Evil Incarnate: Father Karras (Jason Miller) confronts Pazuzu in the film’s climax, and (below) Detective Kinderman (George C. Scott) under the gaze of Patient X, from The Exorcist III.
and running screaming from theatres soon gave way to reports of Catholic clergy and psychiatrists being bombarded with would- be cases of demonic possession. The film was discussed and debated on news and talk shows probably at least as often as it was reviewed by actual film critics; Reverend Billy Graham, the closest thing to a sane voice evangelical Christianity has ever known, claimed that not only was the film evil, but that an actual evil entity was physically present in the reels of celluloid. It was nominated for ten Oscars but won only two: Best
Adapted Screenplay (Blatty) and Best Sound (Robert Knudsen and Christopher Newman). Happy as he no doubt was to take home the hardware, Blatty made no bones about his dis- pleasure that Friedkin and various other cast and crew mem- bers were passed over, remarking to the press at the time, “The Academy should fold its tent and go back to baking apple strudel or whatever they can do well.” Critical notices were generally positive, although there is
widespread suspicion that a small handful of bad press from certain high-profile reviewers was rooted in personal grudges. Pauline Kael, who was already becoming notori- ous for turning against filmmakers who failed to stroke her ego sufficiently, was particularly scathing, charging among other things that Friedkin and Blatty showed insensitivity toward the plight of the possessed young girl and her trau- matized mother. It’s a complaint that most viewers agree is completely unfounded. “My recollection,” Blatty says, “is that reviews were at
least 90 percent positive, the standout negatives being Kael, Judith Christ, and Time Magazine’s Jay Cocks who, perhaps interestingly, had asked Billy Friedkin to con- sider his wife for the part of Chris MacNeil’s secretary. Billy did interview her but cast Kitty Winn.” Although sequels to hit films were less standard than
they are today, adding another chapter to The Exorcist was pretty much inevitable, and even by sequel stan- dards, 1977’s Exorcist II: The Heretic, which starred Linda Blair and Richard Burton but involved neither Friedkin nor Blatty (it was directed by Boorman), was a spectacular and costly bomb. Thirteen years would pass before Blatty would
wade back in, as both writer and director of The Exorcist III, based on his own novel, Legion. To
everyone’s shock (except perhaps Blatty’s), this “proper” se- quel turned out to be a wonderfully accomplished piece of work. Although considerably more low-key than the original, the film is fantastically creepy, and bolstered by superb per- formances and no shortage of Blatty’s caustic one-liners. George C. Scott brings considerably more bluster to the role of Detective William Kinderman than his predecessor Lee J. Cobb; the veteran homicide cop investigates a series of gruesome murders in Washington that appear to have been committed by a long-since-executed serial killer (Brad Dourif in possibly his best performance ever), who may have taken up residence in the body of the late Father Damien Karras (Miller, reprising his role). “The one bit of subtle reshaping George did,” Blatty says,
“was to flatten out the deliberately Yiddish rhythms in Kin- derman’s speech pattern. Other than that, he was the Kin- derman of my dreams and a rock I could lean on while shooting. He was often keenly interested in my views about God’s existence.” Critical reception of The Exorcist III was positive. “The
New York Times’ Vincent Canby and several other critics thought it better than the original,” Blatty says, a tad in- credulously, hastening to add that this was “a view that, of course, did please me but one which I most profoundly and definitely did not, and do not, share.” The only other film that Blatty has directed is 1980’s
The Ninth Configuration, based on his novel about an old castle converted into an asylum for soldiers (Jason Miller co-stars in it). Given the success of The Exorcist III, it begs the question: why didn’t he get behind the camera again? Simply put, the offers just weren’t there. “The only other time I have ever been offered a di-
recting job was when I got a call from the makers of Pumpkinhead 4,” he says. “They asked if I would be willing to direct it; start of photography was to be in six weeks. I didn’t do it, nor have I much con- fidence in how well I would do when directing somebody else’s screenplay.” After The Exorcist III, another fifteen years would
pass before the debacle known as Exorcist: The Be- ginning limped onto movie screens after a troubled production that saw director John Frankenheimer
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