The Exorcist File (2014) User Reviews

Meh. Middling Docu

[arfdawg-1 · 4/10 · 17 March 2015]

The Plot:

While filming a haunted asylum in St. Louis, Missouri, documentary filmmakers uncover a secret diary of the infamous 1949 exorcism involving a 13 year old boy possessed by the devil that later inspired the book and movie "The Exorcist".

Utilizing hi-tech paranormal gadgetry along with a legion of supernatural experts they search out to capture the scariest entity known to man, "The Unholy Ghost".

Nothing you have ever seen or heard before gets you closer to the ungodly truth of what really happened in this most terrifying, best selling story of all time! This is the untold-real story of "The Exorcist", a chronicle of true events based on the actual priest's secret diary the world was not to see, Until Now!

Supposedly based on a true story but some how I think it's hype.

It's made with a bunch of hillbilly ghost busters that are just not believable.

The alleged million dollar budget is lost on me. It's a cheap documentary style film.

One of the paranormal experts looks like Penn Jillette on skid row. Cheesy.

It's an OK film if you want to watch something on TV that you might fall asleep to. There's nothing riveting about it, however.

a paranormal investigation

[susanwomb · 1/10 · 18 March 2015]

Through use of emotional pornography and unrelated child murder cases these people have managed to create a c-movie, not worthy of being categorized as a documentary...but hey if you have no real evidence you can always show pictures of dead children for chock value. Half of the movie has nothing to do with the original exorcism, and the other half is undocumented by scientific standards. Where is the FCC to ban this kind of child exploitation? or are they so focused on swearing that humans don't actually figure in their ethics. This viewer is appalled by the amateurish, meaningless, inept and shallow handling of heavy material...whatever ones beliefs may be.

Not a documentary at all

[aldiboronti · 1/10 · 14 February 2017]

This tripe does not deserve to be called a documentary. It is in fact akin to one of those stupid TV shows that show self-styled 'paranormal' investigators acting like children afraid of the dark.

For the real facts of this bogus case check out Wikipedia from which I quote.

"In his 1993 book Possessed: The True Story of an Exorcism, author Thomas B. Allen offered 'the consensus of today's experts' that 'Robbie was just a deeply disturbed boy, nothing supernatural about him'".

"According to author Mark Opsasnick, individuals connected to the incident were influenced by their own specializations:

'To psychiatrists, Rob Doe suffered from mental illness. To priests this was a case of demonic possession. To writers and film/video producers this was a great story to exploit for profit. Those involved saw what they were trained to see. Each purported to look at the facts but just the opposite was true — in actuality they manipulated the facts and emphasized information that fit their own agendas.' Opsasnik wrote that after he located and spoke with neighbors and childhood friends of the boy (most of whom he only referenced by initials) he concluded that 'the boy had been a very clever trickster, who had pulled pranks to frighten his mother and to fool children in the neighborhood'".

I advise anyone who may be taken in by this idiotic film to suspend their judgment until they've read the true facts about this which are easily available on the net. It is sensational films like this that perpetuate dangerous medieval beliefs. The makers should be ashamed of themselves but I'm sure they're too busy counting their money to worry about that.

A must-see documentary for Exorcist fans

[freekforchrist · 8/10 · 29 October 2015]

The movie begins with demonologist William Bradshaw explaining how exorcisms that are authorized by the Roman Catholic Church must be documented, so we get a little background information. He then says that, with all information we have about the well-known 1949 exorcism, it's his professional opinion that it was a real exorcism and not a case of insanity or delusion. Father Francis X. Cleary, Senior Jesuit priest and exorcism historian, tells how the priests got involved with the case, while exorcist Bishop James Long also discusses the case and how the little boy possibly got possessed by his aunt's encouragement of using a Ouija board. Numerous people give testimonies concerning demonic possession– including modern possession survivors–and they also share the testimony of the great niece of Father William Bowdern, the lead exorcist in the 1949 case. Original audio files and photos are shown of the boy, though his face is partly censored to protect his privacy. The Booth Brothers, along with other paranormal investigators, visit the various places that the boy was at (the site of Alexian Bros Hospital, White House Retreat, the "Exorcist" house) and perform paranormal surveillance. The results are quite shocking, even for a skeptic, and the images alone are frightening. Being a devout Catholic and knowing that the Catholic Church is very strict and protective over the events of actual exorcism cases, I kept waiting for the telltale flaw of the Booth brothers, where they claimed to have access to the files–but, to my surprise, this was not the case. The film is careful to state that the Church guards those documents, and that this documentary is based on the personal diary of Father Raymond Bishop who was with Father Bowdern during the exorcisms. I am very pleased that this documentary is not like other "documentary" films that have been released; it is an actual documentary and not a two hour reenactment of the events with altered facts or added information for entertainment purposes. There are clips of actors reenacting events, but they are brief and in between the interviews and events. The paranormal investigators came off as true professionals. It wasn't like many of the ghost hunter shows on TV where, when something strange happens, everyone freaks out and it looks like a bad found footage horror movie. They all kept their cool when unusual things occurred, like they're used to it. Christopher Saint Booth wrote an amazing score for the movie that really helps the film to flow; it's got a very dark, classical Gothic feel to it. And it works well during the reenactment sequences.

I had trouble blinking during this film because I was so into it and didn't want to miss a thing. The Booth Brothers score again with The Exorcist File; the perfect documentary companion for The Exorcist.

Good but could have been better!

[dayvid20000 · 8/10 · 26 March 2020]

This documentary was good and a must see for all Exorcist fans. It is based on the infamous Robbie Mannheim aka Roland Doe possession. (This is also where the director of the movie and writer of the book got their scripts from.)

The paranormal investigating crew do in fact go to the hospital and house located in St Louis to investigate the rooms where the exorcisms took place. However, they should have went to the actual house in Maryland where Robbie and his Aunt Harriet played the Ouija board in 1949. After all, that is where Robbie became possessed and the "demon" apparently manifested in him there. I feel the investigators would have gotten better results with there equipment instead of in St Louis.