The Exorcist (novel) The Exorcist (novel) The Exorcist is a 1971 horror novel by American writer William Peter Blatty. The book details the demonic possession of twelve-year-old Regan MacNeil, the daughter of a famous actress, and the two priests who attempt to exorcise the demon. Published by Harper & Row, the novel was the basis of a highly successful film adaption released two years later, whose screenplay was also written and produced by Blatty, and part of "The Exorcist" franchise. The novel was inspired by a 1949 case of demonic possession and exorcism that Blatty heard about while he was a student in
The Exorcist (film) or "semi-subliminal". In an interview in a 1999 book about the film, "The Exorcist" author Blatty addressed the controversy by explaining that, "There are no subliminal images. If you can see it, it's not subliminal." The editing of the title sequence was the first major project for the film title designer Dan Perri. As a result of the success of "The Exorcist", Perri went on to design opening titles for a number of major films including "Taxi Driver" (1976), "Star Wars" (1977) and "Gangs of New York" (2002). Lalo Schifrin's working score was rejected by Friedkin. Schifrin had written six