While many wonder "is The Exorcist based on a true story?" they would be shocked to know that this is the case, and the real Exorcist story is based on the possession of Roland Doe. The Exorcist is based on the 1971 book by William Blatty, who was inspired to write the novel after reading about Roland Doe while he was a student at Georgetown University. The Exorcist was adapted into Friedkin's 1973 film and starred 12-year-old Linda Blair as Regan, a young girl who becomes possessed. While the movie is clearly dramatized, using convincing special effects to thrill its audience, The Exorcist true story is just as chilling.
Though the movie tells the tale of a young girl possessed by a mysterious entity, much of The Exorcist is based on a true story about a young boy in Cottage City, Maryland during the 1940s. Roland Doe was not identified for almost a decade, but many experts believe his real name is Ronald Hunkeler. He's stayed out of the public eye, but since his death in 2020, more information on his story has come out. With David Gordon Green's The Exorcist: Believer on the way, there's no better time to look back at the real Exorcist story, who the real Regan is, and where Roland is now.
Roland Doe's Exorcism True Story Explained
The Exorcist true story is based on the experience of Roland Doe. In March 1949, newspapers reported that a 14-year-old boy known as “Robbie” or “Roland Doe” was possessed by something sinister and that The Exorcist's priests performed an exorcism on him. The boy, raised in a German Lutheran family, was no stranger to the paranormal things in life. After asking for an Ouija board for his birthday, his Aunt Harriet gifted him one. After she ed away, the boy began to experience creepy and abnormal things around the house: rattlings on the walls, strange noises, and flying objects. The Exorcist recreates many of these events in hidden details.
Since The Exorcist is based on a true story, many of the events that Roland and his family experienced end up in the film. After the death of his Aunt, Roland's family tried to her, but this led to scratches all over Roland's body and bed. Neither moving nor an impromptu Catholic baptism, which sent Roland into an unbridled rage, changed their situation. Roland’s family ed every expert, all leading to a dead end including a stint with a psychiatrist. After getting no answers, the family finally received help from Father Raymond J. Bishop, and multiple exorcisms were performed in the real Exorcist.
The exorcism that inspired the movie The Exorcist had to be stopped early because Roland ripped off a piece of mattress spring and threw it at the priest. A few days later, Roland started getting red scratches, with the marks spelling out the word “LOUIS.” This alerted the family to go to St. Louis University, where he was introduced to Father Walter H. Halloran and Rev. William Bowdern, who performed an exorcism on Roland. When Bowdern left a crucifix under Doe's pillow, the family saw the furniture flip over, Roland's mattress shaking uncontrollably, and the crucifix pushed to the end of the bed.
While The Exorcist is based on a true story, one thing it doesn't get right is just how many exorcisms occurred and at how many different locations. Roland Doe received exorcisms at home, Georgetown University Hospital, and The Alexian Brothers Hospital. With each exorcism, Roland Doe allegedly spoke in Latin, urinated, vomited, spit, and spoke in a deep and unfamiliar voice. Doe's last exorcism was performed with the help of priests Walter Halloran and William Van Roo, and Halloran got his nose broken at some point during the ritual. Nevertheless, the priests claimed that this final attempt was successful.
The Real Story Of The Exorcist Is Still A Mystery
So what happened to the boy in The Exorcist's true story? There has been much mystery surrounding Roland Doe, despite the fact that The Exorcist is based on a true story. Over 75 years later, experts believe that the real Exorcist victim is Ronald Hunkeler, a former NASA engineer who helped with the 1969 moon landing. Hunkeler died of a stroke just a month shy of his 86th birthday in 2020, ing away at his home in Marriottsville, Maryland. After the series of exorcisms that Hunkeler went through as a child, he actually had an incredibly successful career as an adult working for NASA.
The Roland Doe The Exorcist subject actually helped patent the technology to make space shuttle s resistant to extreme heat for the Apollo missions of the 1960s (via New York Post). Not many people knew about his secret identity, except for a few close friends, academics, as well as the Jesuits who knew the priests who performed the exorcism. According to his partner, Hunkeler was always very worried that his coworkers would find out and would even leave his home every Halloween, terrified that someone would harass him after it came out that The Exorcist is based on a true story. Hunkeler retired from NASA in 2001 after 40 years.
How The Exorcist Adapted Roland's Story
The author William Blatty, who ed away in 2017, got the idea for Exorcist, widely considered the scariest movie ever, when studying at Georgetown University. A professor had a lecture about exorcisms, specifically mentioning Roland’s story. The lecturer mentioned a diary that one of the priests had, and he was able to get a copy. Blatty also ed Rev. William Bowdern, and with this information adapted Roland’s story so that The Exorcist is based on a true story. Blatty’s novel was released in 1971 and topped the bestsellers list. A couple of years later, William Friedkin ed Blatty to turn it into a film, and Blatty wrote the script.
