One of the most horrifying movies ever made was "The Exorcist." On December 26, 1973, the Warner Brothers film based on William Peter Blatty's novel was screened at theaters all over the United States. The 1974 film about a 12-year-old girl possessed by the devil won ten academy awards and eventually grossed $65 million.
Linda Blair, actress who played Reagan in "The Exorcist" described the horrific role she played in the movie.
"There was a lot of interesting things that happened on the set. Half the people say that there was a fire, but I never saw anything," Blair said. "I walked away from this film, and I never wanted to talk about it again. It was one of the worst things that I have ever went through. I could never talk about it until 30 years later."
Blair said that the novel was a number one bestseller and that is why people still talk about it today.
People know little about the story behind "The Exorcist," primarily that it was based on a true event that took place in 1949, at the Alexian Brothers Hospital in St. Louis.
A plaque on the wall recognizes the history and major events of the hospital including the exorcism.
Blair feels that not one will ever be able to find out the complete truth behind the exorcism.
"You will never get it to the papers. You will only get hearsay. It is a very covered up case, and nobody will ever be able to tell you what really happened in that room," Blair said. "Too many people have tried to uncover these truths, and they are only able to get partial facts."
Even UM-St. Louis students have mixed feelings about the true exorcism.
"I've heard that the exorcism happened here, but I wasn't actually sure about the whole story or where it occurred," Christy Duvall, junior, nursing said.
One priest, Brother William Longo, worked at the Alexian Brothers Hospital at the time, shared his own information about the event, and described the child who was possessed.
"The child who was possessed was actually a young boy named Robby who came from Mount Rainer, Md.," Longo said. "Some said that the possession was caused from his aunt using an Ouija board to contact dead relatives and Robby would play with her."
Longo continued to say that after his aunt died, the family began to notice unusual circumstances. First, the family heard pounding on the ceiling, then red marks and bruises began to appear all over Robby's body, and he started having constant seizures. His family called in a psychologist and the town's Lutheran minister to help. No one had a solution. Finally, after nothing seemed to work, His family sent him to St. Louis to live with Catholic relatives.
His relatives told the bishop about the events that were going on. The bishop and some local Jesuit priests observed for themselves. They reportedly witnessed Robby being lifted and carried across the ceiling in mid-air. They also said that Robby walked across the wall and spoke Latin. Robby spoke other languages that he was never taught and told the priests things about their lives that he could not have known. The bishop concluded that he was definitely possessed and that the Roman Catholic Rite of Exorcism had to be performed.
The first attempts at exorcism were performed at the Saint Louis University (SLU) Hospital. Church officials prayed over him and they placed religious objects on him. Still nothing changed, and they felt as if they could not help him.
At last, Robby was sent to the Alexian Brothers Hospital in South St. Louis, where he was admitted into psychiatric care on the fifth floor.
"There were some occasions where it took 4 to 5 employees and priests to restrain him because he was so violent," Longo said.
Noises echoed down the halls throughout the hospital. Words in red scars appeared carved on his chest. The most common word on his body was "Exit."
The Alexian Brothers and the Jesuits led by Father William Bowdern, brought in a statue of St. Michael the Archangel who, in the Catholic religion, is suppose to drive evil away.
Supposedly, after he placed the statue of St. Michael in Robby's room, the priests reported hearing an unfamiliar voice say, "I command you to leave, leave, leave."
After the exorcism ended, a loud boom or explosion sounded throughout the hospital. Robby woke up as if he had been sleeping for a long time and did not remember a single thing that happened to him.
Numerous reports have been made about the St. Louis Exorcism case. Many have different sources, facts and some sketchy information. At www.prairieghosts.com, there is one report about the exorcism and describes it as being one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of St. Louis. The report also includes other information such as location corrections. They say that Robby was from Cottage City, Md., not Mount Rainer. They also mention that Robbie lived with relatives in Normandy, Mo. and that they carried out portions of the exorcism at St. Francis Xavier Church located off Grand and Lindell avenues. Whether, this information is true or not, one thing for sure is that something terrible took place at Alexian Brothers and Saint Louis University hospitals. Even the cable channel E-Entertainment tried to investigate the case and created a famous documentary about the events.
Many of the places that Robby stayed during the period of the exorcism have been demolished. Either most of the people who had participated are deceased, or they do not want to discuss what happened. The building housing the psychiatric wing where the original exorcism took place and the west wing of Saint Louis University Hospital no longer exist.
After that troubling experience, Robby went on to live a normal life. He married, had children and now he is in his early sixties. His entire family converted to Catholicism. Robby prefers to remain anonymous to protect his own privacy and the privacy of his family.
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