MOVIE NIGHT at Barrels Ale House: The Exorcist 1973

The Barrels Alehouse August movie night will be showing ‘The Exorcist’ (1973) on Sunday 9^th August at 7pm. Free entry, free popcorn, but you need to book a seat – email d_purvis_condottieri@hotmail.com.

Director William Friedkin adapted William Peter Blatty’s novel of the same name about the demonic possession of Regan, an adolescent girl in a middle-class non-religious household. After bouts of extremely violent behaviour by Regan, and unexplained phenomena, her mother tires of endless traumatic medical tests on her daughter, finally asking a local priest to attempt an exorcism as a last resort to save Regan.

Although Friedkin insisted on portraying both the medical procedures and religious rituals respectfully and accurately, the studio’s marketing campaign ensured the film was plagued by hysterical press coverage on its’ release, with many Christian groups declaring it blasphemous, calling for it to be banned (as it was in many UK and US towns).