It's time to exorcism the truth from "The Exorcist". Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’ll be looking at interesting facts about the true story that were altered for “The Exorcist’s” concept, setting, and plot.
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00:00 I'm Damien Karras. And I ain't a devil. Now kindly undo these straps.
00:04 Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at interesting facts about the true story that
00:09 were altered for The Exorcist's concept, setting, and plot. What really happened to the haunted boy
00:15 in St. Louis and the devil that possessed him? The victims. Did you ever see The Exorcist?
00:24 Yeah. The real case started right here. The fire department actually burned down the house
00:31 themselves. The authorities referred to the boy as Robbie Doe. As everyone knows by now,
00:37 The Exorcist centers around a 12-year-old girl named Regan McNeil, who is possessed by the demon
00:42 Pazuzu, or as Regan herself calls it, Captain Howdy. Who's Captain Howdy? You know, I make the
00:49 questions and he does the answers. This is a slight deviation from the historic tale. The real
00:55 case involved a 14-year-old boy who's known by the pseudonyms Robbie Manheim, or more popularly,
01:01 Roland Doe. A lot of his former friends, the people he knew growing up, always described him as
01:08 being sort of hyper, sort of troublesome. It wasn't that he was a bad student, he just had a
01:15 lot of trouble focusing. The boy's identity remained a mystery for over 70 years, until
01:21 both the Skeptical Inquirer and The Guardian revealed in 2021 that he was likely one Ronald
01:26 Edwin Hunkler. While the final report of the exorcism remains locked away in the Roman Catholic
01:31 archives, stories eventually leaked to the press and reported details about the boy's life after
01:40 the exorcisms are revealed. The setting. The primary location was also changed, with author
01:47 and screenwriter William Peter Blatty bringing the action into what was then the modern year.
01:51 Well in 1949 I was, I believe I was a junior at Georgetown University, and in class I heard some
02:00 details about a so-called case of possession and an exorcism that was going on somewhere nearby.
02:06 The year is never explicitly mentioned in either the novel or the film, but the former was published
02:12 in 1971 and the film was released in 1973. Therefore, we can infer that the story takes
02:18 place in the early 1970s. However, the location is explicitly given in both, and that is the
02:25 historic neighborhood of Georgetown, Washington, D.C. "Oh mom, can't we get a horse?" "No, we're
02:32 in Washington, honey." "Oh no." But the exorcism of Roland Doe occurred in the late 1940s and took
02:39 place primarily in St. Louis, Missouri. That said, one of Doe's exorcisms occurred at Georgetown
02:45 University Hospital, which could be the location of Reagan's medical tests. "Dr. Taney says the
02:50 x-ray is a negative. In other words, normal." The number of priests. "The power of Christ compels
02:58 you! The power of Christ compels you!" Two priests perform the climactic exorcism,
03:05 Father Damien Karras, the protagonist of the film, and the older Father Lancaster Maron.
03:10 By only having two priests, Blatty streamlines the exorcism process and allows us to connect
03:15 with the characters on a deeper, more personal level. "I think the point is to make us despair.
03:20 To see ourselves as
03:28 animal and ugly." In reality, the exorcism of Roland Doe was performed by several different
03:34 priests. "He said that this was getting beyond what he could deal with as a Lutheran minister.
03:39 He suggested that the family take him to see a Catholic priest because they know more about
03:45 these things and more about possessions." The one conducted at Georgetown University Hospital
03:50 was performed by a priest named Edward Hughes. And in St. Louis, Doe was seen to by both Raymond
03:56 Bishop and William Bowdern. These two priests were assisted by another pair, Walter Halloran
04:02 and William Van Roo. All told, five different priests performed the exorcism of Roland Doe.
04:07 The number of exorcisms. Talk about streamlining a process. "What an excellent day for an exorcism.
04:14 You'd like that? Intensely." While Karras examines Reagan throughout the exorcist's third act,
04:23 there's just one primary exorcism, and it occurs in the climax of the film. This was obviously done
04:29 for dramatic purposes, as the possession would lose its impact if it was seen too often. "Demi,
04:34 why you do this to me? Please, Demi. I'm afraid." In real life, Doe was subjected to at least three
04:45 different exorcisms. There was the aforementioned one performed in Georgetown, and at least two
04:50 more followed in St. Louis. The first St. Louis exorcism was performed exclusively by Bishop and
04:55 Bowdern, and it wasn't until the third that assistants Halloran and Van Roo became involved.
04:59 "According to the exorcist's diary, as Father Bowdern recites the prayers in Latin,
05:05 the priests shriek with horror." The number of demons. The exorcist takes a major deviation
05:12 from its real-life source, and that's in the number of demons involved. "Is there someone
05:17 inside you?" "Sometimes." "Who is it?" "I don't know." Thanks to various clues, it's strongly
05:28 hinted that the demon possessing Reagan is Pazuzu, a real figure in ancient Mesopotamian religion.
05:33 However, Pazuzu's involvement is never made explicit in either the novel or the film.
05:38 Regardless, there is definitely just one demon possessing Reagan. "I think it might be helpful
05:43 if I gave you some background on the different personalities Reagan has manifested. So far,
05:48 I'd say there seem to be three. She's convinced that she's-" "There's only one." And while the
05:53 exorcist carried over many details from Doe's possession, there is one thing that was not
05:58 included, and that was the letter X being scratched into Doe's stomach. The priests
06:02 performing the exorcism interpreted this to mean there were 10 different demons inhabiting Doe.
