- According to the novel, Regan's birthday is on December 26, and she is 12 years old at the time of the possession.
- The film begins with Father Merrin's discovery of the Pazuzu statue in Iraq, which is dated to October 1, 1972.
- The film then cuts to Georgetown, where Regan and her mother Chris are living. The novel states that they moved there in September, and that Chris is working on a film that is scheduled to wrap up in November.
- The first signs of Regan's possession appear around Halloween, when she plays with a Ouija board and claims to communicate with a spirit named Captain Howdy.
- The possession gradually worsens, causing Regan to exhibit strange behavior, physical changes, and violent outbursts. Chris seeks medical help, but the doctors find nothing wrong with Regan. She then consults a psychiatrist, who suggests that Regan may be suffering from a split personality disorder.
- The novel mentions that Chris's film is delayed due to a series of accidents and mishaps, and that she is still working on it in December.
- The film shows that Regan's condition deteriorates further, leading to the infamous head-spinning and projectile-vomiting scenes. Chris also finds out that her director, Burke Dennings, was killed by Regan, who twisted his head around.
- Chris then turns to the church for help, and meets Father Karras, a priest and psychologist who is struggling with his own faith and grief over his mother's death. Karras visits Regan and records her voice, which reveals that she is speaking in different languages and claiming to be the Devil.
- Karras then consults with Father Merrin, who has returned from Iraq and is recognized as an expert on exorcism. Merrin confirms that Regan is possessed by a powerful demon, and obtains permission from the church to perform an exorcism on her.
- The film shows that the exorcism takes place on a stormy night, which is dated to January 30, 1973, according to a newspaper headline that appears in the next scene.
- The exorcism is a grueling and terrifying ordeal, in which Merrin and Karras face the demon's attacks and taunts. Merrin eventually dies of a heart attack, and Karras sacrifices himself by inviting the demon to possess him and then throwing himself out of the window.
- The film ends with Regan recovering from the possession, and Chris and her assistant Sharon leaving Georgetown. Regan does not remember anything that happened to her, but she shows a sign of gratitude to Father Dyer, a friend of Karras who comes to say goodbye to them.
While it may seem tame by today's standards; at the time, no one had ever seen anything like it before. Many people left the theaters in tears, or with nausea. Look up post-screening interviews of people having just seen the film if you wish to understand the impact it had in 1973.
The novel implies it was Regan that desecrated the statue in the church. While it doesn't go into specifics, it's confirmed by Lt. Kinderman in the novel when he picks a piece of clay from one of Regan's artworks when he visits Chris and the analysis comes back confirming it's a match with the clay used for the desecration.
The Exorcist was first released for network television on April 29, 1979 by CBS. The film was edited for content and time, and included some scenes that were not in the theatrical version. The TV broadcast was a ratings success, attracting over 57 million viewers.
It is just another way to say "My God," or "I can't believe it."
It is never clearly shown or stated when Regan is possessed by the demon. Potentially, she has been possessed since the beginning of the movie, as the demon's influence has been felt as far off in Father Merrin's ruins dig in the Middle-Eastern regions. It's also possible she used the Ouija Board to summon the demon (who, at the time, is masquerading as the imaginary friend known as Captain Howdy) in an offscreen sequence because she was feeling lonely and the demon took advantage of her sadness and loneliness to trick her into inviting him into her physical body. Remember, Regan's parents are divorced and she is often left with assistants of her mother's while her mother herself is working long hours on a large movie production. Her father, who is never seen in the film, is in Europe fooling around with other women and seems to never have time for Regan or even cares about her, which is partially evident when she is in the hospital or bed-ridden, since he never appears throughout the movie as a result.
One possible reason why Seytan did not get sued by Warner Brothers is that the film was out of print until 2007, when it was released on DVD. Therefore, it might have escaped the attention of the American studio for a long time. Another possible reason is that the film was not widely distributed outside of Turkey, and thus did not pose a significant threat to the original's popularity or revenue. A third possible reason is that the film was so different from the original in terms of quality, style, and cultural context, that it could be considered a parody rather than a plagiarism. Parody is often protected by fair use laws, which allow the use of copyrighted material for purposes of criticism, comment, or humor.
