The Exorcist (film)

The Exorcist (original English title: The Exorcist) is a 1973 American horror film directed by William Friedkin, with a script written by William Peter Blatty based on his own novel of the same name, published in 1971, which in the United States alone sold nearly thirteen million copies. It stars Ellen Burstyn, Jason Miller, Linda Blair and Max von Sydow. The film recounts the fateful events of the diabolical possession of Regan MacNeil, a twelve-year-old girl, and the exorcism to which she was later subjected.

When it was released in the 1970s, it received overwhelming acceptance from the public and also from critics, who ended up considering it one of the best films in history in its genre. In addition to this, the film earned a total of ten nominations for the Oscar Awards, including Best Picture, of which it ultimately managed to win two, and seven nominations for the Golden Globe Awards, of which it won four, including Best Motion Picture, Drama. It was the winner of the Saturn Award for Best Horror Film.

Blatty, the author of the novel, explained that the plot was inspired by a true event that he began working on when he was still a university student. The event was an alleged exorcism that occurred in 1949, which was reported by The Washington Post. In the real case, the supposedly possessed person was a fourteen-year-old boy who suffered alterations in his personality, for which several exorcisms were performed on him in a period of three months. Some time later it would be revealed that he was Ronald Edwin Hunkeler, a young man of great talent who later became an engineer at NASA and made essential contributions to the success of the Apollo 11 mission that landed on the Moon: he was responsible for the anti-heating panels that They covered the ship to prevent its disintegration during the reintroduction process into the atmosphere.

Although the book had been a bestseller, Blatty, who also produced it, and Friedkin, his choice as director, had difficulty distributing the film. After rejecting or being rejected by the top stars of the era, they made choices that were strongly opposed by studio executives at Warner Bros. Pictures. The main roles were played by Burstyn, the then unknown Blair and Miller, the author of a successful play who had never acted in films before. The filming was also difficult. Most of the set burned, Blair and Burstyn were seriously injured in several accidents, and the film took twice as long to shoot as scheduled, costing more than double its initial budget.

After its release, The Exorcist continues to be considered one of the best and scariest horror films in cinema history, having a significant influence on popular culture. Many publications include it among the ten best films in history. The United States Library of Congress selected the film in 2010 to be preserved as part of its National Film Registry as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant."

Plot

At an archaeological dig at Al-Hadar near Nineveh, Iraq, archaeologist Father Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow) finds an amulet resembling a statue of Pazuzu, a demon whom Father Merrin had cast out of a person. possessed long ago. The discovery worries the priest.

Meanwhile in the United States, Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller), a young priest at Georgetown University (Washington D.C.), begins to doubt his faith as he faces the terminal illness of his son. mother and later to her sudden death. Not far from the priest, Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), a successful Georgetown actress, notices dramatic and dangerous changes in her 12-year-old daughter, Regan (Linda Blair), including erratic behavior, metabolic disturbances, and extreme mood swings.. Her mother initially believes the changes are related to puberty, but doctors suspect it is a brain injury. Regan endures a series of unpleasant medical and psychiatric tests over several months, which show nothing out of the ordinary, while the paranormal events not only continue but become increasingly violent.

When all medical explanations have been exhausted, a doctor recommends an exorcism, reasoning that if the girl presents these symptoms as a psychosomatic manifestation of a belief in demonic possession, then perhaps that method would have the effect of ending them by convincing her that she has been purified. Chris hesitates, since neither she nor Regan have religious beliefs, but finally, out of sheer desperation and helplessness, he consults Father Karras, since he is both a priest and a psychiatrist at a Jesuit Monastery near his house.. After observing her, the skeptical Karras initially thinks it is a case of psychosis until he records her speaking in a strange language, which turns out to be Spanish spoken backwards. Reversing the audio turns out that Regan constantly mentions Father Merrin, whom she does not know or have heard of. Despite his doubts, Karras decides to request permission from the Catholic Church to perform an exorcism.

Given Karras' inexperience, the city's archbishop decides to call Father Merrin to help, even though his heart is in a precarious state and some worry that such work will cause his death. Father Merrin arrives at the actress's house by taxi during a cold night and decides to quickly begin the exorcism process, as if he already knew who he was facing. As both priests try to expel the demonic spirit from Regan's body, the demon, through Regan, taunts, threatens and attacks them, both physically and psychologically (including a convincing imitation of Regan's mother's voice). Karras). This causes Karras to lose his composure momentarily. On the contrary, Merrin impassively resists the insults and attacks without stopping the ritual, even though the demon tries to scare them by levitating the bed. Finally, the prayers of both priests manage to put it under control momentarily, allowing them both to go out for a while to regain their strength.

