There are two types of people in this world…people who have not seen this movie, and people who have seen this movie….once you see it, you cannot go back…this movie changes you.
Art is always better when you have limitations. It makes you edit right away and remove unnecessary elements. Its why movies have gotten progressively worse.
So, Linda Blair didn’t do ANY of those scenes involving the crucifix, they had a stunt woman do it. The Priest’s name was Jason Miller, a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright for “That Championship Season”. His son is Jason Patric, and they didn’t get along. Miller was an alcoholic, and was married to Jackie Gleason’s daughter. He lived in PA and after his brief stint with Hollywood – after his phenomenal performance and sudden stardom, went back to his hometown to direct local theater. His good friend was Paul Sorvino, who sculpted a bust to honor him after he died. He was a tortured soul who went too soon. His son never forgave him for the way he treated his mother, and they were never close. The author’s name was William Peter Blatty, not Blakely. He studied At Georgetown under Jesuits and researched the possession that happened in Washington STATE, involving a young boy. Dr. Dyer was a priest at Georgetown and appeared in the movie. The steps that were portrayed in the movie exist, albeit a fair distance further than is portrayed in the movie. Oddly enough, the book lists the address of the house as 39th and Prospect, which is the actual address of the house that was used for exterior scenes. William Friedkin, who was the director, utilized ice machines and air conditioners to get the temperature in Regan’s room low enough to show vapor coming from mouths when people were in it and used shock methods of generating fear or shock from his actors, such as using a blank gun and shooting it off at random. Blatty was a devout Catholic, and he viewed this book and film as a testament to faith. He started as a writer of comic material, as the writer of the first Pink Panther movie, “A Shot in the Dark”. Blatty had previously wrote, “Twinkle Twinkle, Killer Kane”, a farcical thriller involving Vietnam troops admitted to an asylum run by Colonel “Killer” Kane. This was later remade into a movie called the Ninth Configuration, starring Stacy Keach, Robert Loggia and Scott Wilson. The film gathered somewhat good reviews and later a cult following. The Exorcist was always near, however, and Blatty couldn’t seem to break away from it. Exorcist II came out as a sequel, directed by John Borman, and starring Linda Blair, Louise Fletcher and famously, Richard Burton. The movie was a bomb. Years later, Blatty wrote “ Legion “ as a true sequel to the Exorcist. Initially a novel, eventually Morgan Creek turned it into a movie with George C. Scott as Lt. Kinderman and Ed Flanders as Father Dyer. The movie did modestly well and had some pretty good jump scares, but was no comparison to the original. As Blatty was totally involved in almost everything Exorcist, (incidentally, his neighbor, Shirley McClain was originally offered the role Ellen Burston got, but declined), Blatty then went to Friedkin to see about restoring the Exorcist with removed footage. Friedkin fought Blatty adamantly on this, but eventually a new version was released, the “Exorcist you’ve Never Seen”. This version included the famous “spider walk” down the stairs and included subliminal images that definitely were better included, than not. Blatty wrote a book called, “Exorcists Five, Demons Nothing” that was a satirical look at Hollywood, which was also awful. Blatty also wrote a ghost story, which wasn’t that bad, called “Elsewhere”,It’s oddly similar to the movie with Nicole Kidman, “The Others”. Some of Blatty other works include, “Which Way to Mecca, Jack” and “I’ll tell them I Remember you”. For Max Von Sydow’s part of Merrin, heavy make up was used to make Sydow look much older than he was in real life. Dick Smith was head of make up and special effects and was astonishingly good in both respects. The Exorcist novel received an uncut version, late in Blatty’s life that is well done, with additional background on Karl the Butler and Kinderman. I saw this movie when I was 12, and it freaked me out at that age – I was obviously too young to see it, and yet it became one of my most favorite works of fiction. After seeing the movie, two years later we had a family trip to Washington D.C and Virginia Beach. I read the Exorcist in the back seat, and when we got to Georgetown, we looked for 39th and Prospect. In an odd way, we found 39th and “P”, and thought that was it. Then we drove around and saw the house,the steps and the actual address. Walking the steps was surreal after what I read and seeing the house was terrifying. Anyway, check out the uncut novel if you get a chance.