The exact time span of Regan's possession and exorcism is not explicitly stated in the film or the novel, but based on some clues and dates, we can estimate that it lasted for about two months. Here is how we can deduce this:
Based on these events and dates, we can estimate that Regan's possession began around late October or early November, and ended on January 30, 1973, making it about two months long.
Based on these events and dates, we can estimate that Regan's possession began around late October or early November, and ended on January 30, 1973, making it about two months long.
One possible interpretation is that the demon is mocking Karras for his lack of faith and his reliance on scientific methods. The demon knows that Karras is skeptical of the supernatural and wants to see tangible evidence of the demon's existence. However, the demon does not want to give Karras what he wants, and instead challenges him to use his own faith and willpower to confront the demon.
Another possible interpretation is that the demon is trying to manipulate Karras and make him doubt his own abilities. The demon knows that Karras is suffering from guilt and grief over his mother's death, and that he feels inadequate as a priest and a psychologist. By saying that breaking the straps would be too vulgar, the demon is implying that Karras is asking for something trivial and unworthy of the demon's power. The demon wants to make Karras feel that he is not worthy of the demon's attention, and that he is powerless to help Regan.
A third possible interpretation is that the demon is simply lying and trying to avoid exposing its weakness. The demon may not be able to break the straps, or may fear that doing so would alert the authorities and endanger its possession of Regan. The demon may also be afraid of provoking Father Merrin, another priest who is an expert on exorcism and who later joins Karras in the ritual. By saying that breaking the straps would be too vulgar, the demon is pretending to be above such a simple task, and hoping to deceive Karras and Merrin into thinking that the demon is more powerful than it really is.
Another possible interpretation is that the demon is trying to manipulate Karras and make him doubt his own abilities. The demon knows that Karras is suffering from guilt and grief over his mother's death, and that he feels inadequate as a priest and a psychologist. By saying that breaking the straps would be too vulgar, the demon is implying that Karras is asking for something trivial and unworthy of the demon's power. The demon wants to make Karras feel that he is not worthy of the demon's attention, and that he is powerless to help Regan.
A third possible interpretation is that the demon is simply lying and trying to avoid exposing its weakness. The demon may not be able to break the straps, or may fear that doing so would alert the authorities and endanger its possession of Regan. The demon may also be afraid of provoking Father Merrin, another priest who is an expert on exorcism and who later joins Karras in the ritual. By saying that breaking the straps would be too vulgar, the demon is pretending to be above such a simple task, and hoping to deceive Karras and Merrin into thinking that the demon is more powerful than it really is.
One possible explanation is that Regan was already showing signs of possession around Halloween, and that her mother Chris did not want to expose her to the public or risk any harm to her or others.
Another possible explanation is that Regan did not feel like going trick or treating, or that she did not have anyone to go with. She may have preferred to stay at home and play with her Ouija board, which was the only source of companionship and excitement for her.
Another possible explanation is that Regan did not feel like going trick or treating, or that she did not have anyone to go with. She may have preferred to stay at home and play with her Ouija board, which was the only source of companionship and excitement for her.
No one has answered this question yet.
No one has answered this question yet.
Summoning the demon unconsciously, I guess.
The Exorcist is a 1971 novel by American author William Peter Blatty, who also wrote the film adaptation. The movie spawned four sequels: Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Exorcist III (1990), Exorcist: The Beginning (2004), and Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2005).
