The Exorcist
Chapter 1
People love to watch movies with friends and family or even alone. Watching a movie is one of the attractions to have a good time. Some are romantic, some are thrillers, some are social, and some are sci-fi movies. One such film genre is horror movies. The Exorcist was one such horror movie.
Movies are a work of fiction, made for entertainment, and people are aware of them. Imagine a movie that is so horrific and terrifying that people ran out of the theatres shouting or vomiting. A few of them suffer a heart attack; pregnant ladies get a miscarriage after watching the movie. People become so frightened after watching the film that they openly start taking intoxicating substances.
Imagine the fear of people watching a horror movie was such that an ambulance was kept in standby mode for any untoward incident happening to viewers. Being fully aware of the kind of content the movie and the fright associated, people queued up in lines from early morning to watch this film once battling the chilly wintery winds.
A film that was made on a budget of around 4.2 million dollars ends up grossing more than 400 million dollars and was a huge success. A horror film that received 10 Oscar nominations and ended up winning 2 Oscar awards. A film that received numerous awards from different awards platforms including the golden globe awards was ‘The Exorcist’.
A film that was cursed from the beginning and some strange incidents happened to the artists and technicians associated with the film’s production. A total of 20 deaths involving actors and technicians happened to span over a period of time. Nine of them were killed in a fire accident, and the rest by other means.
Chapter 2
The Exorcist has the reputation of being one of the most cursed horror movies that has taken the US by storm. A horror film of such a calibre that the film critics ran out of the theatres during different intervals unable to bear the fright during the film preview.
The people of the production house Warner Brothers that came to view the movie during a pre-release show, came running out of theatres unable to bear the fright. It so happened that an ambulance needed to be stationed outside the theatres, in case anyone falls ill.
In 1971 a horror novel was written by William Peter Blatty, by name of ‘The Exorcist’. This novel was inspired by a 1949 incident of demonic possession and exorcism Blatty heard when he was a student in school in Washington DC.
The story is based on the life of an 11-year-old girl, Regan Mc Neil who happens to be in possession of demonic forces and behaves strangely. Her parents, unable to bear the pain of her daughter consult priests to exorcise her and get rid of the bad demonic spirit that had influenced her.
Chapter 3
The novel was published by Harper Row and was an instant hit. Based on the sales figure, the author decided to make a film on this story and approached Warner Brothers. The production managers of Warner Brothers contacted multiple popular film directors, but after reading the script they all refused to direct such a film.
When the famous directors refused to direct the film, the screenplay writer William Friedkin stepped up to direct the film. The absence of famous directors also meant that no popular actors were willing to work in the film. The cast of the film was pretty new and inexperienced for the film.
After auditioning over, almost 800 candidates, the lead girl of the film was selected. Friedkin was a realist and wanted to go to Iraq to shoot the film, to have the desired effect but due to the prevailing conditions the permission was denied.
Friedkin was a temperamental person and often fired employees without any warning. The shooting of the film started, and accordingly, a large set was created for the shoot that included the bedroom of the house where the apparent ghost would visit.
Chapter 4
Friedkin was a temperamental person and often fired employees without any warning. The shooting of the film started, and accordingly, a large set was created for the shoot that included the bedroom of the house where the apparent ghost would visit.
As the shoot began, the entire set was almost destroyed by a sudden fire that resulted from the short circuit, which happened to be caused by a small bird entering the main circuit box. About nine crew members died in this fire, but the main bedroom where most of the film was to be shoot remained intact and was not affected by the fire.
The shoot continued, and in one of the scenes, the ghost needed to perform some stunt, so Blair and Burstyn, the actors portraying the ghost were hanged from wires in such a way that they suffered accidental long-term injuries to their back.
Other actors also started dying due to unknown reasons or circumstances. The shooting of the film was disturbed and had to be postponed multiple times due to these untimely deaths and injuries. Even the family members of crews and actors also started dying due to unknown reasons.
Almost 20 people, some crew members and other actors or family of actors died during its shoot. These caused delays and subsequently increased the budget of the film. The film was finally completed and released on 26 December 1973 at theatres in the USA.
Chapter 5
A Catholic priest participates in an archaeological dig and unearths a medallion of an ancient demon. A Hollywood actress lives in a large apartment having servants and her 12-year-old daughter Regan. After a party is organized in her house, her daughter starts behaving strangely sometimes urinating on the carpet.
The bed used to shake violently, and she was under some demonic possession and used to do all sorts of paranormal behaviours exhibiting abnormal strength. Her parents unable to bear the pain of her daughter consult priests to exorcise her and get rid of the bad demonic spirit that had possessed her.
The demon says it will remain in Regan until she is dead; finally, the priests were able to overcome the demonic effects and bring her back to normal life. The film was shot so beautifully that the horror seems as real, and its sound effects seem to run down a chill among the audience.
The director screened the preview of the film for film critics on 21 Dec 1973, five days before the release date. Within 30 minutes of its screening the review some reporters ran out of the theatres as they became scared. Few of those that completed its screening were so frightened that they sat in their chairs for about an hour unable to speak to anyone.
Chapter 6
The critics reported this film as one of the most frightening films ever seen. The premier preview of the film was in a theatre opposite a church. When the premier of this film was happening for film critics a sudden storm happened, and lightning struck the church resulting in the falling of the large cross mounted above the church.
People related the falling of the cross to this film. The film gained popularity through word of mouth and the articles published in the newspapers. The film was released only in 24 theatres across the USA.
As the inquiry about the film grew, people started flocking to the theatres standing in long queues from morning to chilly wintery night to get a ticket often fights broke out to get the tickets. Those watching the film used to behave differently, some vomited, some felt strong pain in the chest, and some pregnant ladies suffered miscarriages.
People were screaming and frightened, some leaving the hall within starting 15 minutes terrified, and some people did abnormal things after watching the film. Some drug addicts would leave the hall to smoke drugs within the duration of the film.
Chapter 7
Things took an ugly turn that the theatre owner had to contact local authorities to provide an ambulance in front of the halls for audiences that were unable to bear the horror. The ambulance used to be stationed in front of the theatre to take persons to hospitals that required medical treatment.
Some people started behaving in such an abnormal manner that their relatives took them to priests fearing possession by demonic forces. Some started visiting Churches, taking consultations from priests.
The film received many awards, like the Golden Globe award and received 10 Oscar nominations and finally winning 2 of them. So this is the story of a horror film that did not find any famous directors to direct, the shooting of which involved the deaths of many crew members and actors, and people considered this film to be the scariest of films of that period became the successful film winning awards.
(1 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5)