The Exorcist: Studies in the Horror Film

by Danel Olson (Editor)

William Friedkin’s 1973 adaptation of William Peter Blatty’s novel The Exorcist is one of the most notorious and controversial films ever made.
Nominated for ten Academy Awards (including Best Picture, the first horror film to do so) and winning two Oscars for Best Screenplay and Sound, The Exorcist remains the top grossing R-rated movie of all time. Certainly it is the scariest, according to Entertainment Weekly, Maxim, Movies.com, Variety, AFI, and Roger Ebert.
These twenty-five interviews, reminiscences, and articles explore how and why The Exorcist (premiering 26 December 1973) still haunts our imaginations and nightly dreams, along with influencing a new generation of directors, including Guillermo del Toro, M. Night Shyamalan, and James Wan. In-depth conversations with its makers, from the present to nearly four decades ago, ask about its inspirations and ambitions, and deliver many unexpected answers. New evaluative treatments from leading scholars of film and fiction track what this original film and its prequels and sequels indicate about sexuality and gender roles, morality and the monstrous, character and conflict, politics and theology, adaptation and artistic ambiguity, fateful decisions in casting/writing/directing, and conversations The Exorcist has with other films.
For The Exorcist obsessive, to casual students of film, to lovers of terror, mystery, and theological fright, this new title pays deep honor to a legendary film, and illuminates the ways Director William Friedkin and Writer William Peter Blatty’s film still possesses us.

Genres: Film

516 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2011

Reviews

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Covers all the 'official' EXORCIST films, including both versions of DOMINION - unfortunately, Blatty's original cut of EXORCIST 3/LEGION wasn't released at the time (now on the Scream Factory disc), so it only deals with the theatrical version.
Worth reading - if you can find a copy. OOP and small press release, so it'll cost ya to add it to your personal library.

[Lucy Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Exorcist:Studies in the Horror Film, published by Centipede Press and edited by Danel Olson, is an amazing collection of 25 essays and interviews packed with details on the making of The Exorcist and in-depth analysis of one of the highest grossing movies in the history of film. When it premiered in the winter of 1973, the world of film-making had never seen anything like this movie; people fainted and became physically ill at some of the demon-possessed child Regan's obscene antics. What went into the making of such a wildly successful and controversial movie and what was the experience like for those behind and in front of the cameras?

What appealed to me most about this book, I think, were the essays examining The Exorcist in light of gender roles and stereotypes of the time and of the primal fears aroused by the sight of a child under the spell by the demonic. I found Barbara Creed's essay "Woman as Abject Monster" particularly thought-provoking.

Danel Olson has done a superb job in putting together a volume that has to be a must-read for horror fans, students of film history, and anyone who still remembers the tingle of terror they experienced the first time they saw The Exorcist.

[John Kestner · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I had to choose my favorite horror film, I would pick The Exorcist. It wasn't just a novel and a film, it became a phenomenon and the bar for all serious films in the horror and supernatural genre. This study of the film through articles, essays, and interviews with those responsible made for interesting reading, especially the section about the intrepid writer who tracked the sources for the original article that inspired William Peter Blatty. I even found the additional sections about the awful sequels enlightening (those movies are still bad--I just now know why!).

[Rick Powell · Rating 5 out of 5]

A massive and extensive look at this film with numerous essays that any fan will love!