Original subtitles

(ominous music)

(thundering)

(gunfire)

- [Soldier] Medic!

(barking)

(shouting in a foreign language)

- [Soldier] I surrender, I surrender!

Please! (gunshot)

(foreign language)

- Please! (groaning)

(foreign language)

("Ave Maria")

(wailing)

- Padre.

Is that you?

- Yes.

Shh.

We got Krauts about us.

- [G.I.] Padre.

- [Soldier] No, please!

(gunshot)

- Padre, I don't think I'm gonna make it.

You gotta give me last rights.

- We're both gonna make it

if you just shut up.

- Padre, you never lie in your sermons before.

That's why I came.

Don't start now.

Padre, please!

- [Soldier] Please! (gunshot)

- Please!

Oh God, please!

(gunshot)

- Here we go.

(thundering)

(shouting)

(moaning)

(breathing heavily)

(upbeat pop music)

(bell tolling)

- Oh hell.

- The zombie's aimless wanderings come to fruition.

The revolting corpse roams through the graveyard

searching for an evil sorcerer.

Kep away!

This spell gives me power.

(foreign language)

- Robbie, oh Robbie, Robbie, not again.

How many times we have to tell you?

This is why you keep having bad dreams.

- No it's not.

Yes it, what is this?

- Mom, it's just stories.

- That's the last straw.

You are not spending another night

with screaming nightmares.

- Dad, no!

I bought them with my own money.

They're mine!

- Robbie, this is for your own good.

Phyllis, we will discuss this downstairs.

Bed, young man. - No!

Please!

- The face of evil: Old Nick,

Beelzebub,

Lucifer.

(laughter)

Finally, just when we've run out of names,

we came up with the runaway winner.

Good candidate, but still only a front man.

Now, the Bible tells us that Satan

lost the war in heaven to God and His angels.

Assuming that fuhrer was on the same side,

Satan just lost the war of all time on Earth.

Mr. Halloran.

There's 10 seconds left in the game.

Your team is down by one.

What's the call from the point guard for hell?

- I'm safe.

- Don't worry, answering won't affect

your standing as a seminary student.

(laughter)

- Well, that's when it can get a little ugly.

You can take the shot from the outside,

but odds are that you'll miss.

If you get it to your inside man,

you might run out the clock.

- Different kind of game.

Different kind of war.

In a world where the Prince of Darkness has gone from

pitchfork ...

to pitch man.

In a world that's seen real evil.

In that world, Satan's reduced to a thug, a mugger,

a scavenger on the battlefield of good and evil,

a field where we are the players,

and the game has no timeouts.

(bell ringing)

Okay.

All right, I want you to read Brest's chapter

on Ignatian on monotheism.

I'll see you all of the game.

(glass shattering)

(commotion)

- [Man] We don't want guys like you here!

- [Man] First blacks, then commies!

(gospel singing)

- Jesus loves us, but he hates commies!

The Catholic church is white, not black!

- Which one of you motherfuckers threw this?

We fought a war against people like you!

Officer, over here.

Come on, arrest them.

Officer.

Officer, all they're doing is saying the rosary.

Since when is that a crime?

These are the people you should be arresting.

(artillery whistling)

- You're outta line, padre.

Nobody goes to bat (fireworks popping)

for a bunch of niggers, not on my beat.

- [Soldier] Medic!

- Come on, come on.

(shouting)

(glass shattering)

- Fascist bastards!

All they're doing is praying.

- [Man] He's a priest, for God's sake!

- [Elderly Woman] Spirits are never wrong, Robbie.

There is another way to reach the other side.

- Spirits, tell me my fortune.

D.

A.

N.

G.

E.

R?

Danger?

- The world is full of it.

This world and the next.

- Spirits, what kind of danger?

Some kinds are fun Aunt Hanna, like in action comics.

- F.

R.

O.

M.

H.

E.

L.

L.

(ominous music)

From hell.

- What is going on here?

What is go--

We have talked about this nonsense, Hanna.

You know about his nightmares and the bedwetting,

and still you play silly games

that you know will frighten him.

- How could it be nonsense and frightening?

It hardly goes together, dear.

- What?

I will tell you what does not go together.

This gypsy hocus-pocus in a decent house.

- That's right, mom.

Why don't you just trash it?

Just like my comic books!

- Robbie, you come back here!

I take you in out of charity, and this is how you repay me?

By undermining me?

Look what you have done!

- He was happy until you showed up.

He's always happy until you show up.

- That's because you indulge his fantasies.

You never exercise a drop of discipline.

- Why bother with a drop when you're drowning him in it?

The boy has no childhood left.

Now I know just what you meant by repay you,

you and that nickel-and-dime husband of yours.

- Oh, that's it.

- When I die, you will be paid in full.

In full.

In full.

- No, no, no.

Habeas corpus doesn't mean they gotta find the body.

It means they gotta have proof of the body of a crime,

like the car's gone, dog's gone, bank vault's empty.

- So when when that lyin' bitch says that I pulled the job

with her brother, it's like her word against my word.

- You got it.

Now go tell that to your idiot public defender.

- Thanks.

- Now, what was that about the neighbor's wife?

- Bowden, Bowdeen, Bowdern.

- Yeah.

- Guy's here to pay your bail.

Says he lives with you.

(oohing)

- [Priest] Do you know where you are?

- [Fr. Bowdern] No.

- The Alexian brothers.

800 years ago they took in the lepers,

the insane, the mentally unbalanced.

Today, it's where the church sweeps

its current embarrassments under the rug.

Crazies.

Feeble-minded.

Criminally insane.

The drunks.

You know.

- I wasn't drunk, Ray.

I was just defending the faith.

- You want end up in there, Bill?

- [Patient] He's coming!

- Come on, now. - Get him down.

He'll break the window. - Get down.

- [Man] Come on, Thomas.

Easy there, come on.

Give me your hand.

Let go.

- Poor devil.

- I'll die first.

- [Patient] He's coming!

He's coming!

He's coming!

- Through his power resting upon us,

we may overcome the world and be counted worthy

of the last to reign with him eternally in heaven.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

Hanna was loved by many but known to a precious few.

Her niece Phyllis, her dear grandson Ronnie.