Shortly afterward, Father Merrin's heart fails while praying during the exorcism. A desperate Karras tries to perform CPR on her without success while the girl Regan (who has freed herself from the ropes that kept her tied to the bed) mocks her efforts and threatens to kill the girl. Overcome by her fury and desperation, Karras pounces on her and to try to save her, challenges the demon to possess him instead of Regan. The demon does so, after which the priest shows the signs of possession almost instantly, but before completely losing his will he manages to jump out of the window of Regan's bedroom, located on the second floor, and falls down some stone stairs.. With Father Damien Karras dying on the ground, a devastated Father Dyer, who was at the scene, administers the last sacraments and absolves Damien Karras of his sins. Regan recovers and doesn't seem to remember her ordeal. Chris decides to leave Georgetown with his daughter, leaving behind his terrible trauma in that city.

Distribution

The actors Ellen Burstyn, Max Von Sydow, Jason Miller, Linda Blair, and Lee J. Cobb are the main cast of the film.

Production

Casting

Chris and Father Karras

The studio wanted Marlon Brando for the role of Lankester Merrin. The director, Friedkin, immediately refused, arguing that it would become a "Brando movie". Paul Newman also wanted to play Karras, according to Friedkin. Jack Nicholson was considered for the role of Karras before Blatty hired Stacy Keach.

Friedkin saw Jason Miller after a performance of Miller's play "That Championship Season" in New York, and asked to speak with him. He originally came to talk to Miller solely about the play's Catholicism as a backdrop for the film. As Miller had not read the novel, Friedkin left him a copy.

Three very famous actresses of the time were considered for Chris. First, Friedkin approached Audrey Hepburn, who said that she was willing to take on her role, but only if the film could be shot in Rome, since she had moved to Italy with her husband. She rejected the proposal, as it would have raised the film's costs considerably, created language barriers, and made it impossible to work with crew members Friedkin was comfortable with, such as cinematographer Owen Roizman. Secondly, he tried to hire Anne Bancroft, who was also willing, but asked if production could be delayed by nine months since she had just become pregnant. The director also rejected her request since he couldn't wait that long and didn't think the material was something she would want to work on while she was caring for a newborn, which could also make it difficult for her. Jane Fonda, next on the list, rejected the film as a 'capitalist scam piece'. Blatty also suggested her friend, Shirley MacLaine for the role, but Friedkin was hesitant to cast her, given her role. lead role in another possession film, The Possession of Joel Delaney (1971) two years earlier. Ellen Burstyn received the role after phoning Friedkin and emphatically declaring that she was "destined" to play Chris.

With Burstyn now in the role, Friedkin was surprised when Miller called him. He had read the novel and told the director 'that guy is me', referring to Father Karras. Miller had had a Catholic upbringing and had studied to be a Jesuit priest for three years at the Catholic University of America until experiencing a crisis of faith, much like Karras is at the beginning of the story. Friedkin thanked him for his interest but told him that Keach had already been signed. Miller, who had acted on stage but had never been in a movie, asked to at least have a screen test. After taking the train to Los Angeles because he didn't like flying, Friedkin had the playwright and Burstyn do the scene in which Chris tells Karras that he thinks Regan might be possessed. He then had Burstyn interview Miller about his life with the camera focused on him over his shoulder, and finally asked Miller to say mass as if for the first time.

The director felt the test was promising and after watching the footage the next morning, he realized that "'s dark good looks, haunted eyes, quiet intensity and low, compassionate voice Miller's qualities that for him evoked John Garfield were exactly what he was looking for. The studio bought out Keach's contract and the role was eventually awarded to Miller.

Regan

The question of whether such a young actress, even a talented one, could carry the film on her shoulders was a problem from the beginning. Film directors considered for the project were skeptical. Mike Nichols turned down the project specifically because he did not believe that a 12-year-old girl could be found capable of playing the role and handling the likely psychological stress it might cause.

The first actresses considered for the role were names known to the public. Pamelyn Ferdin, a veteran of science fiction and supernatural drama, was a candidate for the role of Regan, but was ultimately rejected because her career thus far had made her too familiar to audiences. April Winchell was considered, until she developed pyelonephritis., which prevented him from working. Denise Nickerso was considered, but the material upset her parents too much. Anissa Jones auditioned for the role, but she too was rejected, for the same reason as Ferdin.

