walls and ceiling of the set were were wild, or capable of being moved to accommodate a camera, until the scene where the ceiling cracks and it was necessary to use a hard one afterwards. The levitation scene, for which a hole was cut in the ceiling for the rig to go through, was the most challenging. Roizman said that while he had filmed similar scenes many times in television commercials, painting the wires to match the background so they would not show on camera was difficult on 'The Exorcist' because of the changes in background. "We had to practically paint them frame by frame,", he told the magazine. While most directors would have been satisfied to use editing to smooth out the scene, Friedkin wanted it in a single take.

Lighting the room in general during the exorcism scenes was challenging because at one point one of the lamps lighting it falls on the floor; changing the way it had to be lit to preserve the impression of available light. At other times they flicker and dim, supposedly due to Pazuzu's influence. Lastly, at the end of the sequence, Friedkin wanted the lighting's mood to change, to "have an ethereal qualitya very soft, glowing, cool sort of thing" without any apparent change in its sources. "We tried, at that point, to work with absolutely no shadows in the room, using just bounce lightand I think we achieved the correct overall effect."

Since it was so necessary to hide the lights with such a small room and so many people in it both on and off camera, Roizman and his crew mostly used "inkies", small incandescent bulb lights usually used to accentuate objects within the frame, "hidden wherever we could find a place for one. We were constantly controlling them with dimmers, so that if someone got too close to one, we'd take it down." He recalls his gaffer at one point controlling four of them; as a joke he put sheet music in front of the man one day. Due to the low light used, it was necessary to use wide aperture settings in most of the interiors, not just Regan's room. "I shot 90 percent of the picture wide open, as usual."

Filming

, looking north, Georgetown, Washington, D.C.

The film's opening sequences were filmed in and near the city of Mosul, Iraq. The archaeological dig site seen at the film's beginning is ancient Hatra, to the city's south. Temperatures during the days filming took place there reached , limiting shooting to the early mornings and evenings.

The stairs were padded with half-inch-thick rubber to film the death of the character Father Damien Karras. Because the house from which he falls was set back slightly from the steps, the crew built an eastward extension with a false front to film the scene. The stuntman tumbled down the stairs twice. Georgetown University students charged people around $5 each to watch the stunt from the rooftops.

Although the film is set in Washington, D.C., many interior scenes were shot in various parts of New York City. The MacNeil residence interiors were filmed at CECO Studios in Manhattan. The bedroom set was refrigerated to for the exorcism scenes, cold enough that a thin layer of snow fell within it one humid morning, so the characters' breath would be visible. Since the set lighting warmed the air, it could only remain cold enough for three minutes of filming at a time.

Exteriors of the MacNeil house were filmed using a family home on 36th and Prospect in Washington, on the former site of E. D. E. N. Southworth's residence. A mansard roof was added for the scene in which Chris investigates the scratching noises in the attic.

in the Bronx.

The scene where Father Karras listens to the tapes of Regan's dialogue was filmed in the basement of Keating Hall at Fordham University in the Bronx. O'Malley, who plays Father Joseph Dyer in the film, was an actual Jesuit priest and an assistant professor of theology at Fordham at the time.

The interior of Karras' room at Georgetown was a meticulous reconstruction of theology professor Father Thomas M. King's "corridor Jesuit" room in New North Hall. King's room was photographed by production staff after a visit by Blatty, a Georgetown graduate, and Friedkin. Back in New York, every element of King's room, including posters and books, was recreated, including a poster of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a theologian on whom Merrin was loosely based. Georgetown was paid a thousand dollars ($ in modern dollars) per day of filming. Locations on campus included both exteriors such as Burstyn's first scene, shot on the steps of the Flemish Romanesque Healy Hall, and interiors such as the defilement of the statue of the Virgin Mary in Dahlgren Chapel, and the Archbishop's office, actually the office of the university's president. One scene was filmed in The Tombs, a student hangout across from the steps.

Father Merrin's arrival scene



Father Merrin's arrival scene was filmed on Max von Sydow's first day on set. The scene where he steps out of a cab and stands in front of the MacNeil residence, silhouetted in a misty streetlamp's glow and staring up at a beam of light from a bedroom window, is one of the most famous scenes in the movie, used for film posters and home media release covers. It was inspired by Ren Magritte's 1954 painting 'Empire of Light' ('L'Empire des lumires').

"Spider-walk" scene



Stuntwoman Ann Miles performed the spider-walk scene in November 1972. Friedkin deleted this scene over Blatty's objection just prior to the premiere, since he thought it appeared too early in the film. In the book, the spider-walk is more muted, consisting of Regan following Sharon around near the floor and flicking a snakelike tongue at her ankles. A take more like this was filmed. A different take showing Regan with blood flowing from her mouth was inserted into the 2000 director's cut of the film.

Editing

Special effects



'The Exorcist' has several special effects, engineered by makeup artist Dick Smith. In one scene from the film, Max von Sydow is actually wearing more makeup than Linda Blair, as Friedkin wanted some very detailed facial close-ups. At the time of shooting, von Sydow was 44, made up to look 30 years older. Many viewers did not realize he was made up at all, which Alan McKenzie calls "a tribute" to Smith.Alan McKenzie, [https://www.amazon.com/Hollywood-Tricks-Trade-Alan-McKenzie/dp/0831742402 'Hollywood Tricks of The Trade'] , p.122

The scene in which the demonic entity leaves Father Karras was originally achieved by filming Miller in possession makeup, then stopping the camera and shooting him again with makeup removed. This creates a noticeable jump in Karras' position as he is unpossessed. The 25th anniversary video smooths over the jumpy transition with a subtle computer morphing effect, an update was not featured in prints used for Warner's 75th anniversary at film festivals.

