Maniacs with chainsaws, killers in ski masks, poltergeists, vampires, zombies, murderous clowns, homicidal puppets, or a grotesque figure like Freddie Krueger torturing kids in their dreams — this entire procession of freaks and shrieks can rely on the adoration of insatiable fans. Yet horror films typically scare away awards jurors.
For a certain set, the genre is mostly looked down upon as cheap productions — formulaic, predictable, and generally too infantile for grown-ups. Movies with scares are occasionally accepted, maybe just to have a little fun, such as Stan Dragoti’s Love at First Bite, about “your favorite pain in the neck,” Dracula; Roman Polanski’s The Fearless Vampire Killers Ivan Reitman’s supernatural comedy Ghostbusters.
All the stereotypical assumptions about horror movies were smashed to pieces in 1974, however, when the Hollywood Foreign Press Association honored one of the scariest movies ever made with seven total Golden Globe nominations, four of which received gold.
The film was The Exorcist, directed by William Friedkin, and adapted by William Peter Blatty from his 1971 book of the same title.

And it was a true shocker. To see a radiant, charming 12-year-old girl (played by Linda Blair) slowly transform into an incarnation of evil and vulgarity, spouting disgusting slime and obscenities, twisting and shaking in creepy convulsions while growling and cursing with the deep guttural voice of the devil inside her — none of those excesses had ever been heard or seen on the big screen before, and they’re impossible to forget.
A film with such a subject could have easily been a laughable carnival show. But in the hands of Friedkin and Blatty, the story of young Regan MacNeil being hellishly possessed, and the desperate efforts to free her, is masterfully paced. The film lures you into slowly accepting its narrative premise.
It starts with ominous apparitions, frightening an old priest in the deserts of Iraq, and signaling to viewers that bad things are on the horizon. At first, we are distracted by the overlapping stories of people around young Regan: the movie star mother (Ellen Burstyn), a younger priest (Jason Miller) who lost his faith, and medical doctors