William Peter Blatty quotes

You don't blame us for being here, do you? After all, we have no place to go. No home... Incidentally, what an excellent day for an exorcism... (William Peter Blatty)

And the sad truth is that nobody wants me to write comedy. The Exorcist not only ended that career, it expunged all memory of its existence.

William Peter Blatty

Horror does not interest me, and so I know little of its practicioners, old or current.

William Peter Blatty

I have never read horror, nor do I consider The Exorcist to be such, but rather as a suspenseful supernatural detective story, or paranormal police procedural.

William Peter Blatty

God never talks. But the devil keeps advertising, Father. The devil does a lot of commercials.

William Peter Blatty

The demon is a liar. He will lie to confuse us; but he will also mix lies with the truth to attack us. His attack is psychological, Damien. And powerful.

William Peter Blatty

As far as God goes, I _am_ a nonbeliever. Still am. But when it comes to a devil---well, that's something else.

William Peter Blatty

Perhaps evil is the crucible of goodness... and perhaps even Satan - Satan, in spite of himself - somehow serves to work out the will of God.

William Peter Blatty

Well, the research into it affected me. And the novel, it very much strengthened my faith.

William Peter Blatty

The original story that I sold [Morgan Creek] (and that I shot) ended with Kinderman blowing away Patient X. There was no exorcism. But it was a Mexican stand-off between me and the studio. I was entitled to one preview, then they could go and do what they wanted with the picture. They gave me a preview but it was the lowest end preview audience I have ever seen in my life. They dragged in zombies from Haiti to watch this film. It was unbelievable. But I decided, better I should do it than anyone else. I foolishly thought: I can do a good exorcism, I'll turn this pig's ear into a silk purse. So I did it.

William Peter Blatty

I'm not aware that I was consciously influenced by any director, though these things often happen unnoticed, submerged in the unconscious. (William Peter Blatty)

I get cassettes near Academy Award time of every movie that's made that thinks it has some kind of chance for a nomination - that's when I watch my movies.

William Peter Blatty

I've been campaigning like anything for restoring these changes. For 27 years. I wrote a book about it, well, a portion of the book was devoted to these scenes and why they should have been in the movie.

William Peter Blatty

I lived in Georgetown in the late '70s about four houses down from the steps.

William Peter Blatty

I didn't read The Haunting of Hill House until sometime early in the 1990's.

William Peter Blatty

I tried to make every bit of it as creepy as I could. And I had the same response you do. I feel the same way. The hospital scenes, that procedure was so real.

William Peter Blatty