To appease Blatty and some fans, Friedkin restored the bloody variant of the spider-walk scene for the 2000 theatrical re-release. Linda R. Hager, the lighting double for Linda Blair, was incorrectly credited as the stunt performer. In 2015, Warner acknowledged that Miles is the only person who performed the stunt.

Sound effects



Special sound effects for the film were created by Ron Nagle, Doc Siegel, Gonzalo Gavira, and Bob Fine. Nagle spent two weeks recording animal sounds, including bees, dogs, hamsters, and pigs; these were incorporated into the multilayered mix of the demon's voice. Gavira achieved the sound effect of Regan's head rotating by twisting a leather wallet.

Alleged subliminal imagery



'The Exorcist' was also at the center of controversy due to its alleged use of subliminal imagery introduced as special effects during the production of the film. Wilson Bryan Key wrote a whole chapter on the film in his book 'Media Sexploitation', alleging repeated use of subliminal and semi-subliminal imagery and sound effects. Key observed the use of the Pazuzu face (which Key assumed was Jason Miller in death mask makeup). He claimed that the safety padding on the bedposts was shaped to cast phallic shadows on the wall and that a skull face is superimposed into one of Father Merrin's breath clouds. Key also wrote much about the sound design, identifying the use of pig squeals, for instance, and giving his opinion of the subliminal intent.

A detailed 1991 article in 'Video Watchdog' examined the phenomenon, providing still frames with several uses of subliminal "flashing" throughout the film. Friedkin told the authors, "I saw subliminal cuts in a number of films before I ever put them in 'The Exorcist', and I thought it was a very effective storytelling device ... The subliminal editing in 'The Exorcist' was done for 'dramatic' effect to create, achieve, and sustain a kind of dreamlike state." These short flashes have been described as "[not] truly subliminal" and "quasi-" or "semi-subliminal". In an interview for a 1999 book about the film, Blatty addressed the controversy by explaining that, "There are no subliminal images. If you can see it, it's not subliminal."

Titles



The editing of the title sequence was the first major project for the film title designer Dan Perri. As a result of the success of 'The Exorcist', Perri went on to design opening titles for a number of major films including 'Taxi Driver' (1976), 'Star Wars' (1977), and 'Gangs of New York' (2002).

Music

Friedkin rejected Lalo Schifrin's working score. The composer had written six minutes of music for the initial trailer but audiences were reportedly too scared by its combination of sights and sounds. According to Schifrin, Warner executives told Friedkin to instruct him to tone it down with softer music, but he never did. It has been claimed Schifrin later used his original 'Exorcist' for 'The Amityville Horror';he has denied this. According to 'The Fear of God: The Making of the Exorcist' on the 25th Anniversary DVD release of the film, Friedkin took the tapes that Schifrin had recorded and threw them away in the studio parking lot.

In the soundtrack liner notes for his 1977 film, 'Sorcerer', Friedkin said that if he had heard the music of Tangerine Dream earlier, then he would have had them score 'The Exorcist'. Instead, he used modern classical compositions, including portions of the 1972 Cello Concerto No. 1, of 'Polymorphia', and other pieces by Polish composer Krzysztof Penderecki, Five Pieces for Orchestra by Austrian composer Anton Webern as well as some original music by Jack Nitzsche. The music was heard only during scene transitions. The 2000 "Version You've Never Seen" features new original music by Steve Boeddeker, as well as brief source music by Les Baxter.

What is now considered the movie's theme, the piano-based melody which opens the first part of 'Tubular Bells', the 1973 debut album by English progressive rock musician Mike Oldfield, became very popular after the film's release, although Oldfield himself was not impressed with the way it was used.

In 1998 a restored and remastered soundtrack was released by Warner (without 'Tubular Bells') that included three pieces from Schifrin's rejected score. The pieces are "Music from the unused Trailer", an 11-minute "Suite from the Unused Score", and "Rock Ballad (Unused Theme)". That same year, the Japanese version of the original soundtrack LP did not include the Schifrin pieces but did include the main theme, and the movement titled 'Night of the Electric Insects' from George Crumb's string quartet 'Black Angels'. Waxwork Records released the score in 2017 on two different variations of 180-gram vinyl, "Pazuzu" with clear and black smoke and "Exorcism" that featured blue and black smoke. The record was remastered from the original tapes; it included liner notes from Friedkin with art by Justin Erickson from Phantom City Creative.

The Greek song playing on the radio when Father Karras leaves his mother's house is "Paramythaki mou" (My Tale), sung by Giannis Kalatzis. Lyricist Lefteris Papadopoulos said that a few years later, when he was in financial difficulties, he asked for some compensation. Part of Hans Werner Henze's 1966 composition 'Fantasia for Strings' is played over the closing credits.[http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/Review/369122,henze-complete-deutsche-grammophon-recordings.aspx "Henze: Complete Deutsche Grammophon Recordings"] by Brett Allen-Bayes, 'Limelight', January 9, 2014

Production difficulties and purported curse on film



Principal photography began in August 1972; it was scheduled to last 105 days. Due to production problems and accidents on set, it took over 200 days to wrap. As a result the film went $2.5 million ($ in modern dollars) over budget, ultimately costing the studio $12 million ($ in modern dollars) to make.

