'The scariest movie of all time'. Some movie goers agree and some disagree. I belong to the former group, though I would like to rephrase it to 'One of the scariest movies of all time'. For those of you who have been living in a cave for the past twenty two years, the story is of a pre-pubescent girl, Regan (Linda Blair), possessed by a demon whom purports to be the Devil himself ('Now kindly undo these straps!').
In this day and age of schlock fest horror films being relentlessly released (or spewed out for want of a better term) by the big wig studios on a quest to cash in on the latest teenage trend, this premise for a horror story may not seem so scary to most. However, it's the road we take to arrive at this supposition that makes this film stand out from the rest.
The seeds of dread and fear are planted early with screen legend Max Von Sydow's Father Merrin receiving disturbing and familiar Omens of what is to come during an archaeological dig in Northern Iraq.
We're then taken to the setting where the real horror will begin in the Georgetown home of Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), a successful divorcée film actress living with her daughter Regan. We're initially presented with a Regan who loves horses, has a close and loving relationship with her mother, is uncomfortable with the strained relationship between her parents and has the innocent demeanour and narrow vocabulary of every normal young girl.
The carefully crafted and ever so gradual change in Regan's personality, the strange drawings and figurines she creates, the emergence of Captain Howdy (Regan's imaginary friend) and strange outbursts ('You're gonna die up there') and so called physical convulsions force Chris to turn to doctors and eventually psychiatrists to try and get to the bottom of Regan's ever worsening behaviour. Her vocabulary becomes quite extensive with spine chilling, sudden maturity and her outbursts more terrifyingly violent. After exhausting all the 'somatic' possibilities for Regan's troubles Chris desperately seeks help from world weary Jesuit Psychiatrist Priest Father Karras (Jason Miller) requesting an exorcism.
By the time Karras meets Regan, any semblance of the innocent young girl has completely vanished. Karras is grappling with his faith and subsequently doubts she is truly 'possessed'. Finally convinced that an exorcism is the way to go, he seeks permission from the Catholic Church, who grant him with the condition that he perform it with the help of the experienced Father Merrin.
Merrin arrives like a knight in shining armour for the ultimate showdown! A great screenplay by William Peter Blatty (based on his book), intelligent directing from William Friedken and outstanding performances from all the cast, particularly Ellen Burstyn as the traumatised mother make for a classic piece of horror that will stand the test of time. 10/10Edit
Crew verified as complete
In this day and age of schlock fest horror films being relentlessly released (or spewed out for want of a better term) by the big wig studios on a quest to cash in on the latest teenage trend, this premise for a horror story may not seem so scary to most. However, it's the road we take to arrive at this supposition that makes this film stand out from the rest.
The seeds of dread and fear are planted early with screen legend Max Von Sydow's Father Merrin receiving disturbing and familiar Omens of what is to come during an archaeological dig in Northern Iraq.
We're then taken to the setting where the real horror will begin in the Georgetown home of Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), a successful divorcée film actress living with her daughter Regan. We're initially presented with a Regan who loves horses, has a close and loving relationship with her mother, is uncomfortable with the strained relationship between her parents and has the innocent demeanour and narrow vocabulary of every normal young girl.
The carefully crafted and ever so gradual change in Regan's personality, the strange drawings and figurines she creates, the emergence of Captain Howdy (Regan's imaginary friend) and strange outbursts ('You're gonna die up there') and so called physical convulsions force Chris to turn to doctors and eventually psychiatrists to try and get to the bottom of Regan's ever worsening behaviour. Her vocabulary becomes quite extensive with spine chilling, sudden maturity and her outbursts more terrifyingly violent. After exhausting all the 'somatic' possibilities for Regan's troubles Chris desperately seeks help from world weary Jesuit Psychiatrist Priest Father Karras (Jason Miller) requesting an exorcism.
By the time Karras meets Regan, any semblance of the innocent young girl has completely vanished. Karras is grappling with his faith and subsequently doubts she is truly 'possessed'. Finally convinced that an exorcism is the way to go, he seeks permission from the Catholic Church, who grant him with the condition that he perform it with the help of the experienced Father Merrin.
