Inside The Exorcist
90 episodes - English - Latest episode: 3 months ago - ★★★★★ - 2K ratingsIn 1973 Hell came home and invaded the body of a young girl. This is the story of a movie and its makers. It's a tale of dark and light, of loss and love. A story of faith and fury, of causes and curses, of horrors real and imagined, of unbridled ego and brute force filmmaking. It's the movie critics called "religious pornography" and "occultist claptrap." The movie that left audiences...hysterical. Decades later, it remains perhaps the most frightening movie we will ever see. From Wondery, this is a seven-part deep dive inspired by the story behind an unforgettable, classic movie. This is...Inside The Exorcist.
You can binge all episodes of Inside The Exorcist exclusively and ad-free on Wondery+. Find Wondery+ in the Wondery App or on Apple Podcasts.
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Episodes
Introducing The Next Big Idea
October 15, 2019 08:30 - 7 minutes - 7.31 MBIdeas are coming at you every day from all directions. How can you process it all? You can start with The Next Big Idea. Host Rufus Griscom and legendary thought leaders Malcolm Gladwell, Adam Grant, Dan Pink, and Susan Cain, will be your personal “idea” curators. Open your mind and get ready for something big, because the right idea--at the right moment--has the power to transform your life. Listen now at http://wondery.fm/TNBIWondery
BONUS: Talking Star Wars with George Lucas Biographer Brian Jay Jones | E8
July 18, 2019 09:00 - 46 minutes - 42.2 MBIn this special BONUS episode, INSIDE STAR WARS creator and host Mark Ramsey interviews Brian Jay Jones, the author of the recent best-selling biography “George Lucas: A Life.” We talk about our shared love of the original film and how the franchise shaped our youths. We discuss what it’s like to chase down the details of a living legend who has contributed so much to modern pop culture. And Brian reveals the one question he would most like to ask Lucas today: “Are you happy?” It’s...
Goodbyes | E7
July 16, 2019 08:30 - 31 minutes - 28.7 MBAlec Guinness tells a child to stop watching Star Wars and drives him to tears. Kenny Baker - the man inside R2D2 - dies, but not before meeting the son he never knew. After great emotional struggle, George Lucas sells Star Wars to Disney. After a lifetime of total control, now he has to say “goodbye.” Carrie Fisher boards a plane at Heathrow Airport in London in 2016 and stops breathing before reaching Los Angeles. The world says goodbye to Princess Leia. Lucas acknowledges the fac...
Star Wars Will Be a Bomb | E6
July 14, 2019 09:00 - 28 minutes - 26.5 MBShooting on Star Wars wraps, but the troubles are far from over. Lucas has to “crack the whip” at ILM, which is way behind on FX shots. Lucas discovers the perfect voice for Darth Vader. The John Williams score is finished and Lucas is moved to tears. He screens the film for his movie friends and the reception is ugly. The FOX sales team loves the movie, but the studio board is convinced they’re wrong - Star Wars will be an enormous bomb, they believe. So they move the release date ...
Days and Nights of the Force | E5
July 11, 2019 08:30 - 25 minutes - 23.7 MBCarrie Fisher auditions hairstyles and the “Buns of Navarone” are born. Star Wars begins shooting. Carrie is smitten by her handsome co-star, Harrison Ford. Greedo nearly suffocates during the Cantina sequence. George Lucas breaks the news to Alec Guinness that his character will be killed off - without a satisfying death scene, and Guinness is furious. Luke and Leia swing across a dangerous chasm, but first someone has to tape down Carrie Fisher’s breasts. Peter Cushing as Grand Mo...
I am Princess Leia! | E4
July 09, 2019 08:30 - 31 minutes - 28.5 MBCasting begins for Star Wars. Carrie Fisher wins a role, runs into the rain, and shouts to the heavens: “I am Princess Leia!” George Lucas doesn’t want Harrison Ford in the cast, but it just so happens Harrison's building a door all week and is in the right place at the right time. Mark Hamill awakens on Robert Englund’s couch just in time to find out about “the perfect role” for him - with dialogue that is absolutely befuddling. The men inside R2D2 and C3PO come to terms with the e...
Bleeding on the Page | E3
July 07, 2019 08:30 - 27 minutes - 24.8 MBFrancis Coppola urges a struggling and dirt poor George Lucas to write something human and stop being “so weird.” The result is American Graffiti, the classic coming of age movie. United Artists agrees to pick up the project along with one other idea, something vague about wars in space. But the deal falls apart in part because “nobody knows what American Graffiti means.” Universal comes to the rescue but retains final cut. The screenings are great, but Universal is convinced it wil...