The book by William Peter Blatty was inspired by an actual event, the supposed exorcism of a demon from a 14-year-old boy living in Mount Rainier, Maryland, USA. Blatty had read a news report concerning the boy, whose family had called in a priest after conventional medicine had failed to relieve him of various symptoms, including violent episodes and outbursts of foul language. The priest spent two months with the boy, during which he claimed to have witnessed him speaking Latin (a language the boy had no knowledge of) and moving across the room on his bed whilst sleeping. However, investigative journalist Mark Opsasnick researched the story after the film was released and could not find any record of a boy having lived in the house stated in the original news article in The Washington Post on August 20th, 1949. There had been a case in Cottage City, Maryland of an exorcism being performed on a boy who allegedly would spit involuntarily, growl when angered, and whose bed shook from time to time. Opsasnick concluded that this was the case which Blatty had read about and that the Mount Rainier piece was a fabrication. Interestingly, while Opsasnick had sought to prove the possession was real, the evidence he uncovered forced him to conclude that the boy was only mentally ill, and the possession story was the result of the boy's religious mother and grandmother, a credulous priest, and sensationalistic reporting in the media. Another priest present at the exorcism has stated that he never witnessed any of the behaviour the character in the book/film exhibited and that some of the behaviour he did see could have been explained in other ways, e.g. while the boy in fact did speak some Latin on a couple of occasions, he seemed to be repeating phrases the exorcising priest was reciting from the religious manual. Opsasnick's investigation is regarded as the final word on the case, he having gone more in-depth into the story than any other journalist before.
The novel upon which the film is based makes it clear that Regan is possessed by Pazuzu, a demon referenced in Syrian and Babylonian texts as being "the demon of the wind". While Regan shows the Ouija board to her mother, she names her "invisible friend" (presumably, the self-declared name of the demon in question) as "Captain Howdy". The real name of the entity who possesses Regan is never addressed in the script nor any scene of the film, and audiences unfamiliar with the scope of demonology tend to assume it was Satan. However, Father Karras takes issue with Regan claiming to be "the devil himself", suggesting that it is unlikely that Regan is, in fact, possessed by the devil.
Folklore says that demons, despite all the evil deeds and violence they influence people to commit, are actually very cowardly, so they choose a vulnerable target. Furthermore, in a scene deleted from the theatrical release, but re-inserted into the extended director's cut, Father Merrin and Father Karras have a brief discussion during a break in the exorcism of why the demon would choose, of all people, to possess a 12-year-old girl. The priests come to the conclusion that, rather than physical destruction being the demon's motive, it is in fact attempting to wreak spiritual havoc by causing people to doubt God.
Also it also shows that by making a young innocent girl into a monster, the demon was showing his true strength to people. He can take the most innocent looking creature, and make them into an ugly evil and vile monster.
What better way for a horror author or director to display just how evil their demon is, than to have him possess an innocent 12yo girl? Physically small enough, that you dramatically display the demon's amazing supernatural power, by writing scenarios where the possessed 12yo girl sends grown men right across the room with a slap. But not so small that such a display seems comical, like it would to have a baby or toddler send an adult flying, like that.
(12yo actors also have more skills, to portray a challenging role like the possessed Regan, as the centre-piece of a whole movie. Casting a younger child would better communicate "corruption of innocence", but they'd also lack the acting skills that Linda Blair showed, both with pre-possession Regan, and Regan under the demon's control)
Also it also shows that by making a young innocent girl into a monster, the demon was showing his true strength to people. He can take the most innocent looking creature, and make them into an ugly evil and vile monster.
What better way for a horror author or director to display just how evil their demon is, than to have him possess an innocent 12yo girl? Physically small enough, that you dramatically display the demon's amazing supernatural power, by writing scenarios where the possessed 12yo girl sends grown men right across the room with a slap. But not so small that such a display seems comical, like it would to have a baby or toddler send an adult flying, like that.
(12yo actors also have more skills, to portray a challenging role like the possessed Regan, as the centre-piece of a whole movie. Casting a younger child would better communicate "corruption of innocence", but they'd also lack the acting skills that Linda Blair showed, both with pre-possession Regan, and Regan under the demon's control)
This is from the Wikipedia entry for Demonic Possession: (1) The ability to curse/blaspheme/speak in languages unknown to the person; (2) the ability to find secret things, read the mind, and divine future happenings; (3) the ability to make physical efforts abnormal for that person; and (4) the act of spitting or vomiting every object the demons would have made the person swallow. For most of the movie, Father Karras is not completely convinced the possession is genuine and even states so at one point. For a portion of the movie, the girl's mother also attributes a lot of the behaviour to the girl and not a possessing influence. The only reference by either priest to symptoms is "speaking in a language she never learnt". Much of this behaviour is shown onscreen, with the unspoken implication that it is the result of the possession; none of the behaviour exhibited is directly and specifically attributed to the demon.
