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| The Exorcist | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Credits | |
| Title: | The Exorcist |
| Director: | William Friedkin |
| Writers: | William Peter Blatty |
| Producers: | Noel Marshall William Peter Blatty David Salven |
| Composer: | Steve Boeddeker |
| Cinematography: | Owen Roizman |
| Editors: | Norman Gay Evan Lottman Darrin Navarro |
| Production | |
| Distributed by: | Warner Bros. |
| Released: | December 26th, 1973 |
| Rating: | R |
| Running time: | 2 hrs. 2 min. (122 min.) |
| Country: | USA |
| Language: | English |
| Budget: | $10,497,444 |
| Gross: | $193,000,000 (US); $441,071,011 (Worldwide) [1] |
| Navigation | |
| Previous: | — |
| Next: | Exorcist II: The Heretic |
The Exorcist is an American feature film of the horror genre, dealing with themes of demonic possession. It is an adaptation of the 1971 novel of the same name written by author William Peter Blatty. Both the novel and the film were inspired by actual events relating to an exorcism performed upon a boy identified by the pseudonym Roland Doe (his real name was never made public), which took place in the 1940s. The film was directed by William Friedkin with author Blatty providing the screenplay for the film. It was produced by Warner Bros. and premiered in theaters on December 26th, 1973. The movie earned itself no small measure of notoriety due to its controversial subject matter and graphic depiction of a young girl in the throws of demonic possession. The spectacle surrounding the movie quickly garnered itself cult status amongst fans, and is now considered one of the most iconic and influential horror films of all time. The Exorcist stars Ellen Burstyn as film actress Chris MacNeil with Max von Sydow as the practiced clergyman Father Lankaster Merrin. Jason Miller plays younger troubled priest Father Damian Karras and Lee J. Cobb portrays the sarcastic police detective and film enthusiast, Inspector Bill Kinderman. The real star of the picture however is Linda Blair, who had the burden of portraying young 12-year-old Regan MacNeil.
Cast[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Ellen Burstyn | Chris MacNeil |
| Max von Sydow | Father Lankester Merrin |
| Lee J. Cobb | Lieutenant Bill Kinderman |
| Kitty Winn | Sharon Spencer |
| Jack MacGowran | Burke Dennings |
| Jason Miller | Father Damian Karras |
| Linda Blair | Regan MacNeil |
| William O'Malley | Father Dyer |
| Barton Heyman | Doctor Klein |
| Pete Masterson | Doctor Barringer |
| Rudolf Schündler | Karl |
| Gina Petrushka | Willi |
| Robert Symonds | Doctor Taney |
| Arthur Storch | Psychiatrist |
| Thomas Bermingham | Tom, President of University |
| Vasiliki Maliaros | Karras' mother |
| Titos Vandis | Karras' uncle |
| Wallace Rooney | Bishop Michael |
| Ron Faber | Chuck, Assistant director |
| Donna Mitchell | Mary Jo Perrin |
| Roy Cooper | Jesuit Dean |
| Robert Gerringer | Senator at party |
| Mercedes McCambridge | Demon (voice) |
| William Peter Blatty | Producer |
| Mary Boylan | First mental patient |
| Dick Callinan | Astronaut |
| Eileen Dietz | Pazuzu's face |
| Joanne Dusseau | Senator's wife |
| Yvonne Jones | Bellevue nurse |
| John Mahon | Language lab director |
| John Nicola | Priest |
| Vincent Russell | Subway vagrant |
Notes & Trivia[]
- Principal shooting on The Exorcist began on August 14th, 1972 and concluded on July 20th, 1973.
- The director's cut of The Exorcist contains ten minutes of footage that was deleted from the original film.
- The tagline for the film is, "Somewhere between science and superstition, there is another world. The world of darkness."
- The Exorcist was released on Blu-ray on October 5th, 2010 by Warner Home Video. It includes the original theatrical version of the film as well as the extended director's cut.
- Playing the role of Father Damian Karras is the first professional acting work for Jason Miller.
- This is the final movie role for actor Jack MacGowran, who plays Burke Dennings in this film. Jack passed away on January 30th, 1973, nearly a year before The Exorcist was released to theaters. He was 54-years-old.
- This is the final acting work for Jack MacGowran, who plays Burke Dennings in this film. Jack passed away on January 30th, 1973.
Allusions[]
- In the "Phantom Traveler" episode of Supernatural, Dean Winchester makes reference to floating over a bed and vomiting pea soup. Two of the symptoms of Regan's possession is levitating above her bed and projectile vomiting. Pea soup was used as the prop for this scene in this movie.
- In the unaired pilot episode of Charmed, the character of Phoebe Halliwell says that "her head spun around and she vomited split pea soup", which is another reference to the scene where Regan vomits on Father Karras.
- In the pilot episode of The Walking Dead, "Days Gone Bye", the character of Shane Walsh tells the story of a mad girlfriend who used the "Exorcist voice", comparing her to the demon-possessed Regan MacNeil.
- In the 2015 film Sinister II, Ex-deputy So and So is speaking to a priest about the supernatural. The priest sarcastically intones the line "The power of Christ compels you", punctuating it with the idea that such a line would never work against evil entities. In The Exorcist, Lankester Merrin and Damian Karras repeatedly speak the line in an effort to exorcise the demon Pazuzu out of Regan MacNeil.