Dreams of Star Wars | E2
July 04, 2019 08:30 - 20 minutes - 18.7 MBA young Carrie Fisher meets the paparazzi in the arms of her celebrity mother, Debbie Reynolds. It doesn’t take Carrie long to decide that acting’s not for her. So naturally, an actor is exactly what she becomes. Carrie models tops for Warren Beatty - with and without a bra. Meanwhile, George Lucas has decided to study film. Even though no film school graduate had ever gotten a job in the industry. He quickly becomes a star at USC, determined to make his movies his way, no matter wh...
Two Suns Setting | E1
July 02, 2019 08:30 - 27 minutes - 25.3 MBA torturous first day of shooting Star Wars in the Tunisian desert. Including a one-time “carpenter to the stars,” an actor named Harrison Ford. Cut to: A young George Lucas captivated and thrilled by a new gadget called “television” and the thrilling, swashbuckling serials of Flash Gordon. Later, Lucas falls for fast cars. More speeding tickets than baseball cards. Fights at home with his father over work and school and career. “I’m gonna be a millionaire before I’m 30,” he shouts ...
Introducing Inside Star Wars
May 29, 2019 10:00 - 6 minutes - 6.23 MBHeroes, villains, action... all set in a galaxy far, far away. Join Inside Star Wars and go behind the camera and find out how one of the most iconic series in film history came to be. Listen now at: http://wondery.fm/ISWED
People Like Us: Inside Philadelphia, Part 2 | E4
November 15, 2018 08:15 - 28 minutes - 26.4 MB“Philadelphia” would attract top Hollywood talent like Tom Hanks, Denzel Washington, Jason Robards -- and an actor named Ron Vawter. Vawter had AIDS, and he would live just long enough to see the film change minds and hearts everywhere. Here, art wasn’t imitating life, art was life. This is the second in a two-part series celebrating the 25th anniversary of the release of “Philadelphia,” and the progress we’ve made in the fight against HIV/AIDS. In the 25 years since Philadelphi...
People Like Us: Inside Philadelphia, Part 1 | E3
November 15, 2018 08:05 - 35 minutes - 32.8 MBIn the 1980s HIV/AIDS was a quiet killer and a stigmatized disease. As director Jonathan Demme and screenwriter Ron Nyswaner watched friends succumb to AIDS, they would embark on the first major studio film to tackle the subject head-on. They needed to convince studio heads, movie stars, and a community to come along on their journey. On this 25th anniversary of “Philadelphia,” Mark Ramsey takes you inside this seminal film in a special two-part podcast series on how the film was ma...
Introducing People Like Us: Inside Philadelphia
November 13, 2018 11:02 - 1 minute - 990 KBIn 1993, Tom Hanks won his first Oscar for his role as Andrew Beckett in the film Philadelphia. This award represented more than just a stellar acting performance. Tom Hanks and the creators, cast, and crew of Philadelphia succeeded in bringing AIDS awareness to the mainstream. They sparked conversation about the disease, and helped to shift the cultural perception of HIV/AIDS from fear to compassion. In two special episodes of People Like Us: Inside Philadelphia, we’ll get a speci...
Interview with JAWS Co-Screenwriter Carl Gottlieb | E8
August 30, 2018 07:05 - 1 hour - 56.2 MBCarl Gottlieb is the co-screenwriter of JAWS, a featured player in this podcast, and the author of The Jaws Log, about the making of the classic film. With Inside JAWS creator Mark Ramsey, Carl discusses his background in Improv, how he met Steven Spielberg, how JAWS came to be a classic, and what lessons the movie has for filmmakers and audiences alike. Inside Jaws is presented by Audible. Get a free 30-day trial when you visit them at Audible.com/Jaws Other sponsors include: Zi...
The Kraken Sleepeth | E7
August 28, 2018 07:05 - 39 minutes - 35.9 MB1916: The vicious “Man-eater of Matawan” meets his end. Cut to: The premiere and record-breaking success of JAWS. The awards Steven Spielberg expected – but never came. Even the world’s most commercial filmmaker wasn’t good enough to earn the respect of his peers. The death of Robert Shaw and the impact of his legacy on one-time rival Richard Dreyfus. Spielberg passes the torch to J.J. Abrams as the ORCA at Universal Studios crumbles to dust. Steven Spielberg experiences a remembran...