There is no clear reason given for this. One interpretation is that the demon wished for an encounter with Merrin in the form of a confrontational exorcism. In order to do so, the demon would do anything to make this a reality. It didn't know that the water wasn't blessed, but reacted as though it was, in order to convince Karras of possession. This analysis presents some conflicting issues, though. Another interpretation would be to confuse Karras and validate his impression that Regan was not possessed. The demon didn't want Karras to perform the exorcism (though it taunts him to do so, knowing full well he doesn't want to perform it, therefore traumatizing Karras for his lack of faith), but wanted Merrin to arrive for the fateful confrontation. The demon seemed to know a lot, including Karras's mother recently passing away and his recent contact with a nameless homeless man ("Can you help an old altar boy?"). According to Father Merrin, "It will mix lies with the truth in order to confuse us". Uncertainty is the premise of the entire movie, and so is the question of faith, so it would seem that the reaction to the tap water is an attempt by director Friedkin to further the confusion.
Many demonologists believe in three observed stages of demonic attack. First, Infestation brought on by calling upon demonic forces, whether intentional or not. Initially a demon may only scratch at walls, so as to mostly go undetected. Secondly, oppression, in which demons systematically oppress humans, often those who are the most emotionally vulnerable. Finally, if a demon has not been exorcised and its victim has been thoroughly tormented to the point where all their mental barriers against it have collapsed, the demon may execute fully-fledged possession. None of this is detailed in the movie. The noises in the attic, among other things, go unexplained.
Although it's never confirmed, the novel implies that Karl was the one who put the crucifix under Regan's pillow. Author William Peter Blatty also revealed in an interview that Karl (Rudolf Schündler) put the crucifix under the pillow because he is Catholic. Its appearance seems to be little more than a MacGuffin, escalating the demonic (read: blasphemous) behaviour of Regan and creating a seemingly legitimate reason to bring the priests into the main plot: Chris MacNeil had been hitherto reluctant to turn to religion to help Regan.
In the first half of the film, the demonic voice that comes from the possessed Regan is mostly Linda Blair's own voice, albeit heavily distorted. Actress Mercedes McCambridge also provides some lines, while most of the vocal effects and a few extra lines are done by Ron Faber. After the crucifix masturbation scene, Regan is voiced entirely by McCambridge until she is freed from her possession at the end of the movie. It was initially intended for Blair to provide the demon's voice all the way through, but after some testing, Friedkin felt that the adolescent Blair did not have enough power or depth in her voice, so McCambridge was brought in. Warner Bros initially kept McCambridge's involvement quiet as to not take away from Linda's performance.
No. The physicians initially diagnosed a "disorder of the nerves", which quickly changed to a diagnosis of "a lesion ... on the temporal lobe of the brain" after further assessment of her behaviour. When nothing showed up on the following x-rays and arteriograms of Regan's brain, she was referred to a psychiatrist. A group of them diagnosed the condition as "somnambuliform possession" and recommended that Chris seek out an exorcist; the reason they gave was that believing oneself to be possessed can sometimes be cured by believing that exorcism works. What was actually going on inside Regan was left open to the reader to decide (in the novel), although it was for the most part suggested that she was possessed. On the other hand, the film makes it clear that she is actually possessed by showing such humanly impossible things as a head that can turn itself in a complete 360 degree rotation, a levitating bed and—later—body, sliding armoires, slamming doors, etc. But most important of all, the demon is seen to exchange bodies, leaping into Damien Karras at his demand. When he is possessed, Damien's irises turn a yellowish green, just as Regan's had while possessed.
The alternate question is "Did the demon force Karras to jump out the window?" This is a subject that depends on how the audience interprets the argument: in a traditional cinematic way or as a theological explanation.
