More than 40 years after changing the face of screen horror with THE EXORCIST, director William Friedkin returns to its subject matter—for real this time—with THE DEVIL AND FATHER AMORTH. Check out the new trailer after the jump.
Coming to theaters in New York and Los Angeles April 20 courtesy of The Orchard, THE DEVIL AND FATHER AMORTH combines Friedkin’s memories of crafting THE EXORCIST with a contemporary study of possession and exorcism. The synopsis: “What began as a brief conversation between Friedkin and Father Gabrielle Amorth—the head exorcist for the Diocese of Rome for over 30 years—as two professionals who knew of each other’s work soon transformed into an once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, as Amorth agreed Friedkin could film an exorcism ceremony. It would be the ninth exorcism for a painfully afflicted woman, Cristina [a pseudonym], who had already been under Father Amorth’s care—and it would be filmed by Friedkin alone, with no other crew allowed, no light other than the natural light in the room and a small digital camera-and-mic unit that could capture the ritual and its revelations. Combining the startling and singular footage from Cristina’s exorcism with interviews from priests and psychologists, neurosurgeons and non-believers, Friedkin guides us on a journey into the twilight world between the boundaries of what we know and what we don’t with a singular and startling guide in the form of the urbane, charming and self-deprecatingly funny Father Amorth, a man who laughs in the face of the devil both figuratively and literally.”
