The Exorcist same name, and starring Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Max von Sydow, and Jason Miller. The film is part of "The Exorcist" franchise. The book, inspired by the 1949 exorcism of Roland Doe, deals with the demonic possession of a 12-year-old girl and her mother's attempts to win back her child through an exorcism conducted by two priests. The adaptation is relatively faithful to the book, which itself has been commercially successful (hitting the "New York Times" bestseller list). John Boorman's "" was released in 1977, and revisited Regan four years after her initial ordeal. The plot dealt with an investigation
The Exorcist (film series) the screen before.” However, Vincent Canby, writing in "The New York Times", dismissed "The Exorcist" as “a chunk of elegant occultist claptrap…[A] practically impossible film to sit through…it establishes a new low for grotesque special effects...” Andrew Sarris complained that “Friedkin’s biggest weakness is his inability to provide enough visual information about his characters…whole passages of the movie’s exposition were one long buzz of small talk and name droppings…"The Exorcist" succeeds on one level as an effectively excruciating entertainment, but on another, deeper level it is a thoroughly evil film.” Writing in "Rolling Stone", Jon Landau felt the film was,