Early on, the set in New York for the interiors of the MacNeil house was destroyed by a fire started when a bird flew into a circuit breaker, with the exception of Regan's room, which remained unharmed. Production was delayed for six weeks while it was rebuilt. Later, another set was severely damaged when the sprinkler system activated. A two-week delay resulted when the statue of Pazuzu was shipped to Hong Kong instead of Iraq.

Injuries to cast and crew also affected production, and had permanent consequences. Burstyn's back injury during the scene where the possessed Regan throws Chris backwards before the head-spinning, the take used in the film, left her unable to film for two weeks and using crutches for the remainder of the production; the coccyx fracture she suffered has caused her continuing problems since it was inadequately treated at the time. Blair also suffered a back injury, in her case a lower spinal fracture, during a also take used in the film, after being too loosely strapped to the bed when it was being rocked around. She further developed a lifelong aversion to cold due to having to spend so much time in the refrigerated bedroom set wearing only a nightgown. A carpenter cut his thumb off and a lighting technician similarly lost a toe in another accident.

There were also more deaths among people connected with the film and their family members. Among the cast, McGowran died a week after completing his scenes as Dennings with the character's death; Maliaros also passed away, like her character, before the film was finished. Deaths among or close to the crew included the night watchman and the operator of the refrigeration system for Regan's room, along with the assistant cameraman's newborn child.

Blair's grandfather died during the first week of production, and von Sydow had to return to Sweden after his first day on set shooting the entrance scene after he learned that his brother had died, adding another delay to the production. Miller's son nearly died when, while he and his father were out at the beach, a motorcycle that unexpectedly appeared struck him, leaving him in critical condition and requiring weeks in intensive care to heal from the injuries. Several years after the film's release, Paul Bateson, the radiological technician in the angiography scene, was convicted of murder in the death of journalist Addison Verrill.

Friedkin believed that there might have been some supernatural interference with the film. "I'm not a convert to the occult", he told the horror-film magazine, 'Castle of Frankenstein', "but after all I've seen on this film, I definitely believe in demonic possession ... We were plagued by strange and sinister things from the beginning." He said some striking visuals in the film had not been intended and could not be explained.

Vercourtere, the special effects supervisor, also felt uncomfortable working on the film. "There was definitely a feeling something [bad] could happen," he recalled. "I felt I was playing around with something I shouldnt be playing around with." Concern among the production was significant enough that Friedkin asked Father Thomas Bermingham, the film's technical advisor (who also played Georgetown's president in the film), to perform an exorcism on the set. Bermingham instead blessed the cast and crew, believing that an actual exorcism would only make the cast more anxious.

British film historian Sarah Crowther believes stories of the curse were partly disseminated by Warner's marketing department, which she believes was purposely courting controversy by releasing the film just after Christmas. "[They] spread speculation of the curse prior to release. It was an extremely hot topic in global media when it hit cinemas", she told inews.com in 2018, likening the curse to the elaborate marketing gimmicks employed by producer William Castle to stimulate viewer interest in his horror films during the 1960s. Crowther believes most of the aspects of the curse are really just the result of Friedkin's driving, relentless production over a prolonged period, which fatigued many members of the cast and crew.

In 2000, Blatty joked that "There is no 'Exorcist' curse. 'I' am 'The Exorcist' curse!" when asked if the death of Blair's pet mouse was possibly due to the alleged curse.

Release



Theatrical run



Warners scheduled 'The Exorcist' for release the day after Christmas in 1973. Friedkin was, even years later, angry about this choice of release date, believing that it hurt the film at the box office. He had wanted a release 'before' the holiday, or on it, as is more common at the time of year; it has been speculated that Warners wanted to avoid any controversy that might have come from releasing a film about demonic possession before a major religious holiday. Friedkin supposedly had seen what Paramount had done to make 'The Godfather', which had had similar issues, a runaway success a year and a half before and had wanted Warners to emulate it with a more preferable release date, such as March, as that film had had.

The post-holiday release served to help 'The Exorcist' sell tickets, as most moviegoers had all or most of the week off to go see it. It is the second all-time highest-grossing Christmas week release after 1997's 'Titanic'. It has also outgrossed 'The Godfather'. Ultimately it played on screens for 105 weeks, or just over two years.

Re-releases

In 1979, the film was re-released theatrically and was converted to 70mm, with its original 1.75:1 aspect ratio expanded to 2.20:1 to use all the available screen width that 70mm offers. The sound was remixed to six-channel Dolby Stereo, later used on most home releases.

A new edition labeled "The Version You've Never Seen" (later re-labeled "Extended Director's Cut") was released in theaters in September 2000, with additions and changes.

Television versions

The network TV version originally broadcast on CBS in 1980 was edited by Friedkin, who filmed a shot of the Virgin Mary statue crying blood to replace the desecrated statue image. Friedkin himself delivered the demon's new, censored dialogue because he was unwilling to work with McCambridge again. The lines "Your mother sucks cocks in hell, Karras, you faithless slime!" and "Shove it up your ass, you faggot!" were redubbed as "Your mother still rots in hell" and "Shut your face, you faggot". Several of Chris' lines were redubbed by Burstyn, replacing "Jesus Christ" with "Judas Priest" and omitting the expletive "fuck". Moments in which Regan masturbates with a crucifix and forces her mother's head into her crotch are removed, along with most of the character's profanity. There is also a brief alternative shot shortly after Merrin arrives at the MacNeil house of Regan's face morphing into the demon's white visage (theatrical versions show only the beginning of the transformation). In some network versions Regan is not masturbating but having another fit.

