disturbing event. Released in the early 70's, when the film world was just
getting use to the more liberal attitude from the sensors, The Exorcist
would cause a sensation. The reaction was anticipated, it was just never
considered that it would be so extreme.
The audience reaction was unbelievable. Reports flooded in that people were leaving showings of the film in hysterics, throwing up, unable to handle the barrage of shocking imagery being thrown at them. William Peter Blatty remembers one woman's reaction to the stomach-churning spinal tap sequence: "This woman was walking up the aisle with her hand to her head saying 'Jesus. Jesus. JESUS!' I remember thinking I hope that's not Pauline Kael!" This was not to say the film was not popular. It was in fact one of the most sucessful films of the year and arguable among the first of the 'event' movies. Audiences were queueing for hours to get into showings perhaps more curious about what kind of film would cause such a reaction with audiences rather than the actual plot. The Exorcist stormed the box office, racking up a massive ...... The film was a sensation and an instant hit.
The press reacted with interest,
perhaps a little too much. There were many articles in papers calling for
the film to be
banned
because of the effect it had on people. When a man died of a fit shortly
after seeing the film, The Exorcist was squarely blamed by the media who
were perhaps adding to the hysteria simply to sell more papers. A teenage
boy murdered his.....and claimed that it was after seeing the Exorcist
that he had heard voices in his head telling him to kill, taking possession
of him. Ultimately, the extreme reaction would lead to the film being banned
in the UK (Where it is in fact no longer banned, having been granted a
video certificate) and Finland.
The religious reaction was mixed. Many churches applauded the film, others, mainly fanatics, tried to put the idea across that the film had a power within it, one man even claiming a demon could be seen when Merrin's breath condensed.)
All this was not helped by Friedkin's promotional gimmicks. While promoting the film, Friedkin would fool the press into believing that the levitation sequences had been performed by magnetic fields (they had in fact been achieved by using piano wires). He created an air of mystery by refusing to disclose how the 360 degree head turning had been created, cryptically stating: "Any way you think we did it is not the way we did it." Friedkin would also create more trouble when he claimed that Blair had performed all the possession scenes, including the crucifix masturbation. The caused the press to fabricate stories calling Blair's sanity into question, claiming the experience of filming had left her deranged. Worst of all Eileen Dietz, who had performed the more violent scenes, sued Warner for proper credit and claimed Blair was taking credit for her role in the film (Dietz would counter-claim she performed all the possession scenes).
But the hysteria died down eventually. The film's UK re-release didn't provoke such an extreme reaction, and allowed it to be granted a video certificate there. Today's audiences don't tend to find it scary but the film remains a classic.