Theory 1: Viewers who have seen the movie generally agree that it was Karras's intent to jump from the window. He dragged the demon from Regan's body into his own, but then his hands headed for Regan's throat. At that split second, he did what he felt he had to do, which was to leap to certain death. This is supported visually in the movie: when the demon takes possession of Karras, as his irises turn the demonic yellow that we had seen in Regan; an internal struggle ensues, which Karras appears to win-his irises return to normal, and he then utters the "No!" and throws himself from the window. Rather than call it "suicide", which would contradict the director's intention of Karras's renewed faith, viewers tend to think of it more as "demonicide" (note: Roman Catholic theology that previously stated the souls of those who committed suicide were doomed to hell was changed during the Second Vatican Council due to a better and more modern understanding of mental illness. The film takes place after the reforms of the Council were enacted). Karras rediscovers his faith at the moment he has the confidence to say, "You son of a bitch!" Clearly, he's no longer talking to Regan, but to the demon inside her. Until then, Karras as a psychiatrist could have thought he was dealing with a rare form of mental illness combined with paranormal phenomena. But when the demon mocks the death of Fr. Merrin, something "clicks" inside of Karras, and he sees the demon's-and God's-reality in one flash. He wins the battle by giving up his own life as opposed to letting the demon take Regan's life. In other words, Karras did not commit suicide, no more than did Jesus in his self-sacrifice on the cross or does a soldier who throws himself on a grenade to save his comrades.
Theory 2: This scene is meant to be a parallel with an exorcism found in the Bible (Mark 5:1-20), where Jesus drags a host of demons out of a man. When the demons (saying "Our name is Legion") begged for Jesus to let them possess any body instead of that man's, Jesus allowed them to enter the bodies of 2,000 pigs (unclean animals according to the Kosher rules), but the pigs then ran off of a cliff, to die by drowning in the sea. Note that Father Karras repeatedly says he's a faithless man guided by science, giving him a sort-of "unclean" status before God. He's symbolically speaking as a "pig" willingly to receive a demon as a desperate act of obedience to God. Given this, when the demon goes out of Regan, (a) it enters Karras, who in the same fashion as the pigs in the biblical account, prefers to die atoning for his own disbelief rather than let a demon enter him to destroy him or any other person; or (b) it indeed wanted to destroy life, regardless of "clean" or "unclean". Some knowledge of the Bible would be required to substantiate this interpretation, and thus it seems less likely than Theory 1.
Theory 3: Karras takes the demon from Regan, expels it, but is thrown out of Regan's window during the struggle. Karras's eyes change colour, like Regan's, to indicate the demon is inside him but just before he goes through the window they change back to their normal colour, leaving us to wonder if the demon left his body just as quickly as it came into him. Seemingly Karras's intention of throwing himself out the window was to bring the demon with him to his death, but perhaps he was too late and the demon went back into Regan or into thin air and seemingly, somewhere, into another person. Perhaps Karras's eyes turn back to normal to indicate Karras has the power to temporarily suppress the demon inside him and thus is successful at killing the demon. Also, Karras is still barely alive as Father Dyer comes to him on the sidewalk, the demon seemingly gone from his body. Could the demon have passed into Dyer? During the process, Karras seems to float effortlessly in the air, something he would be incapable of doing on his own so it could be construed the demon is taking Karras's life, having no intention of remaining inside Karras.