In both the TV-PG and TV-14 rated network edits, the image of the obscenely defiled statue of the Virgin Mary is intact, appearing on-screen for several more seconds in the TV-14 version. In the original TV airings, the desecrated statue was replaced by an alternative version showing the face smashed in, but no other defilement. Edits may vary between networks; non-premium cable networks usually show only edited/censored versions of the film.

Home media

Special edition 25th anniversary VHS and DVD release



A limited 50,000-copy special edition box set was released in 1998 for the film's 25th anniversary. There are two versions: a VHS special edition released in November, and a special edition DVD released a month later. Both have identical material. A 30th anniversary edition was released on DVD by Warner Home Video in August 2003.

The 25th Anniversary Special Edition DVD includes the original ending (not used in the theatrical release) as a special feature: as Father Dyer walks away from the MacNeil residence, he is approached by Lt. Kinderman. They talk briefly about Regan and the events that took place and then Kinderman invites Dyer to the movies to see 'Wuthering Heights'. Kinderman quotes 'Casablanca', telling Dyer, "I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship".

Blatty was pleased that the scene was restored. The night before the scene was shot, he and Friedkin had worked very hard on blocking it, to make sure it would be clear to the audience that the film ended on an upbeat moment. "My theory over the years has been that at that point in the movie, most of the audience is a little out of it" he said two years later. "They're really not seeing what's happening there, and, of course, the film lost its original ending and instead ended with Father Dyer looking down the steps ... [which] gives an audience an emotional cue about how they're 'supposed' to feel." Overall, he said, the 25th anniversary cut is "the version that I first saw on the moviola in the editing room all those years ago, and it's the way it ought to be seen."

The Special Edition DVD contains 'The Fear of God', a 75-minute documentary on the making of the film, with screen tests and additional deleted scenes.

=DVD features

=

* The original film with restored film and digitally remastered audio, with a 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio.

* An introduction by director Friedkin.

* The 1998 BBC documentary 'The Fear of God: The Making of "The Exorcist"'.

* Two audio commentaries.

* Interviews with the director and writer.

* Theatrical trailers and TV spots.

=Box set features

=

* A commemorative 52-page tribute book, covering highlights of the film's preparation, production, and release; features previously unreleased historical data and archival photographs.

* Limited edition soundtrack CD of the film's score, including the original (unused) soundtrack ("Tubular Bells" and "Night of the Electric Insects" omitted).

* Eight lobby card reprints.

* Exclusive senitype film frame (magnification included).

Extended edition DVD releases



The extended edition labeled "The Version You've Never Seen" (released theatrically in 2000) was released on DVD in 2004. It was re-released on DVD (and Blu-ray) with slight alterations under the new label "Extended Director's Cut" in 2010.

Blu-ray



In a 2008 'DVD Review' interview, Friedkin said he was scheduled to begin work on 'The Exorcist' Blu-ray in 2008. This edition featured a new restoration, including both the 1973 theatrical version and the 2000 "Version You've Never Seen" (re-labeled as "Extended Director's Cut"). It was released two years later. A 40th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray was released in 2013, containing both cuts of the film and many of the previously released bonus features in addition to two featurettes about Blatty.

'The Exorcist: The Complete Anthology'



'The Exorcist: The Complete Anthology', a box set, was released on DVD in 2006, and on Blu-ray in 2014. This collection includes the original theatrical release version of 'The Exorcist', the extended version (labelled 'The Exorcist: The Version You've Never Seen' on the DVD release and 'The Exorcist: Extended Director's Cut' on the Blu-ray release), the sequels 'Exorcist II: The Heretic' and 'The Exorcist III', and the prequels 'Exorcist: The Beginning' and 'Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist'. Morgan Creek, the current owner of the franchise, produced a television series of Blatty's novel, which is also the basis for the original film.

Reception



Box office

Since it was a horror film that had gone well over budget and did not have any major stars in the lead roles, Warner did not have high expectations for 'The Exorcist'. It did not preview the film for critics and booked its initial release for only 30 screens in 24 theaters, mostly in 21 large cities and their metropolitan areas. The film grossed $1.9 million ($ in modern dollars) in its first week, setting house records in each theater, with an average of $70,000, equivalent to $300,000 at modern ticket prices.

Within its first month it had grossed $7.4 million nationwide, ($ in modern dollars) by which time Warners' executives expected it to easily surpass 'My Fair Lady's $34 million take to become the studio's most financially successful film. The huge crowds attracted to the film forced the studio to expand it into wide release very quickly, to 366 screens. At the time that releasing strategy had rarely been used for anything but exploitation films. Many of the theaters in large cities were not located near downtowns, where Warners had booked 'Magnum Force', the 'Dirty Harry' sequel, before planning the release of 'The Exorcist'. In February it accounted for 15 percent of all Warners' grosses in key markets.

None of the theaters were in Black neighborhoods such as South Central Los Angeles since the studio did not expect that audience to take much interest in the film, which had no Black characters. But after the theater in predominantly white Westwood that had shown the film was overwhelmed with moviegoers from South Central, it was quickly booked into theaters in that neighborhood. Black American enthusiasm for 'The Exorcist' has been credited with ending mainstream studio support for blaxploitation movies, since Hollywood realized that Black audiences would flock to films that did not have content specifically geared to them.