- Grandson Ronnie.

Listen to him, going on like even knew her.

Well at least the old pastor had met her.

- Karl.

- They're all alike.

- Karl, please show some respect.

- Now if we could have a few silent moments

of respect and prayer.

(soft music)

- [Announcer] An incredible eight miles per gallon.

- From high taxes to the shameful mess in Korea,

he in inextricably woven with the communist issue.

- Dad?

- What?

- Something's dripping in aunt--

In my room.

- Check the bathroom?

- Nothing there.

- God damn.

(dripping)

- It's over there.

What is that, a doll?

- [Robbie] Dummy.

- What?

- It's a ventriloquist dummy.

I made him myself.

- Put that much time into your schoolwork,

you'll have something.

(tapping)

- Oh, oh, oh, Jesus!

Ow!

- Find something?

- No!

Nothing.

Listen now.

It stopped, right?

- I guess.

- All right, go to sleep.

You finished your homework, right?

- All done, but I had to help him out with his spelling.

- That's funny.

But I think you gotta work on the lips.

There we go.

Good night.

- Good night.

(eerie music)

(creaking)

- [Hanna Voiceover] Robbie.

Robbie.

There is another way to reach the other side.

There is another way.

There is another way.

(cheerful music)

- All right, everybody, listen to Tommy.

Get ready.

It's an atomic attack.

Everybody get ready to get under your desks for safety sake.

And ...

Now!

Quick, quick, everybody, come on.

Robbie Mannheim, everybody includes you.

- But Larry--

- Uh-uh, no more excuses, young man.

Duck and cover now.

- Robbie doesn't have to worry.

His grandma's a Nazi spy.

- Yeah, she'll save his ass.

- My aunt.

And she wasn't a spy.

(laughing)

(shouting)

- Robbie Mannheim!

Why did you do that?

- I didn't do it.

It's my desk, it just moved by itself!

- You expect me to believe that?

(screaming)

- Robbie, Robbie?

Robbie, look at me, look at me.

Did you do this?

- No.

- Are you telling me the truth?

- I'm telling you the truth.

- I will deal with your father when he gets home but--

All right, just sit there.

Hi.

It's all right, I called the school.

Everything's gonna be all right.

(overlapping speech)

- Well this is great.

Just great.

- Karl.

- Suspended from school.

Destruction of school property.

What the hell do you think you're playing at?

- I wasn't playing, dad!

But I'm scared. - Well you should be.

Now where do you think you'll be if you don't finish school?

You're gonna be a bum.

A deadbeat.

- I know that.

- That's good.

Then promise me you'll never do

anything like this ever again.

- But dad, I swear I didn't do anything!

- That is just it!

- Karl, this is not gonna

accomplish anything. - Phyllis, please stop!

- Look. - Maybe this will, huh?

- Oh, for god's sakes!

Karl, don't! - Phyllis, sit down!

- Don't do this.

(dramatic music)

- Robbie.

How did you do that?

- I didn't do it!

It just moved by itself, like the desk at school!

I'm gonna go to my room.

- There has got to be an explanation for this, right?

I mean, maybe ...

Maybe when Robbie fell out of the chair, the force,

it spun the chair around and then it just--

- You look me in the eyes and you tell me you believe that.

There is something very wrong in this house.

- Bless me Father for I have sinned.

- How long has been since your last confession?

- Six weeks.

- [Priest] And what sins have you committed?

- I bore a false witness.

- How?

- I placed a couple of bets on the Browns.

- And how is that false witness?

- The team sucks now, no?

- Is there anything else?

- I've been ...

falling back into an old habit.

- [Priest] Well, if you noticed it yourself,

can't you stop it yourself?

- Used to be able to.

Now I feel like ...

I feel like back in bootcamp when,

even though you know you're gonna be a chaplain,

the Army's got you training because

you're gonna end up in combat anyway.

Now I'm in a different army.

But that thing.

That thing that's out there with your name on it.

(ominous music)

I feel ...

it ...

It's still coming for me.

(creaking)

- Let's see what the spirits

have to say to us today, Robbie.

- Okay.

Spirits, what are the messages from the other side today?

I still say you're making it say

whatever you want it to, Aunt Hanna.

- [Robbie And Hanna] And maybe you're

making it say what you want.

- [Hanna] Spirits are never wrong, Robbie.

- Who are you?

- [Hanna And Demon] You will never guess.

- [Robbie] Fuck you, fuck you!

- Oh god.

Karl.

We have to get some help.

- [Robbie] Go to hell!

- Please.

- Do whatever you like.

Just remember we're not made of money.

- [Robbie] Fuck all of you!

(shouting)

Fuck you!

Burn in hell!

- [Phyllis] The school guidance counselor

just couldn't wait to get rid of us.

- [Karl] Damn doctor couldn't find anything

except 20 bucks out of my pocket.

And the psychiatrist?

You know, it's no wonder they call them shrinks.

He sure shrunk my wallet.

- Any more moving objects?

- No. - All the time.

- No. - Yes.

- [Robbie] The Union forever!

- [Karl] Yes.

- Karl.

- Would you stop denying it.

- Do either of you know what a poltergeist is?

Polter what?

- Poltergeist.

Here.

It's from the German.

It means noisy ghost.

- You mean you think we have a ghost.

- No, no.

You misunderstand.

The phenomenon you're describing

is not unknown to clergy or to science.

Most cases contain two invariable elements:

an adolescent and noisy inexplicable events

in the vicinity of said adolescent, like moving objects.

Some cases go back as far as eight centuries.

- You actually believe in this?

- Not just me.

- It's all right.

It's all right.

It's all right.

- Scholars all over the world are studying this.

I correspond with a few.

On my day off, of course.

- Reverend Eckhardt, we just want it to stop, please.

Things have gotten worse since Robbie

was suspended from school, and it ...

He's throwing temper tantrums worse

than a two-year-old, and the profanity he uses--

- I would like to try something.

Here.

One moment.

Robbie?

- [Robbie] Yeah?

- Could you come in here?

- [Robbie] Sure.

- Now, Robbie, you'd like all these bad things

that are happening to stop, wouldn't you?

- Yes.

Sure.