Get the Actors Off the Boat! | E6
August 23, 2018 07:05 - 33 minutes - 30.3 MB1945: The saga of the U.S.S. Indianapolis – no ships, no planes, no rescue. Just…sharks. Cut to: The emotional center of JAWS: Sometimes drunk, sometimes sober - Robert Shaw’s indelible tale of the Indianapolis receives an ovation from cast and crew. The ORCA starts to sink – with all hands still on deck. The journey of a rotting shark carcass from Florida to Martha’s Vineyard. The on-set rivalry between Richard Dreyfus and Robert Shaw. A post-production panic attack for Steven Spie...
The Shark Isn’t Working | E5
August 21, 2018 07:05 - 29 minutes - 27.4 MB1968: A retired Navy Captain commits suicide. Many years earlier, his vessel suffered the worst naval disaster at sea in U.S. History. It was the U.S.S. Indianapolis, and hundreds of its crew were eaten by sharks. Cut to: 1974. Spielberg enlists writer Carl Gottlieb to “eviscerate” the script for JAWS. Spielberg’s friend George Lucas visits the mechanical shark in a workroom and gets his head stuck in it. Second unit footage is shot using real sharks and real shark cages, but the st...
The Head, the Tail, the Whole Damn Thing | E4
August 16, 2018 07:05 - 27 minutes - 25.5 MB1916: A bounty is offered to whoever can kill the “Man-eater of Matawan.” Cut to: 1973. Peter Benchley sells the rights to JAWS to a pair of legendary Hollywood producers, Richard Zanuck and David Brown. Sensing a winner, Spielberg steals the galleys off Zanuck’s desk before insisting that this be his next project. Meanwhile, Zanuck and Brown toss away a would-be director who can’t distinguish between a whale and a shark, legendary director Henry Hathaway offers Spielberg some advic...
Duel | E3
August 14, 2018 07:05 - 29 minutes - 27.4 MB1916: Matawan Creek, New Jersey. This time, the shark’s victim is a child and the entire town is up in arms. Cut to: 1963: The Kennedy Assassination precipitates a frightening encounter on a dusty California mountain road – an encounter that leads to the thrilling Man vs. Big Rig fable Duel. This is Spielberg’s ticket to fame and fortune. Even if the truck doesn’t explode into a network-satisfying fireball, and even if Universal plucks choice scenes for an episode of The Incredible ...
Breaking In | E2
August 09, 2018 07:05 - 26 minutes - 24.7 MB1916: Another vicious shark attack at the Jersey Shore. Cut to: Hollywood, 1965: Steven Spielberg hides out at Universal Studios in a toilet stall. He watches his idol, Alfred Hitchcock, at work. He fast-talks the guard at the studio gate day after day. He has an unpleasant encounter with a naked Marlon Brando – and all this while he’s still in high school. He lays it all on the line and heads west to Cal State Long Beach, where he makes a dirt-cheap, but impressive student film cal...
Becoming Spielberg | E1
August 07, 2018 07:05 - 26 minutes - 23.9 MBIn 1916 a killer shark terrorized the New Jersey shore in one of the inspirations for the movie JAWS. Cut to: Phoenix, AZ in the 1960’s, where a young Steven Spielberg is an outsider struggling to fit in. He’s ashamed of his heritage, bad at school, bad at sports, bad at everything. And then he discovers the magic of moving images on an oversized screen. It turns out he’s good at something after all. Inside Jaws is presented by Audible. Get a free 30-day trial when you visit them a...
The Exorcist’s Legacy with Final Destination’s Jeffrey Reddick
December 21, 2017 22:00 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MBIn this bonus episode, series creator Mark Ramsey talks with producer and writer Jeffrey Reddick, who is best known as the creator of the Final Destination movie franchise. What is the legacy of The Exorcist? How is it shaping today’s horror films? What makes the movie - even today - so powerful? See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.
Bonus: The Exorcist’s Legacy with Final Destination’s Jeffrey Reddick | E1
December 21, 2017 22:00 - 28 minutes - 25.7 MBIn this bonus episode, series creator Mark Ramsey talks with producer and writer Jeffrey Reddick, who is best known as the creator of the Final Destination movie franchise. What is the legacy of The Exorcist? How is it shaping today’s horror films? What makes the movie - even today - so powerful?
