Is The Exorcist based on a true story? Everything about the true events that inspired the horror film

Hailed as one of the scariest films of all time, groundbreaking in its cinematic achievements and subject matter, The Exorcist is based on a true, shocking story.

The Exorcist set the standard in Hollywood for what truly scary movies could be. To this day, it is one of only a few horror films to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture, one of 10 Oscar nominations the film received.

The terrifying story – about a 12-year-old girl named Regan (Linda Blair) who becomes possessed by an ancient demon – comes from a book of the same title. The Exorcist, by William Peter Blatty, was originally published in 1971.

Blatty’s novel (and the screenplay for the film) is based on a real-life exorcism that occurred in 1949, when a teenager known to the public as Roland Doe was allegedly possessed by an evil spirit.

Here you can learn all about the true events that inspired The Exorcist.

Who was Roland Doe?

When he was 14, a Maryland boy known in the press as Roland Doe began experiencing strange phenomena, such as scratching behind the walls of his bedroom. Doe’s family contacted their pastor, Reverend Luther Schulze, for advice, so The Guardian.

Schulze contacted the Duke University Parapsychology Laboratory in March 1949 and wrote that “chairs moved with (Doe) and one threw him (out). His bed shook whenever he lay in it.” Schulze added that “a picture of Christ on the wall shook” when Doe approached.

The family took Roland to Georgetown University Hospital, where they were unable to help him. Eventually, the family turned to the Catholic Church and asked for an exorcism, believing it could free their son from his frightening symptoms.

In his hometown and in St. Louis, Missouri, Doe underwent “between 20 and 30 performances of the ancient ritual of exorcism,” according to an August 20, 1949, report in The Washington Postwhich stated that Doe had been “freed from possession by the devil by a Catholic priest” and was described as “perhaps one of the most remarkable experiences of its kind in recent religious history.”

In some of the alleged cases, it appeared as if words were engraved into Doe’s skin and his bed slid across the floor or hit a wall while he was sleeping, causing him to wake up.

The story continues: “Every time the priest reached the climax of the ritual and said, ‘In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, I cast you (the devil) out,’ the boy would fly into a violent fit of rage, screaming, cursing and repeating Latin phrases – a language he had never learned.”

Despite this article (which used only church officials as sources), some question the credibility of the reports and their portrayal in the resulting book and film.

“The events occurred over a few months in 1949 and had nothing to do with the film,” said film critic Nat Segaloff. Vanity Fair in 2023, on the 50th anniversary of the film’s release.

The author of The Exorcist’s Legacy: 50 Years of Fear continued: “There is no way he was vomiting, floating or getting dizzy, but chairs may have tipped over, beds may have shaken and words may have been engraved on the boy’s body – possibly self-inflicted. Some people believe he faked it to avoid going to school and mimed Latin prayers to make fun of the priest.”

What happened to Roland Doe?

After Doe’s exorcism at the age of 14, he disappeared back into a quiet life thanks to the anonymity afforded by the false name used in the press. After Doe died in 2020 at the age of 85, his identity was publicly revealed as Ronald Edwin Hunkeler.

As an adult, he became an engineer at NASA and helped with the Apollo 11 moon landing in 1969 and other space missions. According to Hunkeler’s companion, a 29-year-old woman who New York Post under the condition of anonymity, he could never overcome the fear that it might be discovered that he was the boy who The Exorcist.

“We always left the house on Halloween because he thought someone was going to come to his house and know where he lived and wouldn’t leave him alone,” she said. “He had a horrible life full of worry, worry, worry.”

She also said that Hunkeler’s experience was not necessarily a demonic possession. “He said he wasn’t possessed, the whole thing was just made up,” the companion added. “He said, ‘I was just a bad boy.'”

Is Doe’s house haunted?

In 2015, the paranormal reality show Exorcism: Live! went to the St. Louis house where Doe lived while he was undergoing treatment in 1949. Their goal was to investigate the house with the help of psychic mediums and religious professionals and then “exorcise” any spirits that were residing there.

“Our theory is that after Roland’s exorcism, all demonic activity moved to the St. Louis house and has remained there ever since,” producer Jodi Tovay told PEOPLE. “Other parts of St. Louis are haunted as well. … At some point, Roland was taken to the local St. Louis hospital and exorcised there as well.”

She continued, “There were many outrageous stories from the hospital staff who worked there at the time, and when they tried to demolish the wing where Roland was, the wrecking ball went out of control and hit another building!”

Was the original The Exorcist Movie cursed?

When the film came out, the audience reaction was intense. Many people reacted instinctively, The Exorcist, Some reports said that audience members fainted or vomited in the theater after seeing things like Regan’s head spinning on her neck. Blair, who played the possessed main character, reportedly faced harsh criticism for her role.

During production, there were many unusual problems — which led to a reputation for The Exorcist to be cursed. Before the cameras started rolling, a fire broke out on the set, which led to a six-week delay in reconstruction. Actors Blair and Max von Sydow also lost family members within a short period of time during filming.

Other crew members suffered injuries, as did Blair and Ellen Burstyn, who played Regan’s mother. Director William Friedkin eventually brought a priest to the set to bless the production.

“We were plagued by strange and sinister things from the beginning,” said Friedkin Frankenstein Castle in 1974. “It’s simply the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.”

Is The Exorcist: Believer Based on true events?

According to Christopher Chacon, who advises on possession cases and their depiction in films, the possessions depicted in the 2023 film sequel are The Exorcist: Believer, are credible and he told PEOPLE he has seen evidence of it in real life.

“These are real phenomena,” said Chacon. “All the elements we have in The Exorcist: Believer are very authentic and (based on) the experiences that people have had.”

“I’ve demonstrated it and seen it happen in real life,” he added. “Not only that, but we are able to evaluate and analyze it scientifically. And even with the most advanced technology, we still don’t have the answers because we’re dealing with something that science cannot measure in every way.”

Chacon said he observed, among other things, “objects flying through space, magnetic fields that fluctuated enormously, temperature fluctuations of 21 to 27 degrees Celsius… There are cases where there are electrical arcs; when you get hit by one, it’s like getting an electric shock.”