The Exorcist: Was the Movie Actually Cursed?

For that family, it began quietly.

A sound coming from inside their son's bedroom, scratching.

And according to the family, it started moving from the walls, to the floor, to the bed, and eventually to the boy himself.

The family looked for explanations.

Doctors, psychiatrists, ministers.

And when none of those explanations seemed to stop what was happening to their son, they turned to the Catholic Church.

Now, it ends with a priest standing over his bed performing an exorcism.

To that family, this was not a horror story.

It was their life.

And whether you believe their explanation or not, the events they reported with many witnesses present is the reason the exorcist exists.

People lined up around theaters in the cold.

Stories spread about audience members fainting, vomiting, walking out shaking, and in some cases, being carried away, which is an incredible review when you think about it.

Five stars threw up in the lobby.

Would recommend.

The Exorcist quickly became more than a film.

It was a fear-driven event.

The images became instantly recognizable.

The bed bucking off the floor, the impossible voice, Regan levitating above her mattress, the infamous head turn, and the movie's most effective trick was convincing audiences that all of this was happening inside a believable world.

Friedkin shot hospital procedures with almost documentary coldness.

The priests are tired.

The mother is desperate.

Nobody behaves like they know they're in a movie.

The realism mattered.

People could dismiss Dracula.

They could dismiss Frankenstein.