William Peter Blatty: Last News

Clayton Davis Senior Awards Editor Will the Oscars answer “Conclave’s” prayers? Edward Berger’s mystery thriller has been one of the buzziest films to emerge from the fall festivals. Adapted from Robert Harris’ 2016 novel, the film premiered at Telluride, where it received raves from attendees. Since then, its awards prospects have grown, especially following its Audience Award wins at the Mill Valley and Middleburg fests.

CGI movie technology, it is getting harder and harder to deliver that true spine-chilling internal fear that makes horror films so great.Gen Z and Gen Alpha kids may arrogantly scoff at retro scary movies, but it hasn’t always been this way.There was once a time when picture-goers were so viscerally terrified by what they were seeing on the big screen that it would trigger powerful physical reactions right there in the theater.During Jaws (1975) people fainted and vomited in the cinema during some of the gruesome scenes, while others stopped going swimming in the ocean altogether out of pure fear.Alfred Hitchcock’s classic film Psycho (1960) sparked mania during the infamous shower stabbing scene, with reports of people hyperventilating and passing out in their cinema chairs.However, one of the most horrifying movies to ever hit the big screen, causing widespread panic, fear and repulsion, is William Friedkin’s The Exorcist (1973).Based on William Peter Blatty’s 1971 novel, the film follows the demonic possession of a young girl and her mother’s attempt to rescue her through an exorcism by two Catholic priests.With some wildly disturbing scenes, including some bizarre 360 degree head spinning, eerie spider-walking on the stairs and some disgusting projective lime-green vomit, it shocked those 1970s audiences to their core.One particular vulgar scene involving a crucifix — that is too crude to describe here — shocked and upset many, especially considering the percentage of people who were religious back then.The flick was so scary that even renowned Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert was at a loss for words about how it made him feel.“I am not sure exactly what reasons people will have for seeing this movie; surely

Peacock announced on Friday that The Exorcist: Believer, the first in a new trilogy of films based on the 1973 horror classic, The Exorcist, will debut exclusively on the platform on December 1st, there joining titles like The Black Phone and Five Nights at Freddy’s, among many others.

his 2018 “Halloween” reboot with Jamie Lee Curtis. And, on paper, his plan doesn’t sound so bad. Running time: 121 minutes.

In the long history of horror films since the dawn of cinema, it would be hard to imagine any of them quite having the particular impact of 1973’s The Exorcist which became the first horror film ever to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, along with nine other nominations including Best Actress for Ellen Burstyn. It eventually won two Academy Awards for William Peter Blatty’s screenplay based on his 1971 novel, and for the bone chilling Sound work. When I saw it as a young kid in its original incarnation at the National Theatre in Westwood (now no longer existing), there were lines like you have never seen wrapping completely around the block. Warner Bros. even put a nurse on duty in the lobby for those who passed out, no mere gimmick because it actually happened. Nothing I have seen since in the genre has matched that one for me, but it wasn’t for Hollywood not trying. There are countless imitations, even a couple of failed direct sequels including the dreadful 1977 followup, Exorcist II: The Heretic, and the forgettable Exorcist III: Legion in 1990. There have been TV series attempts, an origin angle with Exorcist: The Beginning in 2004, and countless others using the come-on Exorcist in their title. Earlier this year we even had another film, based on the Vatican’s longtime real life demon slayer, The Pope’s Exorcist which thanks to a dedicated performance by Russell Crowe worked quite well on its own terms

Ellen Burstyn has paid her respects to William Friedkin, the filmmaker who guided her to a second Oscar nomination with his classic 1973 horror The Exorcist.

Carmel Dagan Director William Friedkin, best known for his Oscar-winning “The French Connection” and blockbuster “The Exorcist,” died Monday in Los Angeles. He was 87.His death was confirmed by Chapman University dean Stephen Galloway, a friend of Friedkin’s wife Sherry Lansing.

The Exorcist: Believer – check it out below.Directed by David Gordon Green, who helmed the recent Halloween reboot trilogy, The Exorcist: Believer similarly serves as a direct sequel to William Friedkin’s 1973 original.As shown in the trailer, the connecting thread is the return of Ellen Burstyn as Chris MacNeil, who is tracked down by concerned father Victor (Leslie Odom Jr.) to help save his possessed daughter Angela (Lidya Jewett) and her friend Katherine (Olivia Marcum).A synopsis reads: “Since the death of his pregnant wife in a Haitian earthquake 12 years ago, Victor Fielding has raised their daughter, Angela, on his own. But when Angela and her friend Katherine disappear in the woods, only to return three days later with no memory of what happened to them, it unleashes a chain of events that will force Victor to confront the nadir of evil and, in his terror and desperation, seek out the only person alive who has witnessed anything like it before: Chris MacNeil.”Other confirmed cast members include Ann Dowd, Raphael Sbarge, Jennifer Nettles and Okwui Okpokwasili.The Exorcist: Believer is the first entry in a planned trilogy, with a follow-up titled The Exorcist: Deceiver scheduled to be released on April 18, 2025.The original Exorcist, based on the book by William Peter Blatty, was followed by sequels Exorcist II: The Heretic in 1977 and 1990’s The Exorcist III.

Universal and Blumhouse have today unveiled the first trailer for The Exorcist: Believer — the first film in a new trilogy following up the 1973 horror classic, The Exorcist — at the same time setting an April 18, 2025 nationwide release for follow-up film The Exorcist: Deceiver.

Ellen Burstyn returns as Chris MacNeil for “The Exorcist: Believer,” a follow-up helmed by David Gordon Green, who recently revived the “Halloween franchise. A sequel, “The Exorcist: Deceiver,” will hit in theaters on April 18, 2025, Universal announced Tuesday, along with releasing the trailer for “Believer.” They are the first two entries in a planned “Exorcist” trilogy.

It is hard to look at any movie with “Exorcist” in its title and not immediately think of William Friedkin’s eternal 1973 Oscar-winning horror classic that is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. Nevertheless there have been dozens of films of various stripes that have tried to conjure their own magic in this sub-genre, but none that have managed to surpass what Friedkin and screenwriter William Peter Blatty did with that brilliant film.