Exorcist Director Says He Didnt Set Out to Make a Horror Film
When William Friedkin was making The Exorcist, he didn't think of it in the genre it has come to symbolize today "I didn't set out to make a horror film," he says. Instead, Friedkin saw the movie about a young girl in the grips of a vicious demon as "a film about the mystery of faith," he tells the Hollywood Reporter. "But by now, I have accepted that it is a horror film.", No matter what you call it, the film has become a key cultural touchstone, and on the day before Halloween, 42 years after its release, it will get a new honor a bronze plaque marking the staircase in Washington, D.C. where the character of Father Karras takes a fatal tumble. The honor "means more than an Oscar," Friedkin says, because it is "something that will be up there in public forever.", Four decades later, Friedkin is still proud he recently re-watched the film for the first time in years and gave it two thumbs up. "I honestly thought it was very well made film.", THR