Televised 1971 exorcism inspires Screen Gems’ True Haunting

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

The Exorcist

I was unaware of this, but in 1971, two years before THE EXORCIST (pictured above) reached theatres, NBC filmed and televised an exorcism, showing viewers an attempt to drive out the spirits that were inhabiting Edwin and Marsha Becker's Chicago home. Forty years later, Edwin wrote a book called TRUE HAUNTING about the experience (you can pick up a copy at THIS LINK). Now the story told in TRUE HAUNTING is about to brought to the big screen by Screen Gems.

Cindy Cowan optioned the book and will be producing the film. Steve Bersch, Scott Strauss, and Brian Dukes are overseeing the project.

THE CALL screenwriter Richard D'Ovidio is writing the script for TRUE HAUNTING, which will tell the 

terrifying true story of the first televised exorcism on NBC in 1971. Millions around the country watched the program. The NBC news segment was a success, the exorcism was not. Instead, it made things worse for the Becker family who lived there. Much worse.

The exorcism segment aired by NBC before things got "much worse" for the Beckers can be seen below. Beware, the audio is not great, but it is loud.

I'm quite burned out on exorcism horror movies myself, but there are exceptions that can get through my resistance to this sort of thing. I hope TRUE HAUNTING will turn out to be good enough to win me over.
 

Source: Deadline

About the Author

Cody is a news editor and film critic, focused on the horror arm of JoBlo.com, and writes scripts for videos that are released through the JoBlo Originals and JoBlo Horror Originals YouTube channels. In his spare time, he's a globe-trotting digital nomad, runs a personal blog called Life Between Frames, and writes novels and screenplays.

Logo

Looks like your ad blocker is on.

×

We rely on ads to keep creating quality content for you to enjoy for free.

Please support our site by disabling your ad blocker.

Continue Without Making Any Changes

Choose your Ad Blocker

  • Adblock Plus
  • Adblock
  • Adguard
  • Ad Remover
  • Brave
  • Ghostery
  • uBlock Origin
  • uBlock
  • UltraBlock
  • Other
  1. In the extension bar, click the AdBlock Plus icon
  2. Click the large blue toggle for this website
  3. Click refresh
  1. In the extension bar, click the AdBlock icon
  2. Under "Pause on this site" click "Always"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Adguard icon
  2. Click on the large green toggle for this website
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Ad Remover icon
  2. Click "Disable on This Website"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the orange lion icon
  2. Click the toggle on the top right, shifting from "Up" to "Down"
  1. In the extension bar, click on the Ghostery icon
  2. Click the "Anti-Tracking" shield so it says "Off"
  3. Click the "Ad-Blocking" stop sign so it says "Off"
  4. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the uBlock Origin icon
  2. Click on the big, blue power button
  3. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the uBlock icon
  2. Click on the big, blue power button
  3. Refresh the page
  1. In the extension bar, click on the UltraBlock icon
  2. Check the "Disable UltraBlock" checkbox
  3. Marque la casilla de verificación "Desactivar UltraBlock"
  1. Please disable your Ad Blocker

If the prompt is still appearing, please disable any tools or services you are using that block internet ads (e.g. DNS Servers).