The Exorcist - The Screenplay

Georgetown, Washington D.C., 1973

Actress and divorced mother Chris MacNeil starts to experience 'difficulties' with her usually sweet-natured eleven-year-old daughter Regan

The child becomes afflicted by spasms, convulsions and unsettling amnesiac episodes

These abruptly worsen into violent fits of appalling foul-mouthed curses, accompanied by physical mutation

Medical science is baffled by Regan's plight and, in her increasing despair, Chris turns to troubled priest and psychiatrist Damien Karras

Damien immediately recognises something profoundly malevolent in Regan's distorted features and speech

On Karras's recommendation, the Church summons Father Merrin, a specialist in the exorcism of demons. . .

William Peter Blatty scripted this version of his own best-selling novel for director William Friedkin, and was rewarded with an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay of 1973

This publication also includes the texts of the film's legendary 'lost scenes' and excised dialogue which shed additional light on The Exorcist's profound darkness

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