It shouldn’t take an episode of the sitcom Louie to remind me that Ellen Burstyn’s performance in The Exorcist is phenomenal — but that’s what happened. I’ve always known her portrayal of Chris NacNeil was extraordinarily good (they don’t just hand out those Oscar nominations to any random performance… right?). So what …
Read More »Casting The Exorcist: another excerpt from William Friedkin’s memoir
Following The Hollywood Reporter’s exclusive excerpt a few days ago, website Awards Daily have posted a new excerpt from director William Friedkin’s fast-selling memoir, The Friedkin Connection. This one details casting the main players for the The Exorcist; Ellen Burstyn, Jason Miller, Max von Sydow and, of course, Linda Blair. …
Read More »WATCH: Marcel Vercoutere segments from The Fear of God documentary
Many Exorcist fans have been saddened by the passing of visual effects specialist Marcel Vercoutere, who worked on The Exorcist during the film’s production in 1972/3. Marcel died on April 13, 2013. Like me, most fans would have first been exposed to Marcel through the 1998 documentary The Fear of …
Read More »Interview with Terence Donnelly, THE EXORCIST First Assistant Director
I recently stumbled upon an exclusive interview with Terence Donnelly, the First Assistant Director on The Exorcist during its production in 1972/3. Retired from the film industry for over a decade, Terence reflects on his experience as William Friedkin‘s First AD (having already worked on The French Connection in 1971) …
Read More »All of Owen Roizman’s rare footage from the set of The Exorcist, uninterrupted
One of the most fascinating aspects of The Exorcist blu-ray release last year was the famed Owen Roizman footage from behind the scenes finally being shown for the first time. Never-before-seen footage of cast and crew working diligently in silence (the footage has no sound) to make one of the …
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