Friedkin had begun interviewing young 16-year-old women who seemed young enough to play Regan, but couldn't find anyone who believed she could. Then, Elinore Blair walked unannounced into the New York principal's office with her daughter Linda Blair; The agency representing Linda had not submitted her for the role, but she had previously met with the Warner Bros. Pictures casting department and then with Friedkin. After Linda demonstrated personal qualities that Friedkin was looking for, she moved on to see if she could handle the material. He asked her if she knew what The Exorcist was about; She told him that she had read the book: "It's about a little girl who is possessed by the devil and does a lot of bad things." Friedkin then asked him what kind of bad things he was referring to and Blair finally replied 'He pushes a man out of his bedroom window, punches his mother in the face and masturbates with a crucifix.' He asked Linda if she knew what masturbation meant. "It's like masturbating, right?" she responded and later assured that she knew perfectly what it meant. Blair was quickly cast as Regan after auditions with Burstyn; Friedkin realized that she needed to maintain that level of spontaneity on set.

Friedkin originally intended to use Blair's voice, deepened and raspy electronically, for the demon's dialogue. Although he felt this worked well in places, he felt that the scenes with the demon confronting the two priests lacked the required dramatic power and selected legendary radio actress Mercedes McCambridge, an experienced voice actress, to provide the voice. of the devil. After filming, Warner Bros. did not credit McCambridge's name during early screenings of the film, which led to arbitration by the Screen Actors Guild before he was credited for his performance. Ken Nordine was also considered for the demon voice, but Friedkin thought it would be better not to use a man's voice.

Supporting roles

The film's supporting roles were cast more quickly. After Blatty showed Friedkin a photograph of Gerald Lankester Harding, his inspiration for Father Merrin, Friedkin immediately thought of Max von Sydow for the role, which he accepted as soon as he finished reading the script. While watching a play starring an actor they had been recommended for the film, Blatty and Friedkin met Lee J. Cobb, which led to him being cast in the role of Lieutenant Kinderman. Father William O'Malley, another Jesuit priest who taught English and theology at McQuaid Jesuit High School outside Rochester, New York, had become familiar 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 cliché in the novel.

The Greek actor Titos Vandis was chosen for the role of Father Karras's uncle and the Greek actress Vasiliki Maliaros was convinced by Friedkin in a Greek restaurant in New York to play Father Karras's mother. Friedkin also decided that actress Kitty Winn would be the right one to bring the role of Sharon Spencer to life.

Address

Warners had approached Arthur Penn, Stanley Kubrick and Mike Nichols to direct, all of whom turned down the project. Originally, Mark Rydell was hired to direct, but William Peter Blatty insisted on Friedkin, because he wanted his film to have the same energy as Friedkin's previous film, The French Connection. After a standoff with the studio, which initially refused to give in to Rydell, Blatty eventually got his way. Principal photography on The Exorcist began on August 21, 1972. The filming schedule was estimated to last 105 days, but was eventually extended to more than 200.

Friedkin did his best to manipulate the actors, reminiscent of old Hollywood directing style, to get the genuine reactions he wanted. Torn violently in harnesses in some sequences, both Blair and Burstyn suffered back injuries and their painful screams were included in the film.

Soundtrack

Although William Friedkin commissioned the film's soundtrack to Lalo Schifrin, he ended up rejecting it due to his demands. Instead, Friedkin used compositions by Krzysztof Penderecki, a fragment of Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield, a composition by George Crumb called Night of the Electric Insects, and some musical arrangements by Jack Nitzsche and Steve Boeddeker.

What is now considered the "Exorcist Soundtrack", that is, the piano-based melody heard in one of the opening sequences of Georgetown, the 1973 debut album by the musician English progressive rocker Mike Oldfield became very popular after the film's release, although Oldfield himself was unimpressed with the way his work was used.

The Greek song that plays on the radio when Father Karras leaves his mother's house is called "Paramythaki mou" (My story) and is sung by Giannis Kalatzis. The lyric writer Lefteris Papadopoulos admitted that a few years later, when he was in financial difficulties, he asked for compensation for the intellectual rights to the song.

Scenes

Scene of Father Merrin's arrival

The scene of Father Merrin's arrival was filmed on Max von Sydow's first day at work. The scene in which the elderly priest steps out of a taxi at night and stands in front of the MacNeil residence, silhouetted in the hazy glow of a streetlamp and staring at the light in the girl's bedroom window, is one of the most famous scenes of the movie. The shot was used for the film's poster and the covers of subsequent VHS and home DVD releases. The scene and photo were inspired by the 1954 painting The Empire of Light (L'Empire des lumières) by René Magritte.

