The Exorcist Question

[ER]

I understand this movie was not only a blockbuster by the standards of back then but became a cultural phenomenon. Was it a surprise hit or did it come out well-publicized and promoted and anticipated?

[Trevor]

I understand this movie was not only a blockbuster by the standards of back then but became a cultural phenomenon. Was it a surprise hit or did it come out well-publicized and promoted and anticipated?

In South Africa, the apartheid censor board banned both William Peter Blatty's book and William Friedkin's film and both were only unbanned in 1993 when the old censorship laws were tossed out.

I believe that the film was very well promoted - the eerie on set occurrences were also well documented - but what got it moving was word of mouth and certainly all the op eds and people - especially those in religious organizations - either condemning or praising it.

[RCMerchant]

The book was a big hit before the film, and anything occult related was a fad in the early 70's, so it being a big hit was no surprise.

[Trevor]

The book was a big hit before the film, and anything occult related was a fad in the early 70's, so it being a big hit was no surprise.

Indeed.

The one thing that scared me was that The Exorcist's story was fact based 

[Alex]

If I recall correctly it was made with the encouragement of the Catholic Church and was done to show to people that yes evil existed, but it could be defeated by those with faith. I met a woman who told me she had a nervous breakdown after seeing it for the first time. For myself, I fell asleep watching it in the cinema considering it boring. I think if you are religious then it is going to mean more to you, but if you aren't then it doesn't quite have the same bite.

[ER]

Cool, thanks, all!

[Trevor]

Cool, thanks, all!

There's a book on the production you might like.

https://www.biblio.com/book/story-behind-exorcist-peter-travers-stephanie/d/1478679124

[chefzombie]

i saw this the first time at the drivein, back to back with the original NOTLD, which ran first. i have to admit to laughing through the exorcist after seeing NOTLD, which truly scared me. i love the movie now, though. my very catholic town struggled with it because of the church approval, i remember hearing many discussions about it by the grups in my life.