It was the first horror film ever nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture , eventually winning for Best Sound and Best Adapted Screenplay.
The release of "The Exorcist" was a cultural phenomenon. The film was notoriously banned in several countries and was initially released in only 25 theaters in the U.S. due to its intensely disturbing content. It garnered massive controversy, with the Catholic Church giving it a cautionary rating and Protestant groups condemning it. Despite this, or perhaps because of it, audiences flocked to see the film in droves. It became a massive box office hit and broke new ground by being the first horror film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. It walked away with two Oscars: Best Sound (for its terrifying audio design) and Best Adapted Screenplay for William Peter Blatty. Fifty years on, polls by IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes continue to rank it as the scariest film of all time, a testament to its brilliant acting and harrowing storyline. theexorcist1973720phindienglishvegamovies exclusive