- Then the first thing that we must do

is remove you from the environment in which they occur.

- You mean his bedroom?

- No.

I mean this house.

There's plenty of room at mine.

(mysterious music)

- I canceled dinner with the Maynards.

I've made up the guest room.

- No, no, no, no.

Put him in the study.

I want to be able to observe him closely.

Get Eliot off the lawnmower and have him

help you move the bed where the couch is.

- Eliot?

Eliot?

Excuse me.

- Yes, ma'am.

- Could you come inside please and help me move the sofa?

- Oh, another one of them sleepovers, eh, Mrs. Eckhardt?

- Yes, the reverend frequently ministers

to troubled young boys.

- [Eliot] I know he does.

- Thank you. - You're welcome.

(ominous music)

- [Eckhardt Voiceover] To the editor of Psychic Magazine.

Dear Professor Rhine, in my work

I have stumbled upon an adolescent who seems to fit

the classic pattern of a psychoactive prepubescent

worthy of publication in your fine journal.

I will soon have an opportunity to closely observe the child

for manifestations of abnormal behavior

fitting your description of a polter--

Of a poltergeist.

I will keep you informed of all future developments.

Very truly yours, Reverend Roland Eckhardt.

- Every word appropriate.

- What happened?

Did something happen?

- You keep saying that.

Can I go to bed?

- Sure.

Any minute.

Are you done.

- Any minute!

Okay.

There you go.

Sleep tight.

(eerie rattling)

Good God.

Actual poltergeist manifestation.

(dramatic music)

It's incredible!

Yes.

(cuckoo clock whistling)

- [Robbie] What the hell is that?

What the hell?

Ah, get him off me!

- Robbie, what is it?

- Get off of me!

- Stop fighting!

What's happening?

Robbie.

- [Robbie] Get me out of here!

Let me go!

(cloth tearing)

- Robbie, stop it!

- [Mrs. Eckhardt] Roland?

- Let go!

- What ...

What happened in here?

- I'll go make some hot chocolate.

- I can't explain it.

I thought I was a man of reason,

a man of science, and a man of God.

I am not sure of anything anymore.

The Catholics.

They should take him to the Catholics.

(unsettling music)

They know about these things.

(shouting)

- [Mrs. Eckhardt] Oh my God!

You little bastard!

(whimpering)

- Jesus.

Well they're still there.

- [Phyllis] Why won't they leave us alone?

He hasn't done anything!

- [Karl] Done anything?

He just about killed somebody.

66 stitches.

What the hell possessed him to do that?

- [Phyllis] Do you realize what you just said?

Possessed!

- [Karl] I'm the ex-Catholic here, not you.

(shouting)

- [Phyllis] Robbie?

- Robbie? - Robbie?

Robbie!

Oh my God!

Karl!

Robbie, Robbie.

- Where does it hurt, son?

Son, where does it hurt?

- His chest, his chest.

Robbie.

Robbie, Robbie.

Do something!

(cheerleaders chanting)

- [Coach] Rebound, rebound!

(bell tolling)

- You know, I swore I would never step foot

in one of these again.

It's your idea, you do it.

- I'm gonna get you some help, Robbie.

You go for a walk with daddy, okay?

Karl? - What?

- Please.

Go to him.

- Hey, pops.

What do you say we catch a little hoop action?

- Forget the score.

Forget the clock.

Get the ball to Halloran

and take that ugly dog to get fixed!

(soft choral music)

- Right here.

One Catholic school versus another.

What's God gonna do?

Bet on both sides?

Come on, bud.

(cheering)

- Yes!

Now, there he is!

- Yes, now ...

there he is.

(eerie piano music)

- [Priest] Can I help you, ma'am?

(whistle blowing)

- Charging.

St. Luis University number 10. - What?

Guy's really funny.

He's still on the court.

- [Referee] You're out!

- I'm not a Catholic, reverend.

- Father.

God's mercy isn't rationed.

What exactly is your sin?

- I ...

I'm terrified of my own child.

My own child!

Please, help me, God!

- Come on, keep arguing with me.

There might be some other idiot call.

- [Phyllis] Love is a virtue, I know that,

and I want to love him the way I used to, but I can't.

It's so hard.

11 years.

Who could believe it?

Oh God.

God help me, father.

Father.

Please!

(sobbing)

I don't know!

- [Priest Voiceover] Yesterday, a woman

came into the university chapel

when I was taking confession.

Talked about her 11-year-old son,

about how the family began to hear

strange noises in their house,

witnessed objects moving by themselves,

always around the boy.

- I can walk you to his room.

- It's fine.

- [Priest Voiceover] Then the child began to exhibit

abrupt changes in personality,

became morose, on occasion violent.

She said welts and claw-like marks

began to appear on his body, marks the parents

interpreted as leading them to the university.

- Robbie? (knocking)

- [Priest Voiceover] Because the mother

seemed so agitated in confession

I brought along a bottle of holy water, in case.

- [Priest] Robbie?

- [Priest Voiceover] Just when I thought I didn't need it.

- Robbie? - Surprise, Father!

- Somehow the child showed a strength

and a power I can only call superhuman.

I know this sounds like I might be crazy,

but I think this boy might be possessed.

- No, Ray, you don't sound crazy.

You sound like a raving lunatic

who just dropped in from the 12th century.

How many people claim to have seen all this?

- Well, parents, neighbors, school teachers and students.

It's at least a dozen people.

It's a lot of evidence.

- That's a lot of hearsay.

- What, do you think they're all lying?

- No, they ...

they probably believe ...

everything they're telling you,

but so do the people who believe they see flying saucers.

You never heard of mass hysteria?

- I know, but ...

Listen, when I was in that house,

I felt this sense of evil, you know?

Not evil as an idea.

Evil as a ...

As a force, you know?

As a presence.

It doesn't make sense unless you've felt it yourself.

Nevermind.

(anxious music)

- So how'd you leave it with the family?

- I told them I'd come back tomorrow and ...

- And you want a second opinion.

- Yeah.

- It'll cost you.

- Johnny Walker Red?

- I'm a priest, Ray?

Black.

- Oh, black, black.

Ah, football tickets.

- [Karl] Teachers, guidance councilors, shrinks.

