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The Exorcist is an influential and successful 1973 horror film, adapted by William Peter Blatty from his 1971 novel of the same name.
In the film, a young girl named Regan, living in Georgetown, Washington, D.C., becomes ill after playing with a ouija board and undergoes a series of physical and psychological changes. Chris MacNeil, Regan's mother and a famous actress, failed by medicine, turns to religion; the girl is examined by a priest, Father Damien Karras, who is convinced of the diabolical nature of the case and turns to the local bishop, who appoints a second priest, Father Merrin, to perform an exorcism.
Directed by William Friedkin and starring Max von Sydow as Father Lankaster Merrin, Ellen Burstyn as Chris MacNeil, Jason Miller as Father Damien Karras, Lee J. Cobb as Lieutenant William Kinderman and Linda Blair as Regan MacNeil (dubbed by Mercedes McCambridge when possessed); the film was a huge international hit, grossing as of 2004 $402,500,000 worldwide. It was nominated for ten Academy Awards (of which it won two) and also won four Golden Globes. Interestingly the part of Regan was originally offered to troubled actress Dana Plato, whose mother refused to allow her to take it.
For its time, the film contained a number of graphic and disturbing special effects, engineered by makeup legend and pioneer Dick Smith. It was also accused of, among many other things, manipulation of its audience through the use of subliminal imagery (a claim that is verifiably false upon a simple viewing of the film; the imagery in question is readily apparent and easily recognizable as a simple, yet effective editing technique, designed to make the viewer ill at ease - the desired effect for a horror film, after all). The film also originally contained several key dialogue and character sequences from the novel that were cut prior to release by director Friedkin at the protest of writer/producer Blatty. These were later restored and, along with a number of new digital effects, inserted into the re-release subtitled "the version you've never seen" in 2000.
There were sequels; John Boorman's poorly-received Exorcist II: The Heretic in 1977, and 1990's more successful The Exorcist III, written and directed by Blatty himself from his own 1983 novel Legion, the true sequel to the original novel. Exorcist III ignored the events of the previous sequel and presented a satisfying conclusion to the story after 15 years. A parody entitled Repossessed was released the same year, with Blair lampooning the role that made her (in)famous.
A prequel, Exorcist: The Beginning (2004) attracted controversy even before its release. The original director Paul Schrader was fired after the studio did not like his film (working title The Exorcist: Dominion). The whole film was then re-shot with Renny Harlin directing, and the original film shelved. However, the film's producers are considering releasing the Schrader-directed film as a seperate direct-to-video release.
According to the novel's author, the film is based on events that purportedly took place in Cottage City, Maryland, in January 1949.[1] (http://www.strangemag.com/exorcistpage1.html) There several newspapers reported on a speech by a minister to an amateur parapsychology society, in which he claimed to have exorcised a demon from a thirteen-year-old boy named Robbie, and that the ordeal lasted a little more than six weeks.
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