The real-life possession that inspired the making of ‘The Exorcist’
When The Exorcist arrived in 1973, it became the first horror movie to earn a ‘Best Picture’ nomination at the Academy Awards. The film was a turning point for the genre, terrifying audiences while simultaneously posing questions about faith, good versus evil and science.
The movie charts the demonic possession of a young girl, Regan, who turns into a terrifying monster under the influence of supernatural forces. She masturbates with a cross, vomits strange liquids and spouts obscenities such as “your mother sucks cock in hell”. By using a sweet, young girl as a vessel for a satanic presence with the capabilities to overpower everyone around her, director William Friedkin was able to completely unsettle the audience.
However, despite the movie becoming a staple of the horror genre, Friedkin never intended for his creation to become a horror film. Instead, he based the film on the book of the same name by William Peter Blatty, who also wrote the screenplay. The novel is inspired by a case of supposed possession which took place in 1949.
The apparent victim of possession was a 14-year-old boy known as ‘Roland Doe’, who seemed to cause objects to move or levitate without touching them. After strange activity continued to occur in his presence, several priests performed exorcisms on him. During the event, chaos ensued as Roland Doe attacked one of the priests and spoke in tongues, much like Regan.
While most people believe the case to be the result of a child experiencing severe mental illness or, according to some, the tricks of an attention-seeking child, there is speculation as to whether the exorcisms were carried out at all. Many elements of the story are the result of hearsay; thus, details of the possession and exorcism are most likely exaggerated or fabricated.
Yet, the case provided fascinating source material for an iconic movie, with Friedkin using the story to explore questions of faith. The director has firmly stated that he didn’t intend to make a horror film, telling TheLipTV, “I read the diaries of the priest, the doctors, the nurses and the patients who were involved in the actual case in 1949 in Silver Spring, Maryland. It was a 14-year-old boy, not a 12-year-old girl, and Bill Blatty – who wrote the novel and the screenplay – was an undergraduate at Georgetown when this case appeared on the front pages of The Washington Post.”
He added: “Blatty and I never spoke of making a horror film. We talked about making a film which was about the mystery of faith. I felt that The Exorcist story was one of the most powerful things you could do in dealing with the mystery of faith and God’s love and forgiveness.”