Why not this?

- [Fr. Bowdern] I understand you were raised Catholic.

- Yeah, do I get extra points for that,

or do you just pass the collection plate?

- Karl.

This is about Robbie.

- Straight to the point.

I like that.

- I doubt that.

- Speaking of Robbie.

- Yes, fathers, please, come this way.

This goes outside.

- It's third door on your left.

- Yeah.

- Could I get another cup of coffee?

- Sure. - Thanks.

- And some cake? - Please.

- Abracadabra, kalalazam.

Spirits,

defy ...

gravity.

(knocking)

- Hello there.

Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you.

- It's okay.

Got a spare.

- Listen, I'm father Bill.

This was real good.

Card tricks too?

- Sometimes.

Wanna see?

- Sure.

What have we got here?

What's this?

Superman!

He's working with Batman now?

- You like comics?

- [Fr. Bowdern] Yeah.

- I thought that, well ...

Well, my mom says that they're supposed to be evil.

- Listen, if reading the funnies is evil,

I'm in hot water myself.

That girl reporter, what's her name?

- Lois Lane!

- Yeah, Lois Lane.

She figured out he's the same guy yet?

- No.

- Women.

You leave the toilet seat up, they notice that.

But you put on eyeglasses,

and they don't notice you're the same guy

who was wearing long johns five minutes ago.

(laughing)

- You know a lot about comics.

- Yeah, well, wait till you get me started on football.

(creaking)

(faint shouting)

You collect tin soldiers, huh?

- Yup!

They're so real!

You can even see ranks and stuff.

(mimicking gunfire)

- Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Yeah, yeah, come here.

Here.

I used to collect these myself.

Lost interest after the real thing.

- You were in the war?

- [William] Sure.

- Were you in battles?

- I saw my share of action.

- [Robbie] What'd you do?

- Well let's have a look see.

That'd be me.

- [Robbie] Medic?

- Yeah, our I'm medic bought it in the Ardennes.

C.O. figured band of angels, band-aids,

what's the difference?

- Get wounded?

- Well, nothing an aspirin wouldn't fix.

- Okay, mister medic.

Father Bill?

- [G.I.] Padre, please.

Please.

- Can you help me?

(eerie music)

- What makes you think you need help, Robbie?

- I know I've done some things.

Some really bad things.

But I don't remember any of it.

I'm not crazy or evil.

Just a kid.

I just want things to be like they were.

- Well, We'll get together so and talk about it, okay?

- Whatever you say, sonny.

- A ventriloquist, huh?

God bless.

- [Robbie And Hanna] God bless you too, father Bill.

(laughing)

(barking)

- So?

- Already?

No superhuman strength, just toy soldiers and comic books.

- Is everything all right?

- He's a fine young man.

- Thank you.

And what about ...

- [Fr. Bowdern] I'm puzzled.

We'll talk, schedule something in the next few days.

In the meantime, if you need us,

don't hesitate to call us at the rectory.

We'll be there for you.

Thank you, Father.

- Yes, thanks for nothing.

- We'll show ourselves out.

It was good meeting you.

- You'll have your game tickets tomorrow.

- I'm not sure I earned them, Ray.

(screaming)

(dramatic music)

- Fuck you, fucker! - Robbie!

(screaming)

Fuck you!

Fuck fucking God!

Fuck!

Fuck!

(moaning)

(foreign language)

- [Reporter] A communist atomic bomb.

- [Woman] Oh my God.

- [Reporter] Thanks to the Rosenbergs,

a nuclear sword of Damoclea hangs over everyone watching--

- Come on, Eddie.

Thanks.

- Padre, is that you?

Please!

- [Reporter] The frontline has now become every household.

- Hey, do you want to put on something more conducive?

- [Eddie] Conducive to what?

- Me staying a regular customer.

- [Woman] There's no place to hide.

- [Man] Pretty scary, huh?

- [Woman] That fallout stuff, you can't even see it.

- [Woman] They could nuke us in our sleep.

- [Man] Not if we hit those commie bastards first.

- How much time did they spend on possessions

when you were in seminary?

- One lecture, and a multiple choice test.

- That puts you one lecture ahead of me.

You saw what the blood spelled

on the kid's belly, didn't you?

- [Woman] Did you hear what those priests just said?

- Shh!

They'll hear us.

- And you know what he said in Latin, don't you?

- Minister of Christ, can't you see I'm the devil?

Why do you bother me?

- According to the family,

the kid has no religious training whatsoever.

He never studied Latin or any other foreign language.

- Well maybe he went to the library.

They've got books on magic there too.

- You think he's playing a game?

- I think whatever he's doing, it's a cry for help,

even if he doesn't know he's doing it.

We're gonna have to run this by the archbishop, Ray.

- How much do you think I should tell him?

- If you want to get in the door, as little as possible.

- Apropos of the septic of hell,

I heard of an Irish woman who went to Moscow,

and she met a communist over there

who helped her onto a tram.

She was rather surprised.

And she turned to him and she said,

"May the good Lord find a nice cool spot in hell for you."

(laughing)

- Look at that.

Bishop Sheen is a celebrity.

You both know what a Nielsen rating is, don't you?

Well his is higher than Milton Berle's.

And when Milton heard that, he said,

"Well, the Bishop has better writers."

(laughing)

And the wedding of the the past year?

Senator Kennedy and Jacqueline Bouvier.

Catholic wedding.

- Your excellency, what does all this

have to do with our request?

- It has everything to do with it.

We're trying to bring the church into the 20th century.

I can't approve of a medieval relic like an exorcism.

- We don't know that it would ever

come to that, your excellency.

All we want to do is investigate, for now.

- For the love of heaven!

I recently desegregated the archdiocese.

Like it or not, that puts the church in the spotlight.

Or the crosshairs.

You're naive, or a fool.

Last I heard, Jesuits were neither.

- The events are surrounding this boy

defy easy explanation, your excellency.

We saw something.

Now, this family has nowhere to turn, your excellency.

We can't just walk away.

There is a moral imperative here.

- You just listen to me.

The spectacle of an exorcism would undermine

everything good that we've tried to accomplish,

would destroy all the progress we've made

to show that Catholics

are as American and as modern

as anyone.