Merrin arrives like a knight in shining armour for the ultimate showdown! A great screenplay by William Peter Blatty (based on his book), intelligent directing from William Friedken and outstanding performances from all the cast, particularly Ellen Burstyn as the traumatised mother make for a classic piece of horror that will stand the test of time. 10/10Edit
Directed by
William Friedkin |
Writing Credits
William Peter Blatty | .. | (written for the screen by) |
William Peter Blatty | .. | (novel) |
Cast (in credits order) verified as complete
Ellen Burstyn | .. | Chris MacNeil | |
Max von Sydow | .. | Father Merrin | |
Lee J. Cobb | .. | Lt. William Kinderman | |
Kitty Winn | .. | Sharon | |
Jack MacGowran | .. | Burke Dennings | |
Jason Miller | .. | Father Karras | |
Linda Blair | .. | Regan | |
William O'Malley | .. | Father Dyer (as Reverend William O'Malley S.J.) | |
Barton Heyman | .. | Dr. Klein | |
Peter Masterson | .. | Dr. Barringer - Clinic Director (as Pete Masterson) | |
Rudolf Schündler | .. | Karl | |
Gina Petrushka | .. | Willi | |
Robert Symonds | .. | Dr. Taney | |
Arthur Storch | .. | Psychiatrist | |
Thomas Bermingham | .. | Tom - President of University (as Reverend Thomas Bermingham S.J.) | |
Vasiliki Maliaros | .. | Karras' Mother | |
Titos Vandis | .. | Karras' Uncle | |
John Mahon | .. | Language Lab Director | |
Wallace Rooney | .. | Bishop Michael | |
Ron Faber | .. | Chuck - Assistant Director / Demonic Voice | |
Donna Mitchell | .. | Mary Jo Perrin | |
Roy Cooper | .. | Jesuit Dean | |
Robert Gerringer | .. | Senator at Party | |
Mercedes McCambridge | .. | Demon (voice) | |
Rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
Paul Bateson | .. | Radiologist's Assistant (uncredited) | |
Elinore Blair | .. | Nurse (uncredited) | |
William Peter Blatty | .. | The Producer (uncredited) | |
Mary Boylan | .. | First Mental Patient (uncredited) | |
Dick Callinan | .. | Astronaut (uncredited) | |
Mason Curry | .. | Doctor (voice) (uncredited) | |
Toni Darnay | .. | Violent psychotic patient (uncredited) | |
Eileen Dietz | .. | Pazuzu's Face (uncredited) | |
Joanne Dusseau | .. | Senator's Wife (uncredited) | |
Bernard Eismann | .. | Minor Role (uncredited) | |
Beatrice Hunter | .. | Minor Role (uncredited) | |
Yvonne Jones | .. | Bellevue Nurse (uncredited) | |
Don LaBonte | .. | Minor Role (uncredited) | |
Barton Lane | .. | Angiography Doctor (uncredited) | |
Ann Miles | .. | Spiderwalk (uncredited) | |
John Nicola | .. | Priest (uncredited) | |
Vincent Russell | .. | Subway Vagrant (uncredited) | |
Gerard F. Yates | .. | Priest Singing Around Piano at Party (uncredited) |
Produced by
The Exorcist 1973 Cast
William Peter Blatty | .. | producer |
Noel Marshall | .. | executive producer |
David Salven | .. | associate producer |
Cinematography by
Owen Roizman | .. | director of photography |
Film Editing by
Norman Gay | ||
Evan A. Lottman | .. | (as Evan Lottman) |
Casting By
Louis DiGiaimo | .. | (as Louis DiGiamo) |
Nessa Hyams | ||
Juliet Taylor |
Production Design by
Bill Malley |
Art Direction by
John Robert Lloyd | .. | (uncredited) |
Set Decoration by
Jerry Wunderlich |
Costume Design by
Joseph Fretwell III | .. | (as Joe Fretwell) |
Makeup Department
William A. Farley | .. | hair stylist (as Bill Farley) |
Dick Smith | .. | makeup artist |
Production Management
William Kaplan | .. | production manager: Iraq sequence |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Terence A. Donnelly | .. | first assistant director |
Alan R. Green | .. | second assistant director (as Alan Green) |
Art Department
Charles Bailey | .. | assistant art director |
Joseph M. Caracciolo | .. | property master (as Joe Caracciolo) |
Edward Garzero | .. | master scenic artist (as Eddie Garzero) |
Bill Gold | .. | poster designer (uncredited) |
Robert Hart | .. | carpenter (uncredited) |
Gene Lauritzen | .. | construction coordinator (uncredited) |
Sound Department
Randle Akerson | .. | dialogue editor (2000 version) / sound editor (2000 version) |
Noah Blough | .. | sound editor (2000 version) |
Fred J. Brown | .. | sound effects editor (as Fred Brown) |
Richard Burton | .. | sound editor (2000 version) |
Susan Demskey-Horiuchi | .. | first assistant sound editor (2000 version) |
Matthew Dettmann | .. | foley artist (2000 version) (as Matt Dettmann) |
