The Exorcist (film) The Exorcist (film) The Exorcist is a 1973 American supernatural horror film adapted by William Peter Blatty from his 1971 novel of the same name, directed by William Friedkin, 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, follows the demonic possession of a 12-year-old girl and her mother's attempts to win her back through an exorcism conducted by two priests. The adaptation is relatively faithful to the book, which itself has been commercially successful (earning a place on
Exorcist II: The Heretic the Book of Job; it's God testing the good. In this sense, Regan (Linda Blair) is a modern-day saint — like Ingrid Bergman in "Europa '51", and in a way, like Charlie in "Mean Streets". I like the first "Exorcist", because of the Catholic guilt I have, and because it scared the hell out of me; but "The Heretic" surpasses it. Maybe Boorman failed to execute the material, but the movie still deserved better than it got." Author Bob McCabe's book "The Exorcist: Out of the Shadows" contains a chapter on the film in which Linda Blair said the movie