Hitting our theaters 48 years ago, William Friedkin’s The Exorcist remains the pinnacle of raw terror more than ever. Which also finds its origin in the amazing true story that William Peter Blatt used to write his book.
48 years (!) after its release in our region, William Friedkin’s The Exorcist remains a monument of raw terror. A history of possession, with a century-old challenge based on it in the end On the eternal battle between the forces of good and evil, the filmmaker gave a truly traumatic visceral experience to the public who found him in dark rooms at the time.
The film shocked and frightened the audience so much that many of them confused fiction and reality: Linda Blair, who plays the role of poor Regan, was said to be really possessed, crazy, a demonic beast… Blair even said in interviews. that journalists at the time fearfully asked him about the possession of…
The stories surrounding the film and its making, which were not necessarily displeasing to the director and Warner Bros., the film’s producer, helped fuel the phenomenon a bit. It always is The exorcist was a huge hit at the global box office, grossing over $440 million worldwide. and sparked a global debate about the occult within the Catholic Church, while inspiring generations of horror filmmakers. and not only.
Roland Doe, the real Regan
Adapting the book published in 1971, writing the screenplay and even winning an Oscar for his work, William Peter Blatt was inspired by the completely authentic news story. A 1949 possession case involving a 13-year-old boy in Cottage City, Maryland.
The identity of the boy known as Roland Doe was not known for almost ten years; Some experts believe that his real name was Ronald Hankeler, or Robbie Mannheim. Blaty learned about his story while a student at Georgetown University.
Raised in a Lutheran family of German descent, Ronald seems to have already been familiar with the paranormal. He asked for a birthday Ouija board, the board should allow communication with spirits. Aunt Harriet gave it to her.
Shortly after her death, the boy began having strange and frightening experiences of abnormal things in and around the house. Events that are often found elsewhere in horror movies: strange noises in the house and in his room, scratching in the walls, vibrating the bed, moving objects…
His family contacted various experts, to no avail. He was more panicked when the boy woke up with marks on his body as if he was the target of these strange phenomena. Then he turned to the priest, Father E. Albert Hughes, who performed an exorcism on a young boy in February 1949.
This experience was short-lived: during the exorcism, Roland ripped the spring from the mattress to shoot the priest in the face. A few days later he developed a new red mark on his body; The parents claim that they read “Saint-Louis” on the boy’s chest. Saint-Louis is the name of the town where Roland’s grandparents lived.
After moving to St. Louis, Missouri, where his parents thought they were finally at peace, the illness that Roland/Ronald seemed to suffer from did not stop. He was hospitalized in the psychiatric wing of the city hospital, where he was looked after by two other priests. Walter H. Halloran and William Bowdern, who did on it Second exorcism.
On the left, Father William Bowdern, who practiced exorcism. He was assisted by Father Walter Halloran (right), who was 26 at the time.
As he threatened, insulted and spat at the priests, in an increasingly terrifying voice, Roland did not allow himself to do it, just as he watched Regan in front of Father Merrin, who was assisted by Father Karas in the Friedkin film. A third priest, a Jesuit named William van Roo, came as reinforcements to exorcise Roland. One particularly agitated boy even broke Father Halloran’s nose. Who will say, in 1988, Seeing such words as “hell” on the body of the unfortunate boy.
Engineer at NASA
As is often the case, interpretations are very divided. Psychiatrists believed that the boy had a mental disorder, which is why the observed signs were self-inflicted. Some talk about a child spoiled and over-indulged by his father, raised by a religious and very superstitious mother.. A child who is subject to harassment by classmates who would create all this commotion themselves to get attention. For the church, this remains a case of demonic possession.
Nevertheless, after a series of exorcisms, the child was no longer subject to the crises that had overtaken him and led a fairly normal life. The amazing thing is that experts believe he worked under the name of Ronald Edwin Hankeler above. As a NASA engineer, and actively participated in the Apollo program to send the first man to the moon. Apparently he was working on designing ultra-resistant rocket panels that can withstand very high temperatures.
Very few people knew his true identity and the exorcisms he was subjected to; The church wishes to preserve the anonymity of individuals in this matter. Quoted in the article New York PostA longtime friend of Ronald Hankeler explains that he was constantly worried that someone would find out about his past. Every year when Halloween approached, she even left home for fear of harassment. Hankeler retired from NASA in 2001 after 40 years at home and died in 2020 in Marriottsville, Maryland, a month before his 86th birthday.
Source: allocine
Emily Jhon is a product and service reviewer at Gossipify, known for her honest evaluations and thorough analysis. With a background in marketing and consumer research, she offers valuable insights to readers. She has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Marketing and Consumer Research from the University of Oxford.
