Character Analysis
(Avoiding Spoilers)
Living… in Los Angeles, at least, most of the time. As a famous actress Chris MacNeil spends most of her time in Hollywood, but has recently been asked to relocate for work.
Visiting… Georgetown University in Washington D.C., the site of Chris’ latest film shoot.
Profession… actress. Chris is proud to say she’s gained a bit of notoriety in the past decade or so, but her career still comes second to her daughter, Regan MacNeil – who has been acting strangely ever since the move.
Interests… understanding what’s happening to her daughter, and helping her. Regan has been a sweet, even-tempered little girl her whole life, but has recently become violent and hateful, lashing out at anyone she comes into contact with. With no explanation for her daughters worsening condition, and time running out, Chris will leave no stone unturned in her search for the root of her daughter’s illness.
Relationship Status… recently divorced. Now would be precisely the time when it would be great to have another parent around – but try telling that to Regan’s father, who doesn’t even call on his daughter’s birthday.
Challenge… saving her daughter. Unfortunately, no one can even tell Chris what’s wrong with her. The scans show no physical abnormalities and she doesn’t respond to pills – she appears to be a perfectly healthy little girl. With no clear course of action, and Regan becoming less like her daughter by the day, Chris is willing to turn to spiritual methods of treatment. An avowed agnostic, Chris is forced to entrust her daughter’s fate to an exorcism.
Personality… charismatic and passionate. It’s easy to see why Chris was able to enjoy success as an actress. Under better circumstances she might be easy-going and fun. But in light of her recent divorce and her daughter’s possession by demonic forces, she’s becoming increasingly angry and haggard. She wants to be hopeful, but seems to live in a godless world where the devil is very, very real.
Get to Know her in...
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12-year-old Regan MacNeil begins to adapt an explicit new personality as strange events befall the local area of Georgetown. Her mother becomes torn between science and superstition in a desperate bid to save her daughter, and ultimately turns to her last hope: Father Damien Karras, a troubled priest who is struggling with his own faith.
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Set fifteen years after the original film, The Exorcist III centers around the philosophical Lieutenant William F. Kinderman who is investigating a baffling series of murders around Georgetown that all contain the hallmarks of The Gemini, a deceased serial killer. It eventually leads him to a catatonic patient in a psychiatric hospital who has recently started to speak, claiming he is the The Gemini and detailing the murders, but bears a striking resemblance to Father Damien Karras.
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Reagan used to be a sweet, quiet, and obedient girl. Though, Reagan's demonic possession has turned her usual personality on its head. Under the Devil's influence, Regan is growing into a foul-mouthed and cruel creature possessing supernatural insight into the failures and sins of everyone around her.
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Bizarre nightmares plague Regan MacNeil four years after her possession and exorcism. Has the demon returned? And if so, can the combined faith and knowledge of a Vatican investigator and a hypnotic research specialist free her from its grasp?
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Originally published in 1971, The Exorcist is now a major television series on FOX. It remains one of the most controversial novels ever written and went on to become a literary phenomenon: It spent fifty-seven weeks on the New York Times bestseller list, seventeen consecutively at number one. Inspired by a true story of a child’s demonic possession in the 1940s, William Peter Blatty created an iconic novel that focuses on Regan, the eleven-year-old daughter of a movie actress residing in Washington, D.C. A small group of overwhelmed yet determined individuals must rescue Regan from her unspeakable fate, and the drama that ensues is gripping and unfailingly terrifying. Two years after its publication, The Exorcist was, of course, turned into a wildly popular motion picture, garnering ten Academy Award nominations. On opening day of the film, lines of the novel’s fans stretched around city blocks. In Chicago, frustrated moviegoers used a battering ram to gain entry through the double side doors of a theater. In Kansas City, police used tear gas to disperse an impatient crowd who tried to force their way into a cinema. The three major television networks carried footage of these events; CBS’s Walter Cronkite devoted almost ten minutes to the story. The Exorcist was, and is, more than just a novel and a film: it is a true landmark. Purposefully raw and profane, The Exorcist still has the extraordinary ability to disturb readers and cause them to forget that it is “just a story.” Published here in this beautiful fortieth anniversary edition, it remains an unforgettable reading experience and will continue to shock and frighten a new generation of readers.