There are two types of people in this world…people who have not seen this movie, and people who have seen this movie….once you see it, you cannot go back…this movie changes you.
Art is always better when you have limitations. It makes you edit right away and remove unnecessary elements. Its why movies have gotten progressively worse.
So, Linda Blair didn’t do ANY of those scenes involving the crucifix, they had a stunt woman do it. The Priest’s name was Jason Miller, a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright for “That Championship Season”. His son is Jason Patric, and they didn’t get along. Miller was an alcoholic, and was married to Jackie Gleason’s daughter. He lived in PA and after his brief stint with Hollywood – after his phenomenal performance and sudden stardom, went back to his hometown to direct local theater. His good friend was Paul Sorvino, who sculpted a bust to honor him after he died. He was a tortured soul who went too soon. His son never forgave him for the way he treated his mother, and they were never close.
The author’s name was William Peter Blatty, not Blakely. He studied At Georgetown under Jesuits and researched the possession that happened in Washington STATE, involving a young boy. Dr. Dyer was a priest at Georgetown and appeared in the movie.
The steps that were portrayed in the movie exist, albeit a fair distance further than is portrayed in the movie. Oddly enough, the book lists the address of the house as 39th and Prospect, which is the actual address of the house that was used for exterior scenes.
William Friedkin, who was the director, utilized ice machines and air conditioners to get the temperature in Regan’s room low enough to show vapor coming from mouths when people were in it and used shock methods of generating fear or shock from his actors, such as using a blank gun and shooting it off at random.
Blatty was a devout Catholic, and he viewed this book and film as a testament to faith.
He started as a writer of comic material, as the writer of the first Pink Panther movie, “A Shot in the Dark”. Blatty had previously wrote, “Twinkle Twinkle, Killer Kane”, a farcical thriller involving Vietnam troops admitted to an asylum run by Colonel “Killer” Kane. This was later remade into a movie called the Ninth Configuration, starring Stacy Keach, Robert Loggia and Scott Wilson.
The film gathered somewhat good reviews and later a cult following.
The Exorcist was always near, however, and Blatty couldn’t seem to break away from it. Exorcist II came out as a sequel, directed by John Borman, and starring Linda Blair, Louise Fletcher and famously, Richard Burton. The movie was a bomb. Years later, Blatty wrote “ Legion “ as a true sequel to the Exorcist. Initially a novel, eventually Morgan Creek turned it into a movie with George C. Scott as Lt. Kinderman and Ed Flanders as Father Dyer. The movie did modestly well and had some pretty good jump scares, but was no comparison to the original.
As Blatty was totally involved in almost everything Exorcist, (incidentally, his neighbor, Shirley McClain was originally offered the role Ellen Burston got, but declined), Blatty then went to Friedkin to see about restoring the Exorcist with removed footage. Friedkin fought Blatty adamantly on this, but eventually a new version was released, the “Exorcist you’ve Never Seen”. This version included the famous “spider walk” down the stairs and included subliminal images that definitely were better included, than not. Blatty wrote a book called, “Exorcists Five, Demons Nothing” that was a satirical look at Hollywood, which was also awful. Blatty also wrote a ghost story, which wasn’t that bad, called “Elsewhere”,It’s oddly similar to the movie with Nicole Kidman, “The Others”.
Some of Blatty other works include, “Which Way to Mecca, Jack” and “I’ll tell them I Remember you”.
For Max Von Sydow’s part of Merrin, heavy make up was used to make Sydow look much older than he was in real life. Dick Smith was head of make up and special effects and was astonishingly good in both respects.
The Exorcist novel received an uncut version, late in Blatty’s life that is well done, with additional background on Karl the Butler and Kinderman.
I saw this movie when I was 12, and it freaked me out at that age – I was obviously too young to see it, and yet it became one of my most favorite works of fiction. After seeing the movie, two years later we had a family trip to Washington D.C and Virginia Beach. I read the Exorcist in the back seat, and when we got to Georgetown, we looked for 39th and Prospect. In an odd way, we found 39th and “P”, and thought that was it. Then we drove around and saw the house,the steps and the actual address. Walking the steps was surreal after what I read and seeing the house was terrifying.
Anyway, check out the uncut novel if you get a chance.
3:58 died laughing
Jesus is king god bless everyone ✝️