Director: Philip Adrian Booth
Production Company: Spooked Productions
Genre: Documentary
One Sentence Synopsis: The uncovered diary of the infamous 1949 exorcism that later inspired, The Exorcist.
Series: Standalone
Release Date: July 15, 2014
Running Time: 90 min
Website: Click Here
Trailer: Click Here
Reviewed by: Reverend Leviathan
Final Score: 4.5 Moons (out of 5)
While filming a haunted asylum in St. Louis, Missouri, documentary filmmakers uncover a secret diary of the infamous 1949 exorcism involving a 13 year old boy possessed by the devil that later inspired the book and movie, The Exorcist. Utilizing hi-tech paranormal gadgetry along with a legion of supernatural experts they attempt to capture the scariest entity known to man, The Unholy Ghost. This is the untold real story of The Exorcist, a chronicle of true events based on a secret priest’s diary the world was not to see…until now!
Story
The movie begins with demonologist William Bradshaw explaining how exorcisms that are authorized by the Roman Catholic Church must be documented, so we get a little background information. He then says that, with all information we have about the well-known 1949 exorcism, it’s his professional opinion that it was a real exorcism and not a case of insanity or delusion. Father Francis X. Cleary, Senior Jesuit priest and exorcism historian, tells how the priests got involved with the case, while exorcist Bishop James Long also discusses the case and how the little boy possibly got possessed by his aunt’s encouragement of using a Ouija board.
Numerous people give testimonies concerning demonic possession–including modern possession survivors–and they also share the testimony of the great niece of Father William Bowdern, the lead exorcist in the 1949 case. Original audio files and photos are shown of the boy, though his face is partly censored to protect his privacy.
The Booth Brothers, along with other paranormal investigators, visit the various places that the boy was at (the site of Alexian Bros Hospital, White House Retreat, the “Exorcist” house) and perform paranormal surveillance. The results are quite shocking, even for a skeptic, and the images alone are frightening.
Presentation
Being a devout Catholic and knowing that the Catholic Church is very strict and protective over the events of actual exorcism cases, I kept waiting for the telltale flaw of the Booth brothers, where they claimed to have access to the files–but, to my surprise, this was not the case. The film is careful to state that the Church guards those documents, and that this documentary is based on the personal diary of Father Raymond Bishop who was with Father Bowdern during the exorcisms.
I am very pleased that this documentary is not like other “documentary” films that have been released; it is an actual documentary and not a two hour reenactment of the events with altered facts or added information for entertainment purposes. There are clips of actors reenacting events, but they are brief and in between the interviews and events.
The paranormal investigators came off as true professionals. It wasn’t like many of the ghost hunter shows on TV where, when something strange happens, everyone freaks out and it looks like a bad found footage horror movie. They all kept their cool when unusual things occurred, like they’re used to it.
Christopher Saint Booth wrote an amazing score for the movie that really helps the film to flow; it’s got a very dark, classical Gothic feel to it. And it works well during the reenactment sequences.
Gothic Fit
This documentary would be very appealing to quite a few Gothic viewers, as many of us are fans of The Exorcist and other possession films. Demonology mixed with paranormal investigations and the true story behind the 1949 exorcism case are a good Gothic combination, not to mention that dark, beautiful musical score.
Closing Thoughts
I had trouble blinking during this film because I was so into it and didn’t want to miss a thing. The Booth Brothers score again with The Exorcist File; the perfect documentary companion for The Exorcist.
Story: 4.0 Moons
Presentation: 4.0 Moons
Gothic Fit: 5.0 Moons
Final Score (not an average): 4.5 Moons