'The New York Times' took notice that the audience lined up to see the film was between one-quarter and one-third Black at one theater on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, a mostly white neighborhood of the city, showing the film in late January. "A lot of blacks relate to voodoo and witchcraft and that kind of devil stuff," one Black patron said, when asked why so many Black people were sufficiently attracted to the film to go to such lengths to see it. "Many still believe in black magic, especially those from Haiti and the Deep South."

'The Exorcist' earned $66.3 million ($ in modern dollars) in distributors' rentals during its theatrical release in 1974 in the United States and Canada, becoming the second most popular film of that year (trailing 'The Sting' which earned $68.5 million) and Warners' highest-grossing film of all time. The high returns were made possible by the use of four-wall distribution, where the contract provides that the studio rents the theater from the owner and thus keeps all the ticket revenue, in the initial run. It was the first time a major studio had used that practice. Warners also used some practices that had made 'The Godfather' successful for Paramount the year before, such as making theaters commit to showing the film for at least 24 weeks.

Overseas, the film earned rentals of $46 million for a worldwide total of $112.3 million ($ in modern dollars). It became the highest-grossing film in Japan with rentals of over $8.2 million in its first 11 weeks. After several reissues, the film has grossed $232.6 million in the United States and Canada, which when adjusted for inflation, makes it the ninth highest-grossing film of all time in the U.S. and Canada and the top-grossing R-rated film of all time. , it has grossed $441 million worldwide, or $1.8 billion adjusted for inflation by 2014.

In 'Easy Riders, Raging Bulls', journalist and film historian Peter Biskind wrote about Warner's reaction to the success of the film. Executives were happy, but also nervous, since the huge earnings meant that the more free-wheeling and experimental parts of what the studio had done would become limited in favor of a focus on finding profitable film ideas and projects.

Critical response

Stanley Kauffmann, in 'The New Republic', wrote, "This is the scariest film I've seen in years the 'only' scary film I've seen in years. ...If you want to be shakenand I found out, while the picture was going, that that's what I wantedthen 'The Exorcist' will scare the hell out of you". Arthur D. Murphy of 'Variety' noted that it was "an expert telling of a supernatural horror story. ...The climactic sequences assault the senses and the intellect with pure cinematic terror". In the horror-film magazine 'Castle of Frankenstein', Joe Dante, later director of 'Piranha' and 'The Howling', called it "an amazing film, and one destined to become at the very least a horror classic. [It] will be profoundly disturbing to all audiences, especially the more sensitive and those who tend to 'live' the movies they see ... Suffice it to say, there has never been anything like this on the screen before".

Roger Ebert of the 'Chicago Sun-Times' gave the film a complete four-star review, praising the actors (particularly Burstyn) and the convincing special effects, but at the end of the review wrote: "I am not sure exactly what reasons people will have for seeing this movie; surely enjoyment won't be one, because what we get here aren't the delicious chills of a Vincent Price thriller, but raw and painful experience. Are people so numb they need movies of this intensity in order to feel anything at all?" Ebert, while praising the film, believed the special effects to be unusually graphic. He wrote: "That it received an R rating and not the X is stupefying".

In the middle of the range of critical response was Judith Crist. Her review in 'New York' called the film "half-successful". She praised Friedkin's direction, its "to-the-point performances", the special effects and makeup, and in particular the film's "sparing and adventurous" use of music. But she felt that Blatty, in adapting his novel, had taken out the things that made the reader connect with the characters, and was perhaps limited by the fact that the film could not leave things to the imagination the way the book had.

Vincent Canby, writing in 'The New York Times', dismissed 'The Exorcist' as "a chunk of elegant occultist claptrap ... a practically impossible film to sit through ... [e]stablish[ing] a new low for grotesque special effects." Andrew Sarris of 'The Village Voice' complained that "Friedkin's biggest weakness is his inability to provide enough visual information about his characters ... Whole passages of the movie's exposition were one long buzz of small talk and name droppings ... 'The Exorcist' succeeds on one level as an effectively excruciating entertainment, but on another, deeper level it is a thoroughly evil film". Writing in 'Rolling Stone', Jon Landau felt the film was "nothing more than a religious porn film, the gaudiest piece of shlock this side of Cecil B. DeMille (minus that gentleman's wit and ability to tell a story)." 'Film Quarterly's Michael Dempsey called 'The Exorcist' "the trash bombshell of 1973, the aesthetic equivalent of being run over by a truck ... a gloating, ugly exploitation picture." The 'San Francisco Bay Guardian's reviewer called it "quite simply the dumbest, most insultingly anti-intellectual movie I have ever come across".

Angiography scene



The angiography scene, in which a needle is inserted into Regan's neck and spurts blood, as Blair undergoes the actual procedure, caused audiences the most discomfort, according to Blatty, who himself admitted he never watched it when viewing the film. It has been criticized as "unappetizing", the film's "most needless scene", and "revolting". British comedian Graeme Garden, who has a medical degree,

agreed the scene was "genuinely disturbing" in his review for the 'New Scientist'; he called it "the really irresponsible feature of this film".

Medical professionals have described the scene as a realistic depiction of the procedure. It is also of historical interest in the field, as around the time of the film's release, radiologists had begun to stop using the carotid artery for the puncture (as they do in the film) in favor of a more distant artery. It has also been described as the most realistic depiction of a medical procedure in a popular film. In his 2012 commentary on the DVD release of the 2000 cut, Friedkin claimed that the scene was used as a training film for radiologists for years after the film's release.