If I allow this, what's next?

Indulgences?

- Wait a minute.

- Thank you for your time, your excellency.

- [Fr. Bowdern] One more minute, your excellency.

- This discussion is over.

I'm talking to you now, as one priest to another.

Politics and Nielsen ratings aside,

the soul of a child

may be in jeopardy.

- Father Bowdern, your faith and your passion

have been amply demonstrated.

Now demonstrate some patience.

Leave us alone with father McBride.

For most of my life, I watched America grow

from being suspicious of Catholics to embracing them.

I was hoping I could keep things that way.

But now ...

I've changed my mind.

I'll allow the rite of exorcism.

- Very good, excellency.

Father Bowdern and I took the liberty of drafting a list

of suitable candidates to perform the exorcism if need be.

- Oh, that's most impressive.

Why is it I see so little of your friend

at the archdiocese retreats?

- He's very busy.

He teaches with me at SLU,

and he's also the pastor at the University Chapel.

- Ah, St. Francis Xavier's.

So technically, he answers to the rector

at the university and not the archdiocese.

- [Fr. McBride] Mm-hm.

- Yes, well, I've made my decision.

- Who have you chosen?

- Father Bowdern.

(chuckling)

- He's not on the list.

- Not because he's unqualified?

- Oh, no, no, he's one of the finest priests I know.

But as I said, I went through the archdiocese roster--

- And as I said, the staff at the university

is not officially on the archdiocese roster.

(soft music)

- I believe Father Bowdern to be an excellent choice.

- (chuckling) I'm very pleased you think so right, Raymond.

I admire your counsel and your discretion.

- Thank you, your excellency.

- And for that very reason, you will assist Father Bowdern.

Now, this whole matter must be kept confidential.

For the privacy of the boy and his family.

You and the father both will carry on your regular duties

as though nothing has changed.

However, you will report to me.

- Thank you, your excellency.

(emotional choral music)

- Are you shitting me?

Once a demon possesses its victim,

it mocks the Holy Trinity by proceeding in three stages.

The first stage is infestation, then obsession,

and finally actual possession.

- So the noises in Robbie's house after his aunt died

would have been signs of infestation.

And the marks on his body now represent obsession.

- Yeah, and all that's left is actual possession,

when a demon occupies a human body

and feeds off the victim's soul.

- Bill, if this is right, then Robbie,

he's running out of time.

And he's not the only one, so are we.

- Yeah, it says here if the exorcist demonstrates

sufficient faith will and courage, the victim

may be saved during the first two stages,

but once possession has occurred

the victim's last hope is the time of changing.

- Time of changing, what's that?

- I don't know, it doesn't say.

- Changing, some sort of metamorphosis,

maybe from one stage to another.

- Or one host to another.

- Dewey decimal says that there's the detailed account

of an exorcism took place in France in the 17th century,

but I can't find it anywhere.

- Look, I'll keep on looking.

Look, you take this.

Your German is better than mine.

Well, take them all.

(speaking German)

(mysterious music)

I got it.

Detailed description of an exorcism in 17th century France.

- Thank you, Saint Anthony.

(shouting)

(throat clearing)

- Sorry.

- Silverfish.

They like old books.

I suppose you know that.

Use your war experiences.

- What?

- Well, you were in France.

You said you translated for your unit, so translate.

- See what it says.

In 1634, a group of Jesuits attempted to exorcize

several nuns who were believed to be possessed.

Father Jean-Joseph Surin

concentrated on the worst case,

the prioress of the convent sister Jean des Ange.

According to Surin,

the turning point came after he forced the demon

to reveal its hidden-in-hand time of changing,

when the demon was susceptible.

Susceptible and vulnerable.

- Uh-huh.

- At that moment the priest personally

challenged the demon to ...

To confront him.

Directly.

Well, the exorcism was successful.

Although ...

Although Father Surin went mad in the effort.

- It's a lucky thing you found that book.

- Well, let's pray it was luck.

(pounding)

(eerie music)

If we need you, we'll let you know.

In the meantime, pray for us.

And especially pray for Robbie.

Mr. Halloran, we may need you in the backcourt.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou amongst women

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

- [Together] Holy Mary, mother of God, pray for us sinners

now and at the hour of hour death, amen.

(speaking Latin)

(unsettling music)

- Oh, I get it.

You think you can drive me out with a fucking baptism!

- You handled Loyola, Jamie.

You can handle this.

Pray.

(speaking Latin)

- Don't speak that Latin shit!

Talk fucking English!

- Do you renounce Satan and all his works?

- Renounce my ass!

- Is that Robbie speaking or it?

- I don't know.

I'm talking to Robbie.

Do you renounce Satan and all his works?

(snarling)

- Robbie?

What are they doing?

Robbie?

Robbie?

- [Fr. Bowdern] Jamie, stop them.

Don't let them in.

- Father, Father, please, please, please.

(speaking Latin)

Robbie!

Do you renounce Satan and all his works?

- I ...

I, I renounce Satan

and all, and all his works.

- And you believe in God.

- I believe in God.

(speaking Latin)

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

- [Together] Blessed art thou amongst women and--

- Women!

(giggling)

Women.

You leave the toilet seat up, and they notice that.

But you put on a pair of eyeglasses,

and they don't realize you're the same guy

who was wearing long johns five minutes ago.

(shouting)

What's the matter, guys?

Can't walk on water?

(giggling)

- He's just a little kid.

How can he hold that much liquid?

(speaking Latin) It's not natural.

- Speak English, shit head!

- Tell me your name and time of departure.

Tell me your name and time of departure!

- Never.

He's mine.

How's that for a nutcracker?

- Well I guess we're just gonna have to start over again.

In Greek and then Latin.

- Fuck you.

(speaking Greek)

Abracadara.

Alakazam.

- [Toy Train] All aboard!

All aboard the Holiday Express.

All aboard!

Train leaving now for birthdays,

Christmas, Candy Land, and fun.

All aboard!

- Tell me your name and time of departure.

- I will never depart until this child

speaks my hidden name, and he will never say it.

- Oh, you will speak, demon.

Tell me your name and--

(coughing)

Tell me your name and time of changing.

