When The Exorcist premiered in 1973, it sent shockwaves through the United States; nothing like this had ever been seen on screen before. The film was released on the heels of significant changes within the country, including the civil rights and women's liberation movements. In this book, Williams explores the social and political landscape of the 1970s United States to examine why the film had the impact it did and why it still permeates popular culture to this day. The book provides a masterful and thoroughly researched analysis of the film and includes Williams's own history growing up Catholic and coping with guilt and grief after her mother's illness and death. Williams's personal stories align with her analysis, bringing to light the question: Is The Exorcist's true horror about demonic possession or about growing up as a woman in the United States? VERDICT An incredible work of film analysis, examining cultural context and interspersing personal history, that makes a great read for movie, horror, and pop-culture fans. Highly recommended for libraries with media analysis collections.--Meghan Bouffard

Williams's searching debut serves up essays on the legacy and meaning of director William Friedkin's 1973 film The Exorcist. The author studies how the film reflects the cultural currents of the era, contending in "Magical Mirrors" that the movie might be interpreted as a reactionary response to the women's liberation movement in its portrayal of a "female-led household" (Chris MacNeil, mother of the possessed Regan, is a single, working actor) as "open to invasion by an evil outside force" and in need of the valor of male priests. Other pieces offer more personal reflections; "My Mother and The Exorcist" compares Williams's strained relationship with her mother, who died of cancer when Williams was 18, to MacNeil's relationship with her possessed daughter. Williams recounts seeing a second-run screening of the film after her mother's death to connect with how her mother must have felt watching the movie during its initial theatrical run, against her mother's orders to never see the "blasphemous" film. Elsewhere, Williams explores James Baldwin's commentary on the racial politics of The Exorcist and ruminates on whether the film's vision of faith is heartening or sinister. The sharp analysis offers novel and convincing perspectives on the horror classic, and Williams's personal meditations are affecting. This is scary good. (Oct.)