Horror films have produced great classics throughout history. But only one that continues to shock audiences like the day it premiered in 1973: The Exorcist.
There are those who attribute the success of this film to the creepy novel of the same name by William Peter Blattyto the director’s perfectionism William Friedkinto the cast headed by Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blairor to the disturbing visual effects of Marcel Vercoutere, which, strangely enough, did not receive any recognition from the Academy.
Some transfer its popularity to the article published by Washington Post in August 1949, which details “which is probably one of the most outstanding experiences in recent religious history: A 14-year-old Mount River boy has been freed from demonic possession by a Catholic priest.” The text that inspired Blatty in writing his masterpiece.
Finally, others consider that the acceptance of The Exorcist falls on the ancient battle between good and evil detailed in the Bible and which recounts the way in which God defeated Luzbel, “He threw him into the abyss, and [lo] closed and [lo] He sealed it on him, so that he would no longer deceive the nations, until the thousand years were completed.”.
But there are those who have other theories…
The Exorcist: A World Afflicted by Evil
December was considered a month of spiritual peace and love of neighbor, until in 1973 William Friedkin put an end to the celebrations by introducing the story of a possessed girl who turned December 26 into “a great day for an exorcism”. It is ironic that the original premiere of The Exorcist It was not planned for this day, but the filming suffered all kinds of incidents that practically made it coincide with Christmas. Since then, many have classified it as a blasphemous film that took advantage of religious holidays to spread the word of the evil one. But the truth is that the world already seemed cursed for a long time.
Horror films, which for years had predominated in Series B, began to gain importance towards the end of the 60s. It was not a coincidence, but rather the industry’s natural response to an increasingly hopeless world as a result of the Cold War, Vietnam, racial differences and the growing wave of violence within the American Union. All of this manifested itself directly in the country’s belief system, with the rise of the Satanic Church led by Anthony LaVeythe increase of sects such as the so-called “family” of Charles Manson and the increase in cases for demonologists ed and Lorraine Warren.
These same trends were manifested in the cinema with Rosemary’s baby (Polanski, 1968). That was classified by the National Catholic Office for Films (NCOMP) as a condemned film for its eminently satanic plot. Rumors say that the project had technical advice from LaVey and that Polanski embodied the demon who abuses the young woman. In addition, they say it inspired the murder of Sharon Tate, the director’s wife, just a year after the premiere.
The Church did not take long to react to the crisis with a speech given in 1972. In that, the Pope Paul VI He expressed his concern about skepticism and ordered a formal study on the loss of faith. His intention: a moral rearmament against the apparent influence of the devil in society.
A misunderstood tape
These disturbing antecedents contributed to The Exorcist generated nervousness among some sectors of society who saw it as a diabolical film. Contrary to what some think, the film was never condemned by the Vatican, but it did face severe problems in guaranteeing its mass release.
Jack Valenticreator of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) evaluation system, detailed in his book The Naked Truth that the film only surpassed the X rating due to a technicality. “They come from what the audience sees, not what they imagine they see. In The Exorcist there is no explicit sex. There is no excessive violence. There is some profane language, but it is related to the theme of the film and is kept to a minimum. Much of what may worry some people is not shown on screen. A film cannot be penalized for what people think because not everyone thinks the same.”
Some isolated religious leaders criticized the film among their parishioners. Such was the case of the evangelist Billy Graham [vía]who attributed the mass hysteria among the audiences with “the devil is in every frame of the film”. It is said that her words were decisive in the hate campaign against Linda Blair, who was accused of being a satanic emissary.
Blatty himself considered that the adaptation did not shine at the Academy Awards – it only received two statuettes out of ten nominations. According to him, it was due to a smear campaign led by the director George Cukor. It has even been speculated that the abrupt cancellation of the Oscar for Best Visual Effects that same year was part of the boycott.
Despite all these labels, the writer reiterated until his death in 2017 that The Exorcist It was never conceived as a demonic story. For him it was a means to reinforce his own beliefs after the death of his mother. A time when he “described my faith as a mere hope rather than a solid ideology. He was trying to do almost apostolic work, helping others with his own faith.” [vía].
Some wanted to censor the film for its allusion to the devil. But other influential members of the church applauded her for her contributions to the spread of a religious message. Such was the case of Father Gabriele Amorth, one of the most experienced exorcists in the entire history of the Vatican after nearly 70,000 rituals in 29 years and who stated in his book An Exorcist Tells His Story that “remove a few effects and the movie deals in a very sober way with the problem of evil”.
A new era of evil
45 years have passed since Regan’s possession and today more than ever, the influence of The Exorcist can be seen in films like Emily Rose’s exorcism, Deliver us from evil, The spell, The witch and Hereditaryseries like American Horror Story, Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcistand even documentaries like The Devil and Father Amorth. The situation is clear for creatives like Gary Dauberman [vía]screenwriter of Item and The nun: “the devil is everywhere and there is no way to hide.”
Antonio José Navarro assures in the book The empire of fear that the resurgence of ‘religious terror’ can be attributed to the evolution of the world. This explains why the popularity of the subgenre decreased in the 80s and 90s. That was a time of apparent political, social and economic prosperity in the Western world. The United States consolidated its position as the leading world power in the face of the triumph of capitalism.
Everything changed with the attacks against the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. Not only because of the actions of Al Qaeda, but because of the continuous religious messages sent by the George W. Bush government. He classified the War on Terror as a “crusade.” With it he sought to “free the world from evil” in search of “infinite justice.”
Far from being reduced, these fears have intensified over the years. Whether with political deceptions in the fight against terrorism, the spread of other threats such as ISIS or the politics of hate employed by Donald Trump and other world leaders. The result is a world where, as the philosopher Hannah Arendt stated, evil has become “terrifyingly normal” [vía].
As happened in the 70s, the Vatican has expressed its concern about the current hopelessness. This has manifested itself in an exponential increase in requests for exorcisms. Italy is the most notorious case with nearly 500,000 alleged possessions in 2016. Their response was a preparation course held in April 2018. This was intended to help priests recognize between the fears typical of the times in which we live and the evil in pure state. For its part, reports of The Economist They speak of the rise of ‘independent’ exorcists in Europe. They charge about $200 USD for one-hour sessions in which they try to free people from the demons that afflict them.
It is difficult to know if the situation will improve in the near future, although some surveys conclude that more than 70% of the population thinks the world will continue to get worse. Work of the devil, test of faith or errors typical of our human nature? Everyone has their own conclusion, but William Peter Blatty and William Friedkin made their position very clear. The Exorcist through Father Merrin: “the demon’s target is not the possessed, but us… And I think what he wants is for us to despair, to reject our own humanity, to see ourselves, in the long run as beasts, as essentially vile and filthy, without nobility, horrible, unworthy. And perhaps that is the center of everything: indignity. Because I think that believing in God has nothing to do with reason, but ultimately, it is a matter of love.
The Exorcist entry: Why is it still so terrifying? was first published in Cine PREMIERE.