Rating controversy

The Motion Picture Association of America's (MPAA) ratings board had been established several years before to replace the Motion Picture Production Code after it expired in 1968. It had already been criticized for its indirect censorshipas many as a third of the films submitted to it had had to be recut after being rated X, meaning no minors could be admitted. Since many theaters would not show such films, and newspapers would not run ads for them, the X rating greatly limited a non-pornographic film's commercial prospects.

While Friedkin wanted more blood and gore in 'The Exorcist' than had been in any Hollywood film previously, he also needed the film to have an R rating (children admitted only with an adult) to reach a large audience. Before release, Aaron Stern, the head of the MPAA ratings board, decided to watch the film himself before the rest of the board did. He then called Friedkin and said that since 'The Exorcist' was "an important film", he would allow it to receive an R rating without any cuts.

Some critics, both anticipating and reacting to reports of the film's effect on children who might be or had been taken to see it, questioned the R rating. While he had praised the film, Roy Meacham, a critic for Metromedia television stations based in Washington, D.C., wrote in 'The New York Times' in February 1974 that he had strongly cautioned that children should not be allowed to see it even with an adult, a warning his station repeated for several days. Nevertheless, some had, and he had heard of one girl being taken from the theater in an ambulance.

In Washington, the film drew strong interest as well since it was a rare film set in the area that did not involve government activity. The children Meacham saw leaving showings, he recalled, "were drained and drawn afterward; their eyes had a look I had never seen before". He suggested that the ratings board had somehow yielded to pressure from Warner not to give the film an X rating, and was skeptical of MPAA head Jack Valenti's claims that since the film had no sex or nudity, it could receive an R. After a week in Washington's theaters, Meacham recalled, authorities cited the crucifix scene to invoke a local ordinance that forbid minors from seeing any scenes with sexual content even where the actors were fully clothed; police warned theaters that staff would be arrested if 'any' minors were admitted to see 'The Exorcist'.

"The review board [has] surrendered all right to the claim that it provides moral and ethical leadership to the movie industry", Meacham wrote. He feared that, as a result, communities across the country would feel it necessary to pass their own, perhaps more restrictive, laws regarding the content of movies that could be shown in their jurisdictions: "For if the movie industry cannot provide safeguards for minors, authorities will have to."

Two communities, Boston and Hattiesburg, Mississippi, attempted to prevent the film from being shown outright in their jurisdictions. A court in the former city blocked the ban, saying the film did not meet the U.S. Supreme Court's standard of obscenity. Nonetheless, in Boston the authorities told theaters they could not admit any minors despite the R rating. In Mississippi, the theater chain showing the movie was convicted at trial, but the state's Supreme Court overturned the conviction in 1976, finding that the state's obscenity statute was too vague to be enforceable in the wake of the Supreme Court's 1972 'Miller v. California' decision which laid down a new standard for obscenity.

'The New Yorker's film critic, Pauline Kael, echoed Meacham's insinuations that the board had yielded to studio pressure in rating the film R: "If 'The Exorcist' had cost under a million or been made abroad, it would almost certainly be an X film. But when a movie is as expensive as this one, the [board] doesn't dare give it an X".

There was also concern that theaters were not strictly enforcing the R rating, or even enforcing it at all, allowing unaccompanied minors to view the film. 'Times' critic Lawrence Van Gelder reported that a 16-year-old girl in California said that not only was she sold a ticket to see the film unaccompanied, others who seemed even younger were able to do so as well. On the other hand, another 'Times' writer, Judy Lee Klemesrud, said she saw no unaccompanied minors, and indeed very few minors, when she went to see the film in Manhattan. Nevertheless, "I think that if a movie ever deserved an X rating simply because it would keep the kids out of the theater, it is 'The Exorcist'".

In 1974, Stern's tenure as chairman of the MPAA ratings board ended. His replacement, Richard Heffner, asked during the interview process about films with controversial ratings, including 'The Exorcist', said: "How could anything be worse than this? And it got an R?" After he took over as head, he would spearhead efforts to be more aggressive with the X rating, especially over violence in films.

Viewing restrictions in United Kingdom

'The Exorcist' was released in London in March 1974. The film drew protests around Britain from the Nationwide Festival of Light (NFL), a Christian public action group concerned with the influence of media on society, and especially on the young. Members of local clergy and concerned citizens handed out leaflets to those queuing to see the film, offering spiritual support afterwards to those who asked for it. A letter-writing campaign to local councils by the NFL led many to screen 'The Exorcist' before permitting it to be shown in their districts. It was thus banned in some areas, such as Dinefwr Borough and Ceredigion in Wales.

'The Exorcist' was available on home video from 1981 in the UK. After the passage of the Video Recordings Act 1984, the film was submitted to the British Board of Film Classification for a home video certificate. James Ferman, the board's director, vetoed the decision to grant it over a majority vote. He believed that, even with a proposed 18 certificate, the film's notoriety would entice underage viewers to seek it out. As a result, all video copies of 'The Exorcist' were withdrawn in the UK in 1988 and could not be purchased for 11 years.

Following a successful 1998 theatrical re-release, the film was submitted for home video release again in 1999. It was passed uncut with an 18 certificate, signifying a relaxation of the censorship rules for home video in the UK, in part due to Ferman's departure. Channel 4 showed 'The Exorcist' on broadcast television in the UK for the first time in 2001.

