The Exorcist Screenplay

Lankester Merrin, a veteran Catholic priest who performed an exorcism in the 1950s, is on an archaeological dig in the ancient Iraq city of Hatra. There he finds an amulet that resembles Pazuzu, a demon of ancient origins with whose history Merrin is familiar. In Georgetown, actress Chris MacNeil is living on location with her 12-year-old daughter Regan; she is starring in a film about student activism directed by her friend and associate Burke Dennings. After playing with a Ouija board and contacting a supposedly imaginary friend whom she calls Captain Howdy, Regan begins acting strangely, using obscene language, and exhibiting abnormal strength; additionally, there is poltergeist like activity in the home at night. Chris hosts a party, during which Regan comes downstairs unannounced, tells one of the guests�an astronaut�that he will die "up there" and then urinates on the floor. Later, Regan's bed begins to shake violently, further adding to her mother's horror. Chris consults a number of physicians, but Dr. Klein and his associates find nothing physiologically wrong with her daughter, despite Regan undergoing a battery of diagnostic tests.