(roaring)

- [Hanna] I can see you in hell, Father.

- [Halloran] That looks like Roman numerals.

Is that a one?

11.

One.

- [Radio DJ] Despite the continuing turmoil and walkouts,

Archbishop Hume warned he would excommunicate

any Catholic school administrator

who hindered the immigration plan.

But if you are cutting school, here's a song to do it.

- Mrs. Mannheim, these are great.

I could eat a horse.

- He's not kidding, you know.

We feed him a pony before every game, right Ray?

- Yeah, right.

(groaning)

- Is this just a grownup party?

'Cause I'm starving.

- How are you?

How do you feel?

- Fine.

- [Phyllis] Yeah?

- Sticky.

And hungry.

- Here, have a seat.

- Thanks.

- Here, here.

- Thanks.

- Father Bill.

I had this dream, and you were shouting at me.

- Never at you, Robbie.

Never at you.

- Those numbers on his body, I never saw anything like it.

No one's ever seen anything like it.

- Someone has.

Remember, Bill?

Father Surin in France.

Remember that book you found?

There's a hidden name, date, time of changing.

The archbishop should be pleased.

We might have two out of three.

- Well let's not start reading tea leaves, Ray.

We don't have jack.

And those marks on the kid's body,

they could have been anything.

- But Father, you saw them.

One, 11, one.

So that could be a date.

- Day, month, a time.

All right, it's October 28th.

In four days it'll be November first.

- All Saints Day.

And that's the day after Halloween.

- Yeah, the old pagan holiday,

which at midnight becomes a sacred day.

Bill, that might be your time of changing.

The old gods out, the one God in.

The first few seconds of All Saints Day.

Is that too perfect?

- All Saints Day.

Yeah.

Perfect.

(mysterious music)

(muttering)

- You're not the first?

- Call the President!

He's expecting my call.

- We'll call the President after you have your nap.

- Okay.

It's very important.

- I understand.

- Excuse me.

Do you have any idea where I can find this man?

- He's over there.

- Thanks.

No, thanks.

- Are you a good witch or a bad witch?

(shouting)

Reverend Eckhardt?

You, um ...

You sent this?

- In the beginning, there was the word.

(parrot squawking)

- Right.

Right.

My name is--

- Legion!

- What?

What did you say?

How did you find me?

(startling music)

- [Eckhardt] You've felt its power, haven't you?

- It?

- The child!

The child is just the bait,

the lure, the trap.

- I don't understand.

- Words, words, words.

Useless.

Picture paints a thousand.

So be it.

(cloth tearing)

(shouting)

The boy is just the bait!

You are the real target!

And he will suck you down into the pit!

And he will chew you to bits!

Just ...

like ...

Just like me.

Me!

(whimpering)

(speaking Latin)

(parrot shrieking)

- [Broadcaster] We now conclude our broadcast day.

(mysterious music)

- [Hanna] They discard the carcass.

We are beyond it.

Now we inhabit ...

- Flesh.

(shouting)

- [Disembodied Voice] All Saints Day.

- Father Bowdern?

Father Bowdern?

Are you all right?

- I'm fine.

You look like you could do with some sleep.

How do you feel about a day trip?

If we're right about the ...

that date and time of changing,

all of us, you, me and Robbie,

are gonna need to spend some time on sacred, holy ground.

Which way would you like to go, Robbie?

- The Paths of the Saints, of course.

- I have to move the car, Father.

I'll catch up.

- Come on, father Bill.

Let us share the lives of the holy.

(ominous music)

Who's this?

- Ah, that's Saint Joseph.

When our Lord was a little child,

Saint Joseph was his mentor, his teacher, his father.

- Like you are with me, Father Bill.

Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.

Blessed art thou among women,

and blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.

Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners.

(uneasy music)

- Now at at the hour of our deaths.

Amen.

- A week away from election day.

Your excellency, you've seen this headline?

- Father Walsh, but what can I say?

- I'm sure your organization has the very best

of intentions, as do you, senator.

- Italy is not the Vatican, or the church.

- Tell that to the voters.

My opponents are already playing the Catholic card.

This doesn't help.

(mysterious music)

- Ooh, this one is really cool!

Who is it?

- That's ...

That's Saint Michael the Archangel.

He's that protector of ...

men in ...

men in battle.

(groaning)

- Oh my goodness, Father Bowdern.

Is something wrong?

- Just dizzy.

(thundering)

I'm fine.

- I'll get Jamie.

- Robbie, no, come back!

- I shall be around next week, senator,

to show that American Catholics

stand united against communism,

no matter where it rears its ungodly head.

(dramatic music)

- Sisters!

Robbie!

- The little boy, where did he go?

- Oh God.

Oh, Robbie.

(dramatic music)

No!

(groaning)

- I told you I'd see you in hell, Father.

(groaning)

- [Jamie] Hang on, Father.

- What?

No!

No, no, no!

- As to your election, Senator, I can only quote

from the Oracle at Delphi: be a great victor.

(woman screaming)

- Step back now.

Careful.

- [Archbishop] You said it was over.

- [Fr. McBride] Almost over.

- That's a premature observation.

- That I did not make, your excellency.

- You were supposed to keep this whole matter under wraps.

Instead, it was right in the center ring.

Do yo know how many people witnessed this fiasco?

- Besides God?

- Don't be impertinent.

You told me that the boy has shown no symptoms now for days.

- That's right, until this afternoon's,

how did you call it, fiasco.

- Well that's how a demonic.

Simply got too close to the edge, slipped and panicked.

And who wouldn't?

- [McBride] That is your explanation?

- No, that's my observation.

If the boy had had a fever, he would have been

considered out of danger after a week.

I want one of the attending physicians

to give me a diagnosis.

- Do what you like.

I'm a priest, not a doctor.

- That's not an answer.

Do you consider this boy to be possessed by a demon?

- I can't say for certain, your excellency.

Half the literature tells me yes.

The other half tells me that

it's a matter for a psychiatrist.

- And father Bowdern?

- I can't speak for him.

- Of course you can.

You've known the man for years.

- He's using the Roman ritual

in the Surin case from 17th France--

- This is the 20th century America.