06:07 "Also on the back, I believe, were the words 'spite' and 'hell.'" The demon using weapons.
06:14 "Keep away! The sower's mine!" The exorcist takes another major deviation from the source,
06:23 and that's in the demon's use of weapons. In The Exorcist, Pazuzu prefers to wage psychological
06:28 warfare, often taunting Karras with his dead mother. "Your mother's in here with this Karras.
06:34 Would you like to leave a message? I see that she cares, eh?" It doesn't often revert to physical
06:40 violence, as its hands are tied to the bed throughout the majority of the exorcism.
06:44 This is in stark contrast to the demons allegedly inhabiting Doe, who physically assaulted Edward
06:50 Hughes during his exorcism in Georgetown. Doe reportedly broke free from his restraints and
06:54 grabbed a piece of the bedspring to use as a weapon. He then used the sharp bedspring to cut
06:59 Hughes' arm. "People who knew Father Hughes said that he was never the same after this and that
07:04 he had a bad problem with his arm." It was a temporary victory, as Hughes ended the exorcism
07:10 and Doe was moved to St. Louis. The use of hospitals. Medical institutions are curiously
07:17 absent throughout much of The Exorcist. In fact, one of the extended sequences in which Reagan
07:22 undergoes various medical tests was excluded from the theatrical release and can only be seen in the
07:27 director's cut. "Very good. That wasn't so bad, was it?" Nope. Most of the action and the entire
07:33 exorcism is performed in Reagan's Georgetown home. "In the name of the Father, and of the Son,
07:39 and the Holy Spirit, by this sign of the Holy Cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and
07:48 reigns with the Father and the Holy Spirit." This is in stark contrast to the story of Roland Doe.
07:54 As previously mentioned, the first exorcism was performed by Edward Hughes at Georgetown
07:59 University Hospital. After Doe was moved to St. Louis, additional exorcisms were performed by
08:04 the aforementioned priests at the city's Alexian Brothers Hospital. "The Alexian Brothers Hospital
08:09 had a secure psychiatric facility where Roland could be taken out of the public eye and everything
08:16 would be kept secret because the Alexian Brothers were known for their secrecy." It's unclear why
08:23 Blatty moved the location, but it's likely owing to the more intimate setting of the bedroom.
08:27 Witnesses. "Look, I'm only against the possibility of doing your daughter more harm than good."
08:33 "Nothing you can do could make it any worse." "I can't do it. I need evidence that your church
08:41 would accept his signs of possession." When it comes to a supernatural story such as this,
08:46 it's important to have witnesses. Otherwise, it becomes a mere case of "you'll have to take my
08:50 word for it," and that's never satisfying. When it comes to The Exorcist, there are very few
08:55 witnesses. A number of characters know that Reagan is having problems, but in regards to
09:00 the exorcism itself, there are only three witnesses - Reagan, Karras, and Marron. Unfortunately,
09:06 two of them die and the third doesn't remember the experience. So basically no witnesses.
09:12 "She doesn't remember any of it." "That's good."
09:15 The same cannot be said for Roland Doe. While the veracity of this is certainly under question,
09:21 it's been reported that 48 people witnessed his numerous exorcisms.
09:25 "Now that's not a signing off saying absolutely I know with 100% this was a case of demonic
09:29 possession, but we saw some really weird stuff that happened around this kid that we don't know
09:35 how to explain naturally." Surviving exorcists. The film has a rather bittersweet ending. Young
09:42 Reagan is saved, but at the cost of two priests who perform her exorcism.
09:45 "You son of a bitch!"
09:47 Marron dies during the battle, presumably from his heart condition. And in the famous climax
09:56 of the film, Karras asks the demon to enter his body before throwing himself out the window.
10:01 It undoubtedly makes for great drama, but nothing of the sort happened in real life.
10:09 All of the exorcists survived and lived long lives. The earliest death was that of Raymond
10:14 Bishop, who died in 1978, roughly 30 years after the exorcism occurred. He was 72.
10:21 "And it turned out that it had been a copy of Father Bishop's diary of the exorcism, and that's
10:27 how the story eventually became public. That's how we have access to the diary now." Hughes was 62,
10:35 Halloran 83, Bowdern 86, and Van Roo 89. Halloran was the last priest to die, having passed away in
10:43 2005. Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified
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11:00 The veracity of the possession And here we come to the big question.
11:04 Was the possession actually real? When it comes to the film, there's no ambiguity at all.
11:10 The possession, the demon, and the exorcism were all real. Obviously, the case is not so cut and
11:16 dry when it comes to Roland Doe. Some religious experts, including professors Terry Cooper and
11:21 Cindy Epperson, still posit that the possession was real. However, it is now the common opinion
11:27 that Roland Doe was merely a troubled boy and that nothing supernatural had occurred.
11:32 "Do you choose to believe that this was something that was real and that happened as it's reported?
11:37 Do you choose to remain skeptical? It boils down to, do you trust the veracity of the witnesses?"
11:45 Even worse, various authors and historians have poked holes in some of the events.
11:50 For example, Mark Opsosnick proved that there is no evidence of Father Hughes performing an
11:55 exorcism at Georgetown University Hospital. "Whether you want to believe it was a demon or
12:01 some sort of presence or some sort of psychological problem that was instantly cured somehow,
12:06 whatever it was, it was expelled." Did you know the exorcist was based on a true account?
12:12 Let us know in the comments below. "The exorcism of Roland Doe endures as a haunting warning.
12:19 Evil walks among us and the devil's greatest trick is making us believe he doesn't exist."
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12:36 [Music]