The Exorcist
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- This article is about the novel published in 1971. For the article about the film released in 1973, please see The Exorcist (film).
Plot
Blatty based his novel on a supposedly genuine exorcism from 1949, which was partially performed in both Cottage City, Maryland [link] and Bel-Nor, Missouri. [link] Several area newspapers reported on a speech a minister gave 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.
In the novel, Father Merrin, an elderly priest, is in the Middle East studying ancient relics which are evidence of demon worship. His discovery of a bizarre statue seems to release an evil force. Meanwhile, a young girl named Regan, living in Georgetown, Washington, D.C., with her mother (a famous actress), becomes inexplicably ill. She undergoes a series of physical and psychological changes.
After unsuccessful medical tests and treatment, Regan's mother turns to religion. The girl is examined by a priest, Father Damien Karras, who is convinced of the diabolical nature of the case. He turns to the local bishop, who appoints Father Merrin to perform an exorcism with Karras assisting. The lengthy exorcism tests the priests, both physically and spiritually. It is interesting to note that the demon possessing Regan went by the name of Pazuzu, whom Father Merrin had battled on his own years before.
Adaptation
The novel was made into a successful Academy Award-winning horror film in 1973, with the screenplay written by Blatty as well. The film originally contained several key sequences from the novel, which were cut prior to release by director Friedkin, despite Blatty's protests. These scenes 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.Trivia
- While he was writing the novel, William Peter Blatty was collecting unemployment benefits.
- William Peter Blatty based the character of Chris MacNeil on his good friend Shirley MacLaine. Prior to the 1973 production, MacLaine attempted to have a movie made of Blatty's novel and interested Lew Grade in backing the project, but the plans fell through.
- According to Reverend William O'Malley (who played Father Dyer in the film), the events depicted in the film are approximately 80% true. He claims the big discrepancies between the movie and reality were: it was a boy who was possessed, not a girl; the possession did not occur in Georgetown, it occurred outside DC in MD; and the color of the "pea-soup vomit" was not green. He claims that nearly everything else in the movie did actually occur.
- Author William Peter Blatty once won $10,000 on the Groucho Marx television show "You Bet Your Life" (1950). When Groucho asked what he planned to do with the money, he said he planned to take some time off to "work on a novel." This was the result.[[Citing sources citation needed]]
External links
- [The Haunted Boy of Cottage City: The Cold Hard Facts Behind the Story that Inspired The Exorcist, by Mark Opsasnick]
- [St. Louis Exorcism Case]
- [Exorcism! Driving Out the Nonsense]
- [The Exorcist Fansite]
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