Richard Duarte | .. | foley mixer (2000 version) |
Jean-Louis Ducarme | .. | sound: Iraq sequence |
C. Robert Fine | .. | special sound effects (as Bob Fine) |
Gonzalo Gavira | .. | special sound effects |
Gary A. Hecker | .. | foley artist (2000 version) (as Gary Hecker) |
Richard King | .. | supervising sound editor (2000 version) |
Robert Knudson | .. | dubbing mixer (as Buzz Knudson) |
Hal Landaker | .. | sound consultant |
James Matheny | .. | sound editor (2000 version) |
Michael Minkler | .. | re-recording mixer (2000 version) |
Ron Nagle | .. | special sound effects |
Christopher Newman | .. | sound (as Chris Newman) |
Mark Pappas | .. | foley editor (2000 version) / sound editor (2000 version) |
Doc Siegel | .. | special sound effects |
Ross Taylor | .. | sound effects editor |
Robert Ulrich | .. | adr supervisor (2000 version) / supervising adr editor (2000 version) |
Kerry Dean Williams | .. | adr editor (2000 version) (as Kerry Williams) |
Kitty Malone | .. | foley artist (uncredited) |
Sharron Miller | .. | sound editor (uncredited) |
James Nelson | .. | supervising sound editor (uncredited) |
Ken Nordine | .. | special sound effects (uncredited) |
Special Effects by
Marcel Vercoutere | .. | special effects |
Rick Baker | .. | special effects assistant (uncredited) |
Visual Effects by
Jennifer Law-Stump | .. | 2000 special edition digital effects artist: Pacific Title Digital |
Marv Ystrom | .. | optical effects |
Martin Hall | .. | paint/roto artist (uncredited) |
Stunts
Ann Miles | .. | stunts (uncredited) |
Chuck Waters | .. | stunts: Jason Miller (uncredited) |
Camera and Electrical Department
Richard Quinlan | .. | gaffer (as Dick Quinlan) |
Ed Quinn | .. | key grip (as Eddie Quinn) |
Josh Weiner | .. | still photographer |
Billy Williams | .. | director of photography: Iraq sequence |
Gary Muller | .. | second assistant camera (uncredited) |
Kelvin Pike | .. | camera operator: iraq sequence (uncredited) |
Tom Priestley Jr. | .. | assistant camera (uncredited) |
Robert Schoenhut | .. | camera operator (uncredited) |
Tom Volpe | .. | grip (uncredited) |
David Wynn-Jones | .. | focus puller (uncredited) |
Costume and Wardrobe Department
Bill Beattie | .. | wardrobe: men's |
Aldo Cipullo | .. | jewelry designer: Cartier, New York |
Florence Foy | .. | wardrobe: ladies' |
Editorial Department
Michael Goldman | .. | assistant film editor (as Michal Goldman) |
Terry Haggar | .. | color timer (special version) |
Jordan Leondopoulos | .. | supervising field editor |
Ross Levy | .. | assistant film editor: Iraq sequence |
Craig McKay | .. | assistant film editor |
Bob McMillian | .. | color consultant (as Robert M. McMillian) |
Darrin Navarro | .. | assistant editor (theatrical version) |
Jonathan Pontell | .. | assistant film editor |
Ray Sabo | .. | negative cutter (special version) |
Bud S. Smith | .. | editor: Iraq sequence (as Bud Smith) |
Music Department
Robert Garrett | .. | music editor (2000 version) |
Eugene Marks | .. | music editor (as Gene Marks) |
Jack Nitzsche | .. | composer: additional music |
London Symphony Orchestra | .. | music performed by (uncredited) |
Ken Nordine | .. | vocal coach: Linda Blair (uncredited) |
Other crew
Thomas Bermingham | .. | technical advisor (as Reverend Thomas Bermingham S.J.) |
Norman E. Chase | .. | technical advisor: Professor of Radiology, New York University Medical Center (as Norman E. Chase M.D.) |
Anne Mooney | .. | production office coordinator |
John Nicola | .. | technical advisor (as Reverend John Nicola S.J.) |
William O'Malley | .. | technical advisor (as Reverend William O'Malley S.J.) |
Dan Perri | .. | title designer |
Nicholas Sgarro | .. | script supervisor (as Nick Sgarro) |
Albert M. Shapiro | .. | administrative assistant (as Albert Shapiro) |
Arthur I. Snyder | .. | technical advisor (as Arthur I. Snyder M.D.) |
Herbert E. Walker | .. | technical advisor (as Herbert E. Walker M.D.) |
Victor Argo | .. | voice (uncredited) |
Michael Cristofer | .. | voice (uncredited) |
Eileen Dietz | .. | double: Regan MacNeil (uncredited) |
Liam Dunn | .. | voice (uncredited) |
Philippa Harris | .. | voice (uncredited) |
Joe Hyams | .. | studio publicity executive (uncredited) |
Claudia Lennear | .. | voice (uncredited) |
Kitty Malone | .. | voice (uncredited) |
Howard Newman | .. | publicist (uncredited) |
Maidie Norman | .. | voice (uncredited) |