Since release

'The Exorcist' set box office records that stood for many years. For almost half a century, until the 2017 adaptation of Stephen King's 'It', it was the top-grossing R-rated horror film. In 1999, 'The Sixth Sense' finally bested 'The Exorcist' as the highest-grossing supernatural horror film; it remains in third place after 'It' claimed that title as well. On both charts 'The Exorcist', along with 'The Blair Witch Project', are the only 20th-century releases in the top 10.

Since its release, 'The Exorcist's critical reputation has grown considerably. According to the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 83% of critics have given the film a positive review based on 83 reviews, with an average rating of 8.30/10. The site's critics consensus states: "'The Exorcist' rides its supernatural theme to magical effect, with remarkable special effects and an eerie atmosphere, resulting in one of the scariest films of all time". At Metacritic, which assigns and normalizes scores of critic reviews, the film has a weighted average score of 82 out of 100 based on 20 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". 'Chicago Tribune' film critic Gene Siskel placed it in the top five films released that year. BBC film critic Mark Kermode believes the film to be the best film ever made.

Director Martin Scorsese placed 'The Exorcist' on his list of the 11 scariest horror films of all time. Other filmmakers, including Stanley Kubrick, Robert Eggers, Alex Proyas and David Fincher also have cited 'The Exorcist' as one of their favorite films. The musician Elton John listed it in his five favorite films of all time. In 2008, the film was selected by 'Empire' as one of 'The 500 Greatest Movies Ever Made'. It was also placed on a similar list of a thousand films by 'The New York Times'.

Audience reaction



At the only sneak preview held before release, audience members screamed and ran out of the theater during the showing. When it was over, Calley and the other Warners executives, instead of leaving without comment as studio executives usually do after those events, remained in their seats, stunned. "What in the fuck did we just see?" Calley asked. They believed the film was brilliant, but did not know how to market it, and decided on the limited early release after Christmas, with a trade screening on December 21. Burstyn recalled watching television the morning the film opened of viewers in Montreal lining up at 4 a.m. in frigid temperatures. "I thought, how can a movie have that kind of impact before it even opens? I just couldn't believe it."

Despite its mixed reviews and the controversies over its content and viewer reaction, 'The Exorcist' was a runaway hit. In New York City, where its initial run was limited to a few theaters, patrons endured cold as severe as sometimes with rain and sleet, waiting for hours in long lines during what is normally a slow time of year for the movies to buy tickets, many not for the first time. The crowds gathered outside theaters, sometimes rioted, and police were called in to quell disturbances in not only New York but Kansas City.

'The New York Times' asked some of those in line what drew them there. Those who had read the novel accounted for about a third; they wanted to see if the film could realistically depict some of the scenes in the book. Others said: "We're here because we're nuts and because we wanted to be part of the madness". A repeat viewer told the newspaper that it was the best horror film he had seen in decades, "much better than 'Psycho'. You feel contaminated when you leave the theater. There's something that is impossible to erase". Many made a point of saying that they had either never waited in line that long for a movie before, or not in a long time. "It makes the movie better," William Hurt, then a drama student at Juilliard, said of the experience. "The more you pay for something, the more it's worth."

Reports of strong audience reactions were widespread. Many viewers fainted; a woman in New York was said to have miscarried during a showing. One man at another showing lasted only 20 minutes before he had to be carried out on a stretcher. Nausea was the most commonly reported reaction. "We have a plumber practically living here now", said the manager of a Toronto theater showing the film. A reviewer for 'Cinefantastique' said that there was so much vomit in the bathroom at the showing he attended that it was impossible to reach the sinks. Some theaters have been said to have provided "'Exorcist' barf bags"; while there are no contemporary reports of any even providing regular sickness bags, 'Mad' magazine depicted one on the cover of its October 1974 issue, which contained a parody of the film.

Other theaters arranged for ambulances to be on call. Some patrons had to be helped to leave the places they had hidden in theaters. Despite its lack of any supernatural content, many audience members found the angiography, where blood spurts from the tube inserted into Regan's neck, to be the film's most unsettling scene (Blatty said he only watched it once, while the film was being edited, and avoided it on every other viewing). Friedkin speculates that it is easier to empathize with Regan in that scene, as compared to what she suffers while possessed later in the film."It Happened in Hollywood", [https://simplecast.com/s/1aa3ff6f?t=32m50s 32:5033:15]

In 1975, 'The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease' published a paper by a psychiatrist documenting four cases of what he called "cinematic neurosis" triggered by viewing the film. In all he believed the neurosis was already present and merely triggered by viewing scenes in the film, particularly those depicting Regan's possession. He recommended that treating physicians view the movie with their patient to help him or her identify the sources of their trauma.

Other causes were suggested outside the psychiatric context. One writer at 'Castle of Frankenstein' took note of Friedkin's pride in the movie's sound, which theaters played at maximum volume, and wondered if some of the low frequencies had induced or amplified feelings of dread or uneasiness in patrons. Another writer there blamed the reactions on the mainstream audience's general unfamiliarity with horror cinema and its conventions. "We have all no doubt heard of people who stood in line for four hours to see this movie, then threw up in mid-film and walked out," he wrote. "I can't say for sure, but my guess is that these people hadn't gone to see a monster movie since 1935."

