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For nearly five decades Warner Brothers studios have been trying, desperately, to make The Exorcist into a successful franchise. The original film released to mind-blowing box office in 1973 and none of the follow-on sequels, prequels, or re-imaginings have come close to the bright hot fire that was the original. Bot even when William Peter Blatty returned for Exorcist 3 ignoring the disaster that the second film had been both commercially and artistically.

The Exorcist works because of a couple of factors. One of course is the tremendous talent that was William Friedkin. Though he may have been an abusive ass to his performers the filmmaking is unequaled.

But perhaps more important than a visionary director is the commitment to faith that is evident in the novel and the screenplay.

Before I go further let me states clearly that I myself do not hold to any religious teachings or faith. This universe is governed by physical laws, and nothing exists beyond it. When the subtle chemical reactions that power my flesh end so will I.

William Peter Blatty held to a different philosophy. A devote Catholic he accepted the Church’s teaching and lore as truth about the universe and humanity’s place in it. It is important to note that Blatty did not see the novel or the film The Exorcist as an exercise in the literature of horror. He wrote the novel while experiencing a crisis of faith and the themes are his own personal explorations into the questions that pestered him. Blatty has saif that the book and script are religious detective stories not horror.

A critical element to understanding Blatty’s approach and explorations is that there is no clearly defined cause and effect that explains Regan’s possession. Yes, she played with a Ouija board but that is never detailed as the cause. Father Merrin unearthed a token to the demon Pazuzu but that reminds Merrin of his earlier encounter with the demon and does not ‘release’ it.

The vast majority of supernatural horror films have a clear cause and effect relationship. The wrong incantation is read, the fierce anger of a wrong death powers a vengeful spirit, a priest commits an unspeakable sin in a church yard, something makes the evil events begin. This is very much a modern rationalist worldview. Something makes something else happen. It is Newtonian a supernatural version of For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. This is not at all what happens in The Exorcist but very much how all the sequels and prequels operate.

The reason what it is absent is because cause and effect by its very nature supplies answers. Often in these types of horror stories understanding the cause and effect leads directly to resolution and the restoration of order. The Exorcist is not interested in answers it is concerned with questions.

The friendship between Blatty and Friedkin had been damaged for decades due to the director’s edit of the film. Friedkin deleted a scene that Blatty consider absolutely essential to core theme and message of the script. Fathers Merrin and Karris while on a short break from the spiritual combat with the demon sit on the stairs outside of Regan’s room and Karris asks ‘Why’? Merrin speculates that the demon’s purpose is to show humanity as ugly and animalistic, unworthy of God’s love. It doesn’t provide a cause and effect for why Regan become possessed but only a motivation for the demon and ultimately it comes back to faith in God and the Christian belief that his love is real.

The Exorcist is a work of faith by a person grappling with their own doubts and questions. The sequels and prequels do not have such questions and are for the most part nothing more than dressed up monster stories with scarcely any more purpose than to goose the audience in the side and be quickly forgotten.

One does not have to have faith to feel its power in the novel and the script. While I do not believe in any supernatural eternal being I can feel Blatty’s faith and belief and that provides a reality that all other versions lack.