
Over time, audiences would be treated to several additions to the EXORCIST saga, in the form of two sequels - EXORCIST II - THE HERETIC (1977) and THE EXORCIST III (1990, written and directed by Blatty); two versions of a prequel - EXORCIST - THE BEGINNING (2004) and DOMINION - PREQUEL TO 'THE EXORCIST' (2005), both featuring Stellan Skarsgard in the role of Lankaster Merrin, Max Von Sydow's role in the original film, and a spin-off, THE NINTH CONFIGURATION (1977), featuring a minor character from THE EXORCIST, astronaut Billy Cutshaw, as a main character, and written and directed by Blatty from two novels he authored telling the same story. However, apart from the official sequels, prequels and spin-offs THE EXORCIST spawned a legacy of features which were inspired by the success of the original film, which eventually became the first ever horror film to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar. THE EXORCIST’s influence extends its demonic hand until the present day, especially early on amongst exploitation film-makers, who soon responded in kind.
(1) BLAXPLOITATION, BRITAIN AND ITALY

The director of ABBY was William Girdler, a horror specialist who made a number of exploitation films in the seventies, including the minor hit GRIZZLY (1976) (think JAWS with a bear). ABBY was produced for only $400,000 dollars and, riding the coat-tails of its illustrious inspiration, ended up earning millions. Unfortunately, Girdler didn’t see a dime, because the similarities between the two prompted Warner Bros to sue for breach of copyright. The case was eventually settled in 1978, which was the year of Girdler’s untimely death in a helicopter accident.
A brief aside: Girdler’s final film, THE MANITOU (1978), was also a possession film of sorts, based on Graham Masterton’s novel. In this cheap but enjoyable potboiler, a woman discovers a lump on her back. No ordinary lump, this - it grows rapidly and 'gives birth' into a Manitou – a native American spirit with great powers. (Tony Curtis and Susan Strasberg starred in this one.)

Incidentally, Richard Johnson, one of the stars of CHI SEI?, stayed in Italy to make a second possession movie, IL MEDAGLIONE INSANGUINATO - PERCHE? (1975), released in the USA as both THE CURSED MEDALLION (a rough translation) and THE NIGHT CHILD. The film is actually set in Italy (Spoleto, to be precise) and has Johnson as a Brit abroad, travelling with his young daughter Emily (Nicoletta Elmi, star of several Italian horrors, including BARON BLOOD, 1972 and PROFONDO ROSSO, 1975). A haunted painting and a medallion feature, and strange things start to happen as Emily becomes possessed by the malign spirit of a vengeful girl. This is a much subtler film than THE DEVIL WITHIN HER - no green puke - and many critics have noted its atmosphere and elegance. It is also full of beautiful imagery and scenery; it comes as no surprise that director Massimo Dallamano was previously a cinematographer, having lensed, amongst many others, the first two Sergio Leone DOLLARS movies (1964/ 65).
A

THE DEVIL WITHIN HER was just the first of a series of Italian variants on the theme of possession and exorcism. To place that film and others like it in context, it should be noted that Italian popular cinema flourished from the late 1950s to the early 1980s, producing hundreds of films, initially hitting gold with 'peplum - heroic Roman and Greek epics, followed in the 1960s by 'spaghetti westerns' (of which over five hundred were made in a little over fourteen years) and also by 'gialli' - gruesome, hard-hitting suspense thrillers. The 1970s (and early 1980s) became what could be termed Italy’s 'golden age of imitation, where popular American films were immediately copied by Italian studios, often with British or American leads. One of the most notorious of these was L’ULTIMO SQUALO (THE LAST SHARK, 1982) which copied JAWS so closely that it was banned in the US after Universal Pictures successfully took action against it.
Horror was one of the many mainstays of Italian cinema in this period, and, with Italy being a Roman Catholic country, it’s no surprise that religious horror like THE EXORCIST proved a key influence for several of these films.

A further Italian film of note from the same year was Albert de Martino’s L’ANTICRISTO, also known as THE TEMPTER. The paralysed Ippolita (Carla Gravina) suffers various issues stemming from the death of her mother. A psychiatrist tries to help her but only succeeds in regressing her to a past life, where she was a witch executed by the Inquisition, She subsequently becomes possessed and starts seducing and killing local men. She also begins to talk with a guttural croak and soon starts puking green slime, continuing to be a solid staple of the sub-genre.
Wait - Italy’s contribution does not end there. In 1976, UN URLO NELLE TENEBRE ('A Scream in the Darkness') appeared. This was directed by Franco Lo Cascio and Angelo Pannacciò, and starred American actor Richard Conte, in his final film. Conte plays 'The Exorcist', an unnamed Vatican priest called in to perform the rite on a young man (rather than the usual young woman). When released in the United States and other English speaking territories, the film was retitled more than once, each time to suggest a link with the Friedkin film: it was first released under the title THE RETURN OF THE EXORCIST and later as NAKED EXORCIST. Subsequently, it would be renamed again, as EXORCIST III: CRIES AND SHADOWS (no relation to William Peter Blatty’s own sequel!)
On at least one occasion, an existing Italian film was 'repurposed' to cash in on the craze. The great Mario Bava made the stylish horror film LISA AND THE DEVIL in 1973, prior to Friedkin’s film. It starred Elke Sommer and Telly Savalas, and was the atmospheric tale of a tourist in Toledo, Spain, who is sucked under the influence of a blind contessa (Alida Valli), her son Maximilian (Alessio Orano) and their sinister butler (Savalas). Maximilian becomes convinced that Lisa is the reincarnation of his lost lover, and begins to extend his malign influence over her. As such, this was in essence a ghost story, and a tale of obsession rather than possession
The film premiered at the Cannes Film Festival before the THE EXORCIST had been released. Despite acclaim, it had difficulty in finding a distributor, and in this original version, LISA AND THE DEVIL vanished fairly quickly.

Italy was still not finished making EXORCIST clones, and they were getting trashier. For example, in 1979, the film MALABIMBA was released. This was a strange horror/pornography crossover featuring the young Bimba (Katell Laennec, in her only film role) under the influence of the spirit of one of her ancestors, with lustful (and fatal) consequences. This takes the bare bones of the EXORCIST template and reshapes it into an erotic fantasy with touches of horror. Director Andrea Bianchi would later make the perverse zombie movie LE NOTTI DEL TERRORE (aka BURIAL GROUND) (1981).
Now read parts 2 and 3!
A reappraisal of EXORCIST II by John and Paul Rowlands.
John C. Kerr started life as a graphic designer before mutating into a film archivist. He has had a passion for cinema ever since seeing Disney and 007 as a child. John has a Diploma in Film Studies, and although originally from Manchester, is now based in London.
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