Walk like a spider scene

Stuntwoman Ann Miles performed the spider-walking scene in November 1972. Friedkin removed this scene over Blatty's objection just before the release, as she felt the scene appeared too early in the film's plot. movie. In the book, the spider walk is quieter, consisting of Regan following Sharon close to the ground and darting her tongue like a snake at her ankles. A take of this version of the scene was filmed, but was not used. However, a different shot showing Regan with blood coming out of her mouth was inserted into the director's cut of the film released in 2000.

Angiography scene

The angiography scene, in which a needle is inserted into Regan's neck and blood gushes out, and which closely mimics the real-life procedure, has been criticized. In his "Guide for the movie fan" from 1986 Danny Peary called it the "most unnecessary scene" of the movie". British comedian Graeme Garden, who qualified as a doctor at the university, agreed that the scene was "really disturbing" in the review of him for New Scientist; He called it "the really irresponsible feature of this movie."

Medical professionals have described the scene as a realistic depiction of the procedure. It is also of historical interest in the field, as at the time of the film's release, radiologists had begun to stop using the carotid artery for 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 version, Friedkin stated that the scene was used as a training film for radiologists for years after the film's release.

Events during filming

A series of strange events occurred during the filming of the film and the production company made several decisions, concerned about what was really happening. Some examples of these events were that a set already ready for production filming caught fire, which which caused a delay of six weeks to be able to have the filming again as it should; scrolls were veiled for no apparent reason; people related to satanic circles pressured the director to abandon the project; The Catholic Church rejected some passages of the script due to its blasphemous tone and a series of work accidents occurred that involved various filming technicians.

Then came the tragedy of the death of several people. One of them was Linda Blair's grandfather, which discouraged the young actress, who still came to film her scenes and they were very understanding with her during production, since not everyone would have enough courage to play such a shocking character.. The next was the Irish actor Jack MacGowran, who managed to appear before the filming cameras to perform some scenes, but died before being able to film the scene in which he was going to be killed by Regan McNeil (Linda Blair). Finally, the actress Vasiliki Maliaros managed to appear in her last scene, in which her father Damien Karras dreams of her dressed in black in a very moving dream, but he dies and is unable to film other scenes. Friedkin even called a priest to give his blessing to the film's entire production team.

Apart from this, the filming was a real test for several of the actors, due to the methods used by the director to achieve more convincing performances. Thus, the sets of the MacNeil house were set up inside a working cold room so that the breath vapor was real, Friedkin set off firecrackers to make the actors startled and tense, and in another scene he put a harness on them. Ellen Burstyn to make it really look like she was being pulled by an irresistible force (which injured her back), she didn't tell Jason Miller that he would receive a stream of mashed peas in the face that pretended to be vomit (so his reaction of disgust is real) and in the scene in which a sobbing priest absolves Father Karras, the director slapped him to make his crying more realistic. In addition, Linda Blair was sometimes also held tightly by the arm so that she could interpret her character well.

At the premiere, numerous spectators suffered nervous breakdowns and the owners of the exhibition halls decided, as a publicity stunt, to place ambulances with stretchers and nurses at the doors to attend to any fainted spectators.

Launch

Upon its release on December 26, 1973, the film received mixed reviews from critics. Audience reaction was enthusiastic, however, with many moviegoers waiting in long lines in cold temperatures to see it again and again. It premiered in 24 theaters with a gross of $1.9 million in its first week, setting records. at the box office in every theater and within its first month the film had grossed $7.4 million nationwide, by which time Warner executives already expected the film to easily surpassMy Fair's $34 million Ladywhich had been the studio's most financially successful film.

Premiere

The Exorcist was released in American theaters and later arrived in Latin America for the first time: on August 15, 1974 in Argentina. The following year, it had its official premiere in Spain.

Premiere dates (Source: IMDb).
Country	Premiere date	Country	Premiere date
United States	26 December 1973	United Kingdom	14 March 1974 (London)
United States	18 December 1975	Denmark	10 September 1976
Ireland	31 May 1974	Japan	13 July 1974
Sweden	28 July 1974	Denmark	5 August 1974
Argentina	15 August 1974 (Buenos Aires)	Uruguay	19 August 1974
Netherlands	5 September 1974	France	11 September 1974
Belgium	20 September 1974	Italy	20 September 1974
Western Germany	20 September 1974	Finland	4 October 1974
Brazil	11 November 1974	Mexico	19 December 1974
Peru	1 June 1975	Spain	1 September 1975

Rerelease

In 2000, Warner Bros. Pictures re-released the film in a remastered format following the fashion of the time to make new edits with scenes not included in the original version. This re-release was advertised as the director's edition and under the subtitle: The Exorcist: with never-before-seen scenes. These scenes included the girl's first visits to the hospital, a soon-to-be-famous scene in which Regan walks down the stairs of her house on all fours with her back turned (known as the 'spider scene')., another in which the priests Karras and Merrin talk on the stairs of the MacNeill family house, and a last one that changes the ending with a kind of epilogue in which police lieutenant Kinderman talks with Father Dyer about duality of good and evil.

