2. The Exorcist
The Film
The silver medallist just missing out on the top spot, The Exorcist was one of the most controversial horror films ever made when it came out in 1973. Young girls were being helped out of the cinema extremely traumatised by what they had seen, screens were filled with people vomiting, fainting, and breaking into hysterics. The film became one of the most profitable horror films of all and has had significant impact on viewers, grossing $402,500,000 worldwide. The film earned ten Academy Award nominations, winning two, one for Best Sound and Best Adapted Screenplay. Based on the 1971 novel by William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist marries three different scenarios into one plot. The story is based on the demonic possession of a young girl Regan Macneil (Linda Blair) and her Mother Chris Macneils (Ellen Burstyn) desperate attempts to free her daughter of this devil with the help of two priests. The film The Exorcist was adapted from the 1971 Novel, which was actually based on true events, which took place in Maryland in 1949.
The Curse
This curse has a prelude, starting simply like all good curses do. August 1972 to be precise, while The Exorcist was being filmed, many of the cast felt a presence on the set like something terrible was taking place. Everyone was tense and couldn't wait for it all to be over as a lot of arguments started breaking out because of the anxiety. It got to the point that technical adviser Rev. Thomas Bermingham was asked to exorcise the set. According to Catholic doctrine, an exorcism has to be applied for and approved by Church authorities; a blessing with holy water is all that is necessary so it was never performed in this case. Rev. Bermingham gave a blessing instead and reassure the cast and crew. Enigmatic manifestations were going on at the set of The Exorcist as they continually were also undergoing electrical glitches. In October 1972 the crew were all really spooked with speculation that the Devil himself was trying to hinder their production. They had just started filming when Max Von Sydow, who played the part of Father Merrin, got a phone call to say his brother had died. January 1973 saw the mysterious sudden death of Actor Jack MacGowran. He died of Influenza days after completing his scenes. Shortly after a fire destroyed one of the, the cause of fire still remains unidentified. In one scene Regan Macneil (Linda Blair) is possessed, convulsing on a bed, she fractured her lower spine when the harness she was strapped to came undone. The scenes of her screaming are not acting; they kept filming because the directors thought it would add to the realism. Then in the scene where Chris Macneils (The Mother) is slammed into the wall, she hit the wall so hard she to injured her back, and her screams in the film are real as well. Supposedly Linda Blair inadvertently predicted a crew member's death during filming. Though some of these are just said to be rumours, Ellen Burstyn has indicated that a lot of these rumours are true in her 2006 autobiography Lessons In Becoming Myself. The curse continued even after the film got taken off for processing at 666 5th Avenue and it affected people outside of the set. It is rumoured that after watching the film many people even went as far to kill themselves because they couldn't get the horror out of their heads. This speculation is backed up by a steep increase in suicides around the time the film was released. Heart attacks were recorded all over the world during premiers. There was even a lightning strike that destroyed a 400-year-old cross during the Italian premiere at the Metropolitan Theatre in Rome.
Possible Reasons for the Curse?
Catholic Priests believed the Devil did not want to be exposed, and these events were not coincidence but something more evil at work. Cancer and strokes and heart attacks happen every day. It is based on the reported events of a real exorcism; what ever a real exorcism would look like or how dramatized it had been made. It could be film producers have put the misfortunes of their crew together with some exaggerated stories to make their films sell better. This couldnt be possible as the next film's curse really does take it to another level. Click "next" below for part 3...