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Many others who have seen the film experience nightmares, hysteria and an undefined, but nevertheless profound apprehension. "It is dangerous for people with weak ego control," explains Dr. Vladimir Piskacek, a Manhattan sociologist and psychiatrist, "but it would not cause psychosis." Small children may suffer from hallucinations after seeing The Exorcist, but Dr. Piskacek doubts that the film would permanently impair even an immature mind.
Predictably, there are widespread objections to the film's R rating, which permits youths under 17 to see it if accompanied by a parent. Manhattan Child Psychiatrist Hilde Mosse warns that the film provides a "deadly mixture of sex, violence and evil. The idea that we can solve our problems by magic instead of by rational solutions is destructive. I lived through this before Hitler came to power. He said, 'Listen to the language of your pure Germanic blood, your unconscious.' The Jews in Germany then became the devil to be exorcised. The only thing The Exorcist can do," Dr. Mosse concludes emphatically, "is to pull young people down to a primitive level."
Badge of Honor. For some, sitting through the film has become a badge of honor, like riding the steepest roller coaster in the amusement park. "I've been in this business 47 years, and I've never seen anything like it," asserted Los Angeles Theater Manager Harry Francis. He estimates that each performance exacts an audience toll of four blackouts, half-a-dozen bouts of vomiting and multiple spontaneous exits.
Meantime, from Aspen, Colo., where he is at work on "another theological thriller," The Exorcist's author, William Peter Blatty, grumbled: "I'm sick of hearing that the movie is a success because of a rediscovery of the occult. A thousand or more books have been written on the occult in the last ten years—they've each sold about ten copies." Blatty acknowledges that The Exorcist was plagued by a "series of disasters": halfway through the filming, fire destroyed the set, and the man who was playing the director died. But he notes: "There has been a devil theory that sinister forces were annoyed by the film. I don't attach any significance to it. Still," he adds with a sly smile, "I would like to think that somebody down there doesn't like me."
* Even more horrifying movies may now be under consideration. Exorcist Director William Friedkin commented before his film opened: "I think The Exorcist will be a bellwether. If it wins a wide audience, that may give the studios courage to handle more ambitious themes with more graphic scenes."