Just after the Christmas holiday in 1973, audiences across America donned their winter coats, braving the cold on a mission to see the film that was making viewers faint in their seats and walk out of theaters trembling: William Friedkin’s horror masterpiece, “The Exorcist.” The film was such an instant, massive sensation that local news stations around the country sent reporters to interview audience members in theater lobbies and prospective viewers standing in long lines stretching far past the box office.
One woman waited for four hours, only to come out of the theater with her voice and legs shaking; another said she drove 100 miles for the experience. In a piece for Dallas’ ABC affiliate, correspondent Patti Burns said: “No one knows exactly what makes a movie a hit. But one thing is for sure: ‘The Exorcist’ has got it.”