Theory 1: Viewers who have seen the movie generally agree that it was Karras's intent to jump from the window. He dragged the demon from Regan's body into his own, but then his hands headed for Regan's throat. At that split second, he did what he felt he had to do, which was to leap to certain death. This is supported visually in the movie: when the demon takes possession of Karras, as his irises turn the demonic yellow that we had seen in Regan; an internal struggle ensues, which Karras appears to win-his irises return to normal, and he then utters the "No!" and throws himself from the window. Rather than call it "suicide", which would contradict the director's intention of Karras's renewed faith, viewers tend to think of it more as "demonicide" (note: Roman Catholic theology that previously stated the souls of those who committed suicide were doomed to hell was changed during the Second Vatican Council due to a better and more modern understanding of mental illness. The film takes place after the reforms of the Council were enacted). Karras rediscovers his faith at the moment he has the confidence to say, "You son of a bitch!" Clearly, he's no longer talking to Regan, but to the demon inside her. Until then, Karras as a psychiatrist could have thought he was dealing with a rare form of mental illness combined with paranormal phenomena. But when the demon mocks the death of Fr. Merrin, something "clicks" inside of Karras, and he sees the demon's-and God's-reality in one flash. He wins the battle by giving up his own life as opposed to letting the demon take Regan's life. In other words, Karras did not commit suicide, no more than did Jesus in his self-sacrifice on the cross or does a soldier who throws himself on a grenade to save his comrades.
Theory 2: This scene is meant to be a parallel with an exorcism found in the Bible (Mark 5:1-20), where Jesus drags a host of demons out of a man. When the demons (saying "Our name is Legion") begged for Jesus to let them possess any body instead of that man's, Jesus allowed them to enter the bodies of 2,000 pigs (unclean animals according to the Kosher rules), but the pigs then ran off of a cliff, to die by drowning in the sea. Note that Father Karras repeatedly says he's a faithless man guided by science, giving him a sort-of "unclean" status before God. He's symbolically speaking as a "pig" willingly to receive a demon as a desperate act of obedience to God. Given this, when the demon goes out of Regan, (a) it enters Karras, who in the same fashion as the pigs in the biblical account, prefers to die atoning for his own disbelief rather than let a demon enter him to destroy him or any other person; or (b) it indeed wanted to destroy life, regardless of "clean" or "unclean". Some knowledge of the Bible would be required to substantiate this interpretation, and thus it seems less likely than Theory 1.
Theory 3: Karras takes the demon from Regan, expels it, but is thrown out of Regan's window during the struggle. Karras's eyes change colour, like Regan's, to indicate the demon is inside him but just before he goes through the window they change back to their normal colour, leaving us to wonder if the demon left his body just as quickly as it came into him. Seemingly Karras's intention of throwing himself out the window was to bring the demon with him to his death, but perhaps he was too late and the demon went back into Regan or into thin air and seemingly, somewhere, into another person. Perhaps Karras's eyes turn back to normal to indicate Karras has the power to temporarily suppress the demon inside him and thus is successful at killing the demon. Also, Karras is still barely alive as Father Dyer comes to him on the sidewalk, the demon seemingly gone from his body. Could the demon have passed into Dyer? During the process, Karras seems to float effortlessly in the air, something he would be incapable of doing on his own so it could be construed the demon is taking Karras's life, having no intention of remaining inside Karras.
There were nine deaths associated with the film, among them actor Jack McGowran (who played Burke Dennings), Max von Sydow's brother, Linda Blair's grandfather, and a nightwatchman working on the set. However, the sheer number of people involved in the making of this film and the length of time it took to complete it made it more likely that some people connected with the film, however loosely, would die during its filming. There is nothing supernatural about it and crew members die all the time while making movies. They just happened to die during a horror film.
Back in 2001, an extended cut (later retitled Extended Director's Cut) of Friedkin's cult movie was release that features nearly 10 minutes of new and extended footage, like the examination scene at the doctor's office or the famous "spider walk" sequence. Besides these newly integrated scenes, digital effects (such as the demon's face that appears as flash cuts in some scenes) were added and a newly composed score was used. Three scenes intended for inclusion in the Director's Cut were left out at the last minute due to lost prints/tracks: (1) A scene in which Chris MacNeil takes Regan on the promised tour of the city was left out when the soundtrack couldn't be found. (2) Another scene showing possessed Regan out her room, this time scurrying about on all fours licking peoples' ankles, was left out when the original negative couldn't be found. (3) An extension to the final scene, a continuation of the conversation between Kinderman and Dyer involving more movie references, was left off due to the sound of passing traffic in the background making the dialogue unrecoverable.
The Exorcist Enhanced Script Presentation includes highlighted dialogue and over 400 screenshots in sync with the story.
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