Nat Segaloff

On December 26, 1973, The Exorcist was released. Within days it had become legend. Moviegoers braved hours-long lines in winter weather to see it. Some audience members famously fainted or vomited. Half a century later, the movie that both inspired and transcends the modern horror genre has lost none of its power to terrify and unsettle. The Exorcist Legacy reveals the complete story of this cultural phenomenon, from the real-life exorcism in 1949 Maryland that inspired William Peter Blatty''s bestselling novel on which the movie is based, to its many sequels, prequels, TV series, and homages. Nat Segaloff, biographer of the film''s director, William Friedkin, draws on original interviews with cast, crew, and participants as well as revelations from personal papers to present an intriguing and surprising new view of the making of movie, and its aftermath. Segaloff also examines as never before the keys to the movie''s enduring appeal. Friedkin and Blatty''s goal was far more ambitious than making a scary movie; they aimed to make people ''think about the concept of good and evil.'' The Exorcist succeeds, and then some, not just by creating on-screen scares, but by challenging viewers'' deepest personal belief - and fears.

From the beginning, Rambo was more than a character in a 1972 novel by David Morrell. He was the culmination of the author''s personal encounters with veterans returning from the Vietnam War. The 1982 movie adaptation of First Blood reflected the novel''s powerful insights into a troubled veteran''s post-war experience. Then in 1985, the film''s explosive sequel Rambo: First Blood Part II transformed the character into something shockingly different. With a focus on blood-and-guts action and the beefed-up muscles of Sylvester Stallone - Rambo became an invincible one-man army. A new kind of hero for a new day in America. A full-blown pop-culture icon as controversial as he was crowd-pleasing - blasting his way through the most influential action film franchise in Hollywood history... The Rambo legend was born. Five feature films. Three novels. Seven video games. Countless comic books, action figures, and even an animated TV show for kids. The Rambo machine has been as unstoppable as Rambo himself. Now for the first time, Hollywood insider Nat Segaloff digs deep into the man, the myth, and the massive impact of the phenomenon known as ''The Rambo Effect.'' Packed with behind-the-scenes anecdotes, sharp cultural insights, and ongoing debates about violence in the media, this is an explosive no-holds-barred report from the front lines of Hollywood myth-making.