What The Exorcist Kept & Changed About The True Story
Many horror movies pay homage to The Exorcist now, but the thought of an exorcism did not always appease audiences. To keep Roland’s identity and the fact that The Exorcist is based on a true story under wraps, Blatty had to change a few things: Roland became a 12-year-old girl instead of a 14-year-old boy, and Regan's mother was changed to a single parent as opposed to having a large family. The violent outbursts and Roland’s creepy low-toned voice all occurred, but the infamous ceiling crawl and head-spinning have never fully been confirmed or denied to have happened in the Exorcist true story.
Another thing that does not occur is the “X” that appeared in scratches on Ronald’s chest, signifying that 10 demons possessed Roland in the real Exorcist. The cuts on Roland’s skin saying the words “LOUIS” was changed to “HELP ME,” taking away the fundamental aspect of moving to St. Louis. Although a few things were left out, Blatty kept much of The Exorcist’s true story horror closely tied to the novel. This included both Roland and Regan acting oddly after playing with an Oujia board, only acting strange at night, as well as the two acting extremely violent when any religious object was presented to them.
Surprisingly, The Exorcist book and film are very closely connected, as Blatty did write the script, but the true story of Hunkeler is a bit different from the film. This is probably for the best, as while The Exoricist is based on a true story, Hunkeler didn't seem too keen on having his story and identity released to the public, which is wholly understandable as he probably would've faced misguided backlash in some capacity. In the end, the true, chilling story of the real Regan The Exorcist didn't show is much more terrifying than the novel or film, as a young child went through such a terrible experience.
Is The Exorcist Reboot Also Based On The True Story?
It's been announced that a new The Exorcist trilogy is in the works, and there's a lot of confusion over whether it's a sequel or a reboot. Reportedly, the new 2023 Exorcist movie, The Exorcist: Believer, is considered a sequel to the original movie franchise, and Ellen Burstyn's Chris is the thread that holds the two together. Therefore, it's doubtful that the new trilogy will follow the same "The Exorcist based on a true story" tale. While The Exorcist is both based on a true story and William Blatty's book, the second and third installments are entirely products of Hollywood's imagination, meaning the newest sequel will follow suit.
The Exorcist: Believer will see Leslie Odom Jr. playing a father whose daughter is possessed. In searching for answers he comes across Chris MacNeil (played by Ellen Burstyn), and begs for her help. Presumably, The Exorcist 2023 installment should be considered a legacy sequel, akin to Scream 2022, in which a new team of people takes over an old story. Not much else is known about the project other than its planned release date of October 13th, 2023 in theaters and on Peacock, and that David Gordon Green (Halloween) will be at the director's helm. That being said, the new The Exorcist isn't based on a true story.
Why William Friedkin Made The Story Of Roland Doe Into The Exorcist
Since The Exorcist is based on a true story, it needed a director that could pay homage to the original tale while also creating something impactful. Filmmaker William Friedkin was certainly the man to take on The Exorcist true story, and revealed exactly why he took it on in an interview with EWTN, a Catholic publication. When asked why he decided to turn Blatty's book into a movie, Friedkin itted that Blatty himself had given him the book and chose him to make the feature film. Friedkin stated that Blatty was aware of his history as a documentary filmmaker, and wanted the movie to be as realistic as possible.
"At that time as well as today, the public knows very little about exorcism, little to nothing. Everything that is known about it is sensationalized in the public, and certainly, the film I made contributed to that; there is no question about it. Because people regarded it as a horror film. But I made the film as a believer," Friedkin said. He also mentioned that he wanted to present the supernatural to the public in a direct way, as he felt it added much more weight to the fact that The Exorcist is based on a true story. When it came to the real Regan The Exorcist showed, Friedkin did Doe's family.
According to Friedkin, he was in with Doe's aunt, who provided a ton of details to the production team of The Exorcist. However, the details of the story were changed, "We had to make the film using a girl instead of a boy because the Church [...] at that time wanted to take all pressure off the family of the boy [...] But a lot of the details were the details from the actual case." In addition, Friedkin used Rev. John Nicola, the topmost advisor on exorcisms from the Church of the Immaculate Conception, as a technical director to confirm the rites being performed were accurate.
There Are Several Documentaries About The Exorcist True Story
As soon as audiences realized that The Exorcist is based on a true story, documentary filmmakers started digging to find the true story behind the real Regan The Exorcist didn't tell. Therefore, there are a number of documentaries and other films out there that explore Roland Doe's story in greater detail. It's also worth noting that the 2000 movie Possessed is based on the story of Roland Doe, and follows it much more accurately than The Exorcist did. The first documentary to come out about the case was the 1997 documentary In the Grip of Evil, which basically acts as a reconstruction of the case of Roland Doe.
Another documentary came out in 2010 called The Haunted Boy: The Secret Diary of the Exorcist. Another TV movie documentary about Roland Doe came out in 2004 and actually interviews William Blatty. The film is called Exorcists: The True Story. Movie director William Friedkin himself went back into the director's chair for The Devil & Father Amorth, and while it's not about Roland Doe, he does film the real exorcism of an Italian woman performed by Vatican Exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth. Finally, the series Shock Docs does an episode on The Exorcist true story, titled "The Exorcism of Roland Doe." It's the second episode of the second season.