- Well according to those two sources,

there should only be one more exorcism session.

Perhaps two.

- One.

Father McBride.

One.

- [Robbie] Fuck you!

Fuck everyone!

- Father Bowdern, please help us.

Why is this happening to us, to Robbie?

He asks us, and we don't have any answers.

Did we do something, did we do something?

- [Bowdern] No, no you didn't, Phyllis,

no more than any of us.

- [Robbie] Fucker!

- I wish I could give you the answer, but I can't.

Why did ...

our Lord pick Judas Iscariot as one of his disciples?

Was it God's will he choose and trust

a man who would betray him?

I don't know.

But this I do know.

Evil ...

comes amongst us not simply to test

the strength and the courage of the victim,

but to test the strength and the courage of the rest of us.

Now, God is with us and with Robbie!

- [Robbie] Fuck you, mother fucker!

- Robbie's position is an act of the devil,

not of God's will.

And if God is with us, who can prevail against us?

- Fuck you, burn in hell!

Fuck everybody!

Fuck!

Fucking die!

Fuck you!

Fuck fucking die you dirty bastards!

Fuck you, fuck everyone!

Fuck fucking God!

(shouting)

I won't eat that fucking carrion.

- Whoa there, cowboy.

- Get your hands off me!

You're all dirty assholes!

(groaning)

(speaking Latin)

Bastards!

- This is the body of Christ, given for you and for all men.

Robbie!

That sins may be forgiven.

- Amen.

(mysterious music)

Father Bill?

There's your body of Christ.

You eat it.

(blowing nose)

(shouting in a foreign language)

- Thou hast told me they time of changing.

Now you will tell my thy hidden name.

- Name?

Name?

There is no single name.

In truth,

my name is legion,

for we are many.

- You have the names, Bill.

Ask it its other name.

- I am ...

the devil!

(dramatic music)

(groaning)

- Hey, Fathers, here we are again.

Let's freshen up the out.

Who do we have here in hell?

It's one of your teammates, padres.

Father Dorgamada, come on up here, take a bow.

Come on, please, don't be shy.

There's priests who have supped

with sinners, publicans, and Moors.

We condemn you, traitor, to the holy motherfucker church!

Our next guest on the really big stage

here in hell needs no introduction.

Take a bow.

(shouting in German)

(mimicking explosion) (explosion)

(mimicking gunfire) (gunfire)

- [Soldier] Padre.

Padre, I don't think I'm gonna make it.

You gotta give me last rights.

- Stay with Robbie.

- (stuttering) That's all folks.

- [Phyllis] Father?

- It's all right, it's all right, it's okay.

(vomiting)

(whimpering)

- Oh, kid.

That kid knew I was in the war.

The kid knows, it knows.

Kid knew.

That damn poker face gave it away, that's all.

That's all.

(knocking)

- Hey, um ...

I think that's my suitcase.

You borrowed it from me when you went

to the Browns away game, remember?

No, here, let me.

It sticks.

You gotta wiggle a little doohickey.

- So where are you going?

- The archbishop wants me to go to Rome with him, so.

- Rome.

- Where are you going?

- We're moving the boy out of the house.

- Really?

- Yeah, Roman ritual, page 64.

If it can be done conveniently,

the possessed person should be led to church

or to some sacred and worthy place away from the crowd.

Midnight tomorrow, remember.

Jesus.

- Probably a good idea.

Just make sure that it's ...

Private and secure with people who will understand.

- It is.

The Alexian Brothers.

- I thought you said you'd die

before you set foot in that place.

- What about the boy's soul, Ray?

- Listen, Bill, if--

- No farewells, Ray.

- Right.

- Did you ever hear this one?

St. Ignatius of Loyola had laid down the sword

and taken up the cross, and he was traveling

in the Holy Land one day when he encountered a Moor.

And pretty soon they got striking up a conversation.

And be damned if they didn't turn out

to be convivial travelling companions.

But of course, they did fall into a theological argument,

and before Saint Ignatius could gather a convincing argument

in support of Jesus Christ our Lord,

they came to a fork in the road.

And the Saracen, well, he tipped his helmet

and was off, gone one way.

Saint Ignatius, he had to go the other way

to catch the ferry, meet his buddies

and carry on the work of the Lord.

And he suddenly thinks to himself, "Well, which is the way?

"And I know if I had five more minutes with that unbeliever,

"I could bring him to Lord Jesus Christ."

Get the door, would you?

"Which way am I supposed to go?

"Which way am I supposed to go?

"Save one soul?

"Or lead a hundred?

How flummoxed, he suddenly has an idea.

And he says, "I know.

"I'll take whichever path this donkey

"I'm riding decides to choose."

I know the story, Bill.

- Yeah, but you don't know the punchline, Ray.

Ever since then, so many jackasses have made our decisions.

- [Phyllis] This?

This is where you want to put our son?

- It's not to imprison him, Phyllis.

It's to free him.

Robbie, come.

(emotional choral music)

- We are here for you, father, for all of you.

- God bless you.

I'll need your help and your prayers.

Karl, Phyllis, I think it would be better

if you stayed here with these brothers.

Robbie.

The people here are closer to God than almost anyone I know.

I trust them with my life.

We'll begin in a moment.

First I need to pray.

(uneasy music)

- Say a day to adjust to the time zone.

Arrange a breakfast with American delegates.

I've already discussed this with Cardinal Spellman.

Of course, we'll need to sit

with the European hierarchy as well.

Make sure you vet the list, especially the French.

They're overrun with socialists.

Last thing I need is to have my picture

beside some fellow traveler.

Are you getting all this?

- Oh yes, mm-hm.

(dramatic music)

(thundering)

- We'll just about make it.

Hello.

- Stop.

Think.

- That's a cheery thought.

- Time's up.

- [Archbishop] Just what you want to see

before you get on a plane.

- Are you ready, Father?

Can you face him for the final tally?

Are your earthly accounts balanced,

or are you overdrawn on heaven's books?

- Something wrong?

I thought I was the only one who was afraid of flying.

What's the matter?

- He's only 11 years old, Lord.

Just two years younger than I was

when I first heard your call as clearly a cathedral bell

and realized my life's ...

deluded myself, my life's path

was to follow in your footsteps.

