Sax ( 2020) demonstrates the same. 2. “The Roman Catholic rite of exorcism, so effectively dramatized in Blatty’s movie, was first formally laid down in the Rituale Romanum of 1614, and the 1917 Code of Canon Law, which was in effect until 1983, mandated that every bishop officially appoint an exorcist for his diocese. The Exorcist has been available in no less than three DVD versions. The first is only mentioned here for sake of thoroughness. It was among Warner's first DVD releases and, as such, was wanting in both quality and supplements. It was interesting only for the fact that it contained both full frame and anamorphic widescreen versions of the film Reverend William O'Malley, S.J. (Father Joseph Dyer) (L-R) William Blatty, Linda Blair and Reverend William O'Malley, S.J. at the opening of the new Warner Bros. motion picture at Cinema I in New The Exorcist 's infamous " spider-walk " scene has two different versions, and there is an interesting reason behind why they exist. Based on William Peter Blatty book of the same name, The A version of this song truncated to 3:18 was released as a single in December 1973 when The Exorcist hit theaters. Stamped with the message, "Now The Original Theme From "The Exorcist", it rose to #7 US on May 11, 1974, thanks to the movie's tremendous success. Z2step.