The Exorcist
Movie, 1973, Regan MacNeil, Set in Georgetown
The Exorcist is #1 of 7 in release order and #3 of 7 in chronological order in the The Exorcist.
The story
When a mysterious entity possesses a young girl, her mother seeks the help of two Catholic priests to save her life.
The Exorcist recap
The Exorcist (1973) follows an actress whose 12-year-old daughter is possessed in their Georgetown home, and the two priests who try to free her. William Friedkin directs from William Peter Blatty's adaptation of his own novel. At a dig in northern Iraq, Father Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow) unearths an amulet of a winged demon and faces its statue. In Washington, actress Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) watches her daughter Regan (Linda Blair) change after playing with a Ouija board and talking to "Captain Howdy". Doctors find nothing; Regan's bed shakes, her voice changes, and the director Burke Dennings is found dead below her window with his head turned around. Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller), a psychiatrist losing his faith after his mother's death, doubts it is possession until the words "help me" rise on Regan's skin. The Church sends Merrin to lead the rite. This is the first film, followed by Exorcist II and, separately, by Exorcist III.
The Exorcist ending explained
The Exorcist ends with Merrin dying of a heart attack mid-exorcism. Karras beats the demon and dares it to take him; it does, and he throws himself out the window and down the stone steps, dying after Father Dyer gives him last rites. Regan, who remembers nothing, leaves with Chris. A 2000 cut, The Version You've Never Seen, restores the spider-walk scene and a gentler final exchange between Dyer and Kinderman.
Post-credits scenes
No. The Exorcist has no mid- or post-credits scene.
Where to watch The Exorcist
The Exorcist is streaming on HBO Max in the US. You can rent or buy it on Amazon, Apple TV, and Google Play.
Ratings
IMDb 8.1/10, Rotten Tomatoes 78%
Where it fits
- Release order: first, before Exorcist II: The Heretic.
- Chronological order: after Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist, before Exorcist II: The Heretic.
What to watch before The Exorcist
Nothing. The Exorcist is the first of the The Exorcist essentials, so it's the place to start.
Cast
- Ellen Burstyn as Chris MacNeil
- Linda Blair as Regan MacNeil
- Jason Miller as Father Damien Karras
- Max von Sydow as Father Lankester Merrin
- Lee J. Cobb as Lt. Bill Kinderman
- William O'Malley as Father Joseph Kevin Dyer
- Kitty Winn as Sharon Spencer
- Barton Heyman as Dr. Klein
- Peter Masterson as Dr. Barringer
- Jack MacGowran as Burke Dennings
- Rudolf Schündler as Karl
- Gina Petrushka as Willi
Directed by William Friedkin.