Inside The Exorcist: Behind the Scenes
December 14, 2017 22:00 - 44 minutes - 40.8 MBWhy The Exorcist? Why tell the story of the film and its makers in podcast form? And why choose a fresh audio graphic-novel storytelling approach? Those are just a few of the questions answered in this “behind the scenes” look at the making of one of the hottest podcasts of the year. Series creator and narrator Mark Ramsey talks with the show’s amazing sound designer Jeff Schmidt. Don’t miss the discussion about the secret “Easter egg” hidden in the audio that was only recently disc...
Inside The Exorcist: Behind the Scenes | E1
December 14, 2017 22:00 - 44 minutes - 40.8 MBWhy The Exorcist? Why tell the story of the film and its makers in podcast form? And why choose a fresh audio graphic-novel storytelling approach? Those are just a few of the questions answered in this “behind the scenes” look at the making of one of the hottest podcasts of the year. Series creator and narrator Mark Ramsey talks with the show’s amazing sound designer Jeff Schmidt. Don’t miss the discussion about the secret “Easter egg” hidden in the audio that was only recently disc...
She Wouldn’t Even Harm a Fly | E6
November 28, 2017 22:00 - 31 minutes - 28.6 MBPsycho fever overtakes America, and Alfred Hitchcock is suddenly a very rich man. And with this stunning success comes one haunting fear: What will I do for an encore? That question plagues Hitchcock for the rest of his career, through only six more films, a humiliating defeat at the Academy Awards, the specter of young directors vaulting past the old master, and a final appearance to accept a life achievement award that’s too little and too late. Meanwhile, critical admiration for ...
Shock and Awe | E5
November 23, 2017 22:00 - 26 minutes - 23.9 MBHitchcock’s nightmares haunt him as he readies Psycho for release. He tussles with the censors to keep his precious shower scene - the one which does or does not contain nudity, depending on which censor’s opinion you’re listening to. Hitch maps out an elaborate and unprecedented publicity strategy and in the process reinvents the way America goes to the movies. He suffers a rash of scathing reviews from big name critics, one of whom calls Psycho “a very minor work.” Then, Psycho op...
Men Do Kill Nude Women You Know | E4
November 21, 2017 22:00 - 25 minutes - 23 MBIt’s the inside story of the legendary shower scene, from the nudist on set, to Janet Leigh’s unending efforts to maintain some decency, to the answer to the longstanding question: Do you actually see the knife disappear into a body or not? We review the sounds of stabbing, the practical jokes that had everyone in stitches (except Janet Leigh), the novel introduction of a toilet to an American movie, the did-she-or-didn’t-she blink moment, and the very real possibility that the enti...
Time to Shoot | E3
November 16, 2017 22:00 - 22 minutes - 20.9 MBWhat do you do when your studio hates your next picture? If you’re Alfred Hitchcock, you put up your own money and risk everything on it. Psycho was a movie everybody in town said couldn’t get made - it would be the movie that would ruin Hitchcock’s career, they said. Or would it? Hitchcock casts his Norman Bates and his “perfectly ordinary” Marion Crane. Hear how the voice of Norman’s mother evolves from a series of hilarious celebrity prank calls, how Hitch navigates the performan...
Bloch and Hitchcock | E2
November 14, 2017 22:00 - 21 minutes - 19.4 MBWhen a struggling writer, Robert Bloch, discovers the story of a strange man in Wisconsin who killed and mutilated his victims, he transforms it into a story about the twisted relationship between a man and his mother: Psycho. Later, he realizes his fictions come closer to the dark truth than he ever could have imagined. That’s when his book is optioned by an anonymous Hollywood buyer for next to nothing. That buyer turns out to be Alfred Hitchcock. We meet Hitch on his deathbed, re...
The Butcher of Plainfield | E1
November 09, 2017 22:00 - 26 minutes - 24.2 MBA mild and meek man who was unusually attached to his domineering mother. That’s the story of Ed Gein, who murdered numerous middle-aged women in and around Plainfield, WI in the 1950’s, and whose story inspired the character of Norman Bates. The story of Psycho begins in a dingy, remote cabin, where Gein collected bits and pieces of his subjects and fashioned them into chairs, lampshades, or worse. All his victims were chosen because they reminded him of his mother. When he was bur...
Introducing Inside Psycho
November 07, 2017 22:00 - 7 minutes - 7.17 MBFrom the creators of Inside The Exorcist, Mark Ramsey Media and Wondery, comes this magical mix of fact and fiction which transports you into the world of Hitchcock amid a deep dive into the mysterious and peculiar happenings that occurred during the filming of the legendary film Psycho. The film now is among the greatest thrillers in movie history--but it nearly didn't happen! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/priva...
