The film tells the story of a 12-year-old girl named Regan who finds a mysterious Ouija board and uses it to make contact with a ghost who introduces himself as Captain Howdy. This starts a series of strange events that make the girl more and more aggressive. A concerned mother, Chris MacNeil, turns to doctors for help. However, they rule out any disease and state that Regan is a perfectly healthy child. As paranormal events intensify, a desperate woman seeks support from the Church. A young priest, Father Karras, becomes involved in the case and finds demonic possession. Together with an experienced exorcist, Father Merrin, they undertake a difficult fight against the forces of evil, trying to save the girl’s life and soul.
Although the plot of the film sounds unreal, it is based on a true story. It concerns, however, not Regan, but the so-called The “R boy” whose real name has never been made public. It is only known that he was 13 years old and probably lived with his family in the small town of Mt. Rainier. It all started in 1949, when strange, unexplained phenomena began to happen around the boy. In the house, there were allegedly heard squeals, footsteps and objects moving spontaneously. R. woke up at night scratched and scared, and his parents were helpless. One day, the boy, like the movie Regan, used a Ouija board and was extremely aggressive from then on. So the parents turned to the priest for help, who immediately stated that he was possessed. The boy was cursing at the clergy with his changed, demonic voice and he even hurt nevertheless, attempts were made to free him from the influence of the demon. The story ended on Easter Monday, April 18. During the exorcism, the demon noticed the presence of Archangel Michael, who ordered the evil force to leave the boy’s body. Then there was a bang, after which R. woke up, remembering nothing but a dream with the Archangel. While the Church expresses her skepticism about the events of Mt. Rainer, there are still those who believe everything that journalists have described. While the Church expresses her skepticism about the events of Mt. Rainer, there are still those who believe everything that journalists have described. While the Church expresses her skepticism about the events of Mt. Rainer, there are still those who believe everything that journalists have described.
Many works were written on the basis of this story, but the Exorcist by William Friedkin remains the most popular . He took care of both the directing and the script. In the lead roles, we could see Linda Blair (Regan MacNeil) and Ellen Burstyn (Chris MacNeil). Max von Sydow (Father Merrin) also appeared on the big screen along with Jason Miller (Father Karras). The film achieved international success and won an Oscar a year after its premiere. In total, he received 15 nominations and 15 statuettes in the most prestigious awards.
