The Exorcist (film) Siskel placed it in the top five films released that year. BBC film critic Mark Kermode believes the film to be the best film ever made, saying: "There's a theory that great films give back to you whatever it is you bring to them. It's absolutely true with The Exorcist—it reflects the anxieties of the audience. Some people think it's an outright horror-fest, but I don't. It was written by a devout Catholic who hoped it would make people think positively about the existence of God. William Peter Blatty, who wrote the book, thought that if there are demons then
The Exorcist III the film went under various titles, including "The Exorcist: 1990". Morgan Creek and Fox insisted on including the word "Exorcist" in the title, which producer Carter DeHaven and Blatty protested against: I begged them when they were considering titles not to name it "Exorcist" anything -- because "Exorcist II" was a disaster beyond imagination. You can't call it "Exorcist III", because people will shun the box office. But they went and named it "Exorcist III". Then they called me after the third week when we were beginning to fade at the box office and they said 'We'll tell you the