And you were with me Lord, every hour of every day

of every night, through high school, through college.

Until ...

And that evil ...

that broke me then ...

is back in my life waiting to crush me.

And another child.

A child on the battlefield cried out for me too.

Dying.

He cried out for me.

And what did I do?

I cringed.

I cowered.

I hid.

God.

Don't let me fail another child.

I'm sinking, Lord, I'm sinking fast on a slough of doubt.

Where are you, God?

Is this child's soul possessed or disturbed?

Am I being taunted from hell or not?

Help me.

Give me a sign.

- [Fr. McBride] Bill?

- Ray.

What's the matter, you forget your passport?

- Something like that.

Look, Bill, I don't know what you've learned,

what you've lived.

You never talk to me about it,

you never let me open that door.

But there's one thing I think you've forgotten.

He ...

was a man too, flesh and blood,

muscle and bone, hopes and fears, Bill.

Isn't that the whole point?

Sometimes some of us try

to be something even he wasn't.

- I'm frightened, Ray.

Bill,

when they broke him,

when they tortured him,

come on, what did he say?

- God, why have you forsaken me?

- He was frightened.

But he came back.

- And you came back.

You came back, Ray.

- I just took a taxi.

(thundering)

(dramatic music)

(speaking Latin)

- Will it hurt as much as last time?

- I don't know, Robbie.

It isn't God that makes the pain.

We're here to ask him to take it from you.

- I don't know how much more I can take of this.

What if it doesn't stop?

I don't want to be crazy.

I'd rather be dead.

- You're not crazy, and you will get your life back.

As God is my witness, I'll drive it out.

(moving music)

(speaking Latin)

(snarling)

- So what, you think I'm gonna go?

Stick it up your ass you motherfuckers!

Fuck you!

- Brothers!

- You'll never get rid of me!

Never!

(vomiting)

Five against one, huh?

Five against one!

Holy rollers, more like--

- No, he's my son!

- They know what they're doing.

- Oh God of heaven, oh God of Earth,

God of the angels and God of the archangels.

(growling)

God of martyrs, God of confessors and God of virgins.

- [Patient] I told you!

He's here!

I told you, he's here!

- I abjure thee!

By the judge of the living and the dead,

by thine own creator, by the creator of the world,

be gone from this servant of the Lord!

(groaning)

All right.

- Let's let him rest.

- [Bowdern] Wake him up.

- Bill, for God's sake.

- Yes!

For God's sake.

It isn't over.

It's 10 minutes of midnight, the time of changing.

This demon wants a struggle.

He's gonna get it.

Wake up!

(growling)

(shouting)

(soft choral music)

- No, Father Bowdern, please, please, no more.

It hurts so bad, I just can't take it anymore.

- Satan's supposed to be a general.

What are you?

A chicken lieutenant or private?

Now come on!

Show yourself!

Show me you're real.

- I'm as real as cancer!

Fuck you!

- Say something Robbie hasn't heard in a schoolyard!

Is that the best you've got?

Devil in a canned ham has more cajones than that.

Come on, Robbie.

Robbie, don't let this chump beat you.

Robbie, if you can hear me, do you know its name?

It's secret identity.

Come on, it's name.

- Father Bill.

His name is ...

His name is Dominus.

My name is Dominus.

(yelling)

(dramatic music)

- Dominus.

- Then this is it.

- I hope to God we're ready.

(thundering)

Parlor tricks.

You use a boy to scare men.

- [Robbie] Oh, you wanna play, eh?

Okay, let's play.

(groaning)

- Sacrilege!

Ooh.

We're so scared.

(speaking pig Latin) (laughing)

This is it?

This is evil?

I'm tired of this game.

I've seen hell front row center, Dominus.

And compared to that, you're a lawn chair.

Now you want a piece of me?

Let's go, come on!

("Ave Maria")

- Bill.

What's wrong?

- No!

- Padre, I don't think I'm gonna make it.

- How?

I never told anyone that.

I never told anyone, not even the shrink.

Not even in confession.

Never.

Never.

- You stay in this room.

Bill, come on, you stay with us!

Don't let him win, not now.

(laughing)

Son of a bitch.

Mother fucker's for real.

Fasten your seatbelt, Beelzebub.

It's gonna be a bumpy ride!

Don't touch him!

Oh God.

(gunshot)

Who has the power to restore life after death

and rest after toil, for this is no other God beside thee,

nor ever could there be a true God apart from thee,

the creator of all things visible and invisible,

of whose kingdom they shall be called.

No.

No.

(groaning)

- Hence, we humbly appeal.

Bill!

Hence, we humbly appeal.

- Hence, we humbly appeal to the sublime majesty

that thou wouldst graciously vouchsafe

to deliver us by thy might

from every power of the accursed spirits

from their bondage,

and from their deception

and to preserve us from all harm.

(shouting in Latin)

I cast thee out.

(speaking in Latin)

Thy name is Dominus, and I command thee,

in the name of the Father,

in the name of the Son,

in the name of the Holy Ghost,

I cast thee out!

(roaring)

(bell tolling)

Now is the time of they changing.

Give me a sign of your departure.

(glass shattering)

(screaming)

(shouting in Latin)

Thy name is Dominus!

(shouting)

Thy name ...

is Robbie.

I command thee, in the name of the Father,

and of the Son,

and of the Holy Ghost,

depart from this servant of God.

Depart.

(shouting)

- It's gone, Father Bill.

I felt it go.

- So did I, Robbie.

So did I.

- I had this nightmare again.

You were angry at me.

- Never at you, Robbie.

Never at you.

(emotional choral music)

(bells tolling)

- We have informed the chancery office

that the events which took place in St. Louis

must not be publicized.

However, I fear that the news has already broken

in various parts of the city,

through individuals asking for prayer,

and some who may have taken part in the ...

episode.

The difficulty in keeping certain facts secret

is at the moment practically beyond our control.

But in so far as we ar able,

we must not make this case public

until we receive a definite statement

from the chancery office.

Of course, there will be no statement.

The room at the Alexian Hospital,

where the reputed event allegedly took place ...

will be sealed.

Forever.

(soft orchestral music)

(mysterious music)