When the film premiered, theatergoers fainted and vomited. It went on to inspire a series of copycat films – while fomenting a cultural panic about the demons in our midst.
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Articles on The Exorcist
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Some of popular culture’s most famous ghosts and demons have roots in ancient Mesopotamia. What did ancient humans believe about the supernatural? And what stories did they tell?
What seems at first blush to be an innovative approach to franchise movie-making is nothing more than a futile exercise in cinematic nostalgia.
Made at a time when America was facing crises on many fronts, William Friedkin’s film has profound things to say about humanity and society.
There is a liberal splattering of gore, with the obligatory twisting heads and spewing of foul liquids.
From Mean Streets to The Exorcist and Badlands, 1973 was a year that showcased the audacious talent in Hollywood that was experimenting with darker themes and new film techniques.
New Hollywood filmmaker William Friedkin, director of The Exorcist and The French Connection, has died at 87.
How did blockbuster horror films such as ‘The Exorcist’ help the church warm to the controversial ritual?
In reality, most Roman Catholic exorcists recognise the danger of encouraging a person suffering from auditory hallucinations to believe that these are demonic.
A scholar of religion in film explains the varied representation of Catholicism in horror. In some films, it is used in the fight against evil, while others show the Church itself as evil.
Forty-five years ago, ‘The Exorcist’ terrified viewers with its portrayal of a practice that goes back several centuries and continues today in Christianity.
From Dundee to Dublin, horror spectaculars are springing up like zombies from the dead.
Top contributors
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Senior Lecturer, Nottingham Law School, Nottingham Trent University
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Master Lecturer of Rhetoric, Boston University
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PhD Candidate/Teaching Fellow in Systematic Theology, Boston College
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Associate Professor, Film Studies, University of Sydney
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Head of Film & TV, University of South Wales
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Associate Professor of Religious Studies, Texas State University
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Senior Lecturer, Discipline of English and Writing, University of Sydney
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Honorary Research Associate, University of Sydney
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Lecturer in Film Studies, Queen's University Belfast
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Senior Lecturer in Film Studies, University of Dundee