"'The Exorcist' ... was one of the rare horror movies that became part of the national conversation", wrote Jason Zinoman almost 40 years later: "It was a movie you needed to have an opinion about". Three separate production histories were published. Journalists complained that coverage of the film and its controversies was distracting the public from the ongoing Watergate scandal. Much of the coverage focused on the audience which, in the words of film historian William Paul, "had become a spectacle equal to the film". Paul cited an Associated Press cartoon in which a couple trying to purchase tickets to the film was told that while the film itself is sold out, "we're selling tickets to the lobby to watch the audience." He did not think any other film's audience has received as much coverage as 'The Exorcist's.

Legal disputes



Within a year of 'The Exorcist's release, two films were quickly made that appeared to appropriate elements of its plot or production design. Warner took legal action against the producers of both, accusing them of copyright infringement. The lawsuits resulted in one film being pulled from distribution and the other one having to change its advertisements.

'Abby', released almost a year after 'The Exorcist', put a blaxploitation spin on the material. In it a Yoruba demon released during an archeological dig in Africa crosses the Atlantic Ocean and possesses the archaeologist's daughter at home in Kentucky. Director William Girdler acknowledged the movie was intended to cash in on the success of 'The Exorcist'. Warner's lawsuit early in 1975 resulted in most prints of the film being confiscated; the film has rarely been screened since and is not available on any home media.

Later, in 1975, Warner Bros. brought suit against Film Ventures International (FVI) over 'Beyond the Door', which had also been released near the end of 1974, alleging that its main character, also a possessed woman whose head spins around completely, projectile vomits and speaks with a deep voice when possessed, infringed the studio's copyright on Regan. Judge David W. Williams of the United States District Court for the Central District of California held first that since Blatty had based the character on what he was told was a true story, Regan was not original to either film and thus Warner could not hold a copyright on Regan. Even if she 'had' been a creation, she could not be copyrighted since she was subordinate to the story. The writers of the FVI film had also further distanced themselves from an infringement claim by having their possessed female, Jessica, be a pregnant adult woman.

However, he found that some of 'Beyond the Door's advertising graphics, such as an image of light coming from behind a door into a darkened room, and the letter "T" drawn as a Christian cross, were similar enough to those used to promote 'The Exorcist' that the public could reasonably have been confused into thinking the two films were the same, or made by the same people, and enjoined FVI from further use of those graphics.

Legacy



"'The Exorcist' has done for the horror film what '2001' did for science fiction", wrote the 'Cinefantastique' reviewer who had described the vomit-covered bathroom, "legitimizing it in the eyes of thousands who previously considered horror movies nothing more than a giggle". In the years following, studios allotted large budgets to films like 'The Omen', 'The Sentinel', 'Burnt Offerings', 'Audrey Rose' and 'The Amityville Horror', all of which had similar themes or plot elements and cast established stars, who until then often avoided the genre until their later years.

The film's success led Warner to initiate a sequel, one of the first times a studio had done that with a major film, launching a franchise. While many of the classic horror films of the 1930s, like 'Frankenstein' and 'King Kong' had spawned series of films over the decades, the practice had declined in the 60s, and although there had been some exceptions, like 'Bride of Frankenstein', most sequels had been considered secondary properties for the studios. The other big-budget horror films made in the wake of 'The Exorcist' also led to sequels and franchises of their own.

Accolades

'The Exorcist' was nominated for ten Academy Awards in 1974, winning two. It was the first horror film to be nominated for Best Picture. The film was also nominated for seven Golden Globe Awards, winning four.

American Film Institute Lists



* AFI's 100 Years...100 Thrills  #3

* AFI's 100 Years...100 Heroes and Villains:

** Regan MacNeil  #9 Villain

Sequels



The film has gone on to spawn multiple sequels and an overarching media franchise including a television series.

Direct sequels

In August 2020, a reboot of the film from Morgan Creek Entertainment was announced to be in development. The announcement received a generally negative reaction from audiences loyal to the original and resulted in a petition being launched to have the project canceled. Later in December, Blumhouse and Morgan Creek told that the reboot would be a "direct sequel" to the 1973 film and that David Gordon Green would direct.

In July 2021, a trilogy of sequels was revealed to be in development with David Gordon Green attached as director on each film. Jason Blum will serve as producer, alongside James Robinson and David Robinson. Burstyn will reprise her role from the original film, with Leslie Odom Jr. co-starring. The projects will be joint-venture productions between Blumhouse Productions and Morgan Creek Entertainment, with Universal Pictures serving as distributing company. Universal collaborated with Peacock to purchase distribution rights for $400 million total. The second and third films of the trilogy are being optioned as Peacock exclusive films. The first film is scheduled to be released on October 13, 2023.

Related works



Blatty's script for the film has been published on several occasions. In 1974 he published the book 'William Peter Blatty on The Exorcist: From Novel to Film', which included the first draft of the screenplay. In 1998 the script was published in an anthology titled 'The Exorcist/Legion - Two Classic Screenplays', and again as a standalone text in 2000.

See also



* 1973 in film

* List of American films of 1973

* List of film and television accidents

* List of highest-grossing films in the United States and Canada

* List of horror films of 1973

*List of films considered the best

Notes



References



Bibliography



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Further reading



*[https://www.google.com/books/edition/America_s_Film_Legacy/deq3xI8OmCkC?hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiG2-zJzpHsAhUdg3IEHexyAtEQiKUDMBZ6BAgHEAQ 'The Exorcist' essay by Daniel Eagan] in America's Film Legacy, 20092010: A Viewer's Guide To The 50 Landmark Movies Added To The National Film Registry In 200910, Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 2011, pages 139142


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