For the scenes included, the dubbing in Spanish had to be redone from scratch, so there are big differences in pronunciation. In addition, nearly $1,000,000 was spent to fix and improve the picture and sound quality for the occasion.

Reception

Box office

As it was a horror film that was over budget and had no major stars in the lead roles, Warner did not have high expectations for The Exorcist. He did not preview the film for critics and reserved its initial release for only 30 theaters in 24 theaters, mostly in big cities. It grossed $1.9 million in its first week, setting every theater record.

After several re-releases, the film has grossed $232.6 million in the United States and Canada which, adjusted for inflation, makes it the ninth highest-grossing film of all time in the United States and Canada and the R rating highest grossing of all time. As of 2019 it has grossed $441 million worldwide. Adjusted to 2014 prices, The Exorcist has grossed $1.8 billion.

Comments

The Exorcist has been one of the few horror films to achieve an excellent reception from critics and the public, to the point of becoming a classic of world cinematography and a cultural phenomenon.. Its success was attributed to the austerity and realism of the story.

The film raised the contemporary dichotomy between science and secularism on the one hand, and forms of belief and religiosity apparently surpassed in the 20th century< /span>. In the words of its director: "It is a parable of Christianity, of the eternal struggle between good and evil."

The Spanish radio network Radio Nacional de España (RNE) presented on June 30, 2010 a radio adaptation of The Exorcist starring Fernando Huesca as Father Karras, Miguel Rellán as Father Merrin, Elena Rivera as Regan MacNeil and Lourdes Guerras as Chris MacNeil, recorded live in front of the public from the La Casa Encendida Cultural Center in Madrid, and broadcast on Radio Nacional on July 4 of the same year.

Criticism

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times rated the film four stars (his maximum score) and said: «The Exorcist is one of the best films of its kind. type ever made, not only transcends the genre of horror, horror and the supernatural, but transcends them with serious and ambitious efforts, in the same direction as Rosemary's Baby by Roman Polanski »

In 2004, the newspaper The New York Times included it among the 1000 best films in history. Four years later, the film was selected by the magazine Empire as one of the 500 greatest cinema films ever made. For its part, the Chicago Film Critics Association ranked it second among the most terrifying films of all time, and magazine < i>Time listed it among the 25 best horror films in history. Writing in Rolling Stone, Jon Landau felt that the film was "nothing more than a religious porn film, the most striking piece this side of Cecil B. DeMille (minus that gentleman's wit and ability to tell a story)..."

On the Rotten Tomatoes site, the original film reaches 85% approval, based on 47 comments, while the version re-released in 2000 reaches 88% approval, based on 81 comments. On Metacritic, its approval reaches 82%, based on 24 comments.

Awards and nominations

Franchise

The film gave rise to a series of sequels and, since then, made the child with evil powers a reference motif in horror films.

In 1977 Exorcist II: The Heretic was released under the direction of John Boorman. Richard Burton played Father Lamont, who investigates the psychological traumas that afflict the now teenage Regan after the exorcism to which she was subjected in the first part of the Franchise. Despite the striking cast, which included James Earl Jones, Max von Sydow and Paul Henreid (Casablanca) and a large budget, it was battered by critics and audiences.

In 1990, The Exorcist III appeared, directed by writer William Peter Blatty, this time based on his novel Legion. The plot addressed the story of Father Dyer and Lieutenant Kinderman, and the reunion with who they thought was dead: Father Karras.

In 2004, Exorcist: The Beginning, a prequel directed by Renny Harlin, was released. The plot was set in Africa and addressed Father Merrin's first encounter with evil after discovering the remains of a Byzantine church in Kenya.

Sequel

In August 2020, it was announced that Morgan Creek Entertainment is working on a reboot of the film and that it will be released in 2021. The announcement sparked very severe reactions from audiences who had admired the original 1973 film, and even launched a petition to cancel the proposed reboot. In December 2020, Blumhouse and Morgan Creek announced that the reboot will be a "direct" from the 1973 film with David Gordon Green as director.