Redemption | E7
November 02, 2017 21:00 - 26 minutes - 24.6 MBToo much success too young - William Friedkin is warned by legendary auteur Orson Welles. Friedkin’s production company passes on a little movie called Star Wars so he can make his passion project which is eclipsed by its shadow. The film industry turns its back on him, but his love story teaches him a valuable lesson. Meanwhile, Jason Miller dies, William Peter Blatty’s son speaks to him after death, and Linda Blair battles obstacles to save the lives of sheltered dogs. This, as th...
The Rapture | E6
October 31, 2017 20:30 - 23 minutes - 21.9 MBThe Exorcist opens - with no credit for the voice of the demon, Mercedes McCambridge - and she’s furious. Audiences break down the doors to see the movie. Hysteria ensues: Vomiting, fainting, heart attacks, and more. The prominent critics...hated it. Rev. Billy Graham said “the devil is in every frame of that film.” Pressure was building to stiff the movie at awards time, despite its popularity. Linda Blair was shattered. But despite the lack of industry support, William Friedkin wa...
The Power of Christ Compels You | E5
October 31, 2017 19:30 - 24 minutes - 22.1 MBFriedkin wants to shoot the opening sequence of The Exorcist in Iraq, but first he has to teach the Iraqis how to make fake blood. And where’s the demon statue? Not in Iraq - on a tarmac in Australia, unfortunately. Legendary makeup artist Dick Smith spends two hours a day with Linda Blair, most of it watching The Flying Nun on TV. The exorcism scene takes place in a refrigerated room, making everyone sick. Max Von Sydow faces a crisis of faith and can’t bear to hear young Linda Bla...
Tomb of the Demon | E4
October 24, 2017 21:00 - 27 minutes - 24.8 MBThe room where the haunted boy was released was haunted ever more. No one would enter that place again. Meanwhile, the impossible task of casting The Exorcist. The actors who said yes, no, and “hell no.” Friedkin’s remarkable interview with Linda Blair after more than 1,000 girls had auditioned and failed. Shooting begins, tragedies overwhelm a cursed set. A Manhattan barfly gets his shot at fame. It’s all leading up to the exorcism sequence, a story of damnation and pea soup and a ...
Jesus Weeps Blood | E3
October 17, 2017 21:00 - 21 minutes - 20 MBThe haunted boy is freed from the demon...or is he? William Friedkin’s The French Connection is a stunning success, but will his broken down Rolls Royce make it to the Oscar ceremony? Later, Friedkin opens a packaged tossed into a suitcase and spends all night reading what’s inside: William Peter Blatty’s book The Exorcist. He is stunned. Blatty wants Friedkin to direct. All the pieces are in place for the most controversial movie of their careers and one of the most horrifying film...
The Snares of the Devil | E2
October 10, 2017 08:05 - 23 minutes - 21.8 MBPriests try - and fail - to exorcise the haunted boy’s demons. Meanwhile, William Friedkin witnesses a life-changing execution and insults a Hollywood icon. He loses a job but impresses writer William Peter Blatty, who’s working on a story that is his next best alternative to unemployment. Friedkin finishes the movie The French Connection as Blatty prepares the book that will soon become a number one bestseller. Subscribe today so you never miss an episode: https://smarturl.it/itex...
The Haunted Boy | E1
October 10, 2017 07:05 - 28 minutes - 26.2 MBThe story of The Exorcist is rooted in horrifying facts. Robbie is a young boy living in suburban Washington DC and he has been possessed by...something. Young Linda Blair loves horses, young William Friedkin loves scaring people, and young William Peter Blatty hears the story of the haunted boy in his religion class at Georgetown. It was so shocking, he would never forget it. One day, he will write it down. Subscribe today so you never miss an episode: https://smarturl.it/itex Su...
Introducing Inside The Exorcist
September 22, 2017 23:17 - 3 minutes - 2.85 MBA story of faith and fury, of horrors real and imagined. This is the tale of a real-life demonic possession, a movie, and its makers. A seven-part series inspired by the story behind an unforgettable, classic movie. Inside You can binge all episodes of Inside The Exorcist exclusively and ad-free on Wondery+. Find Wondery+ in the Wondery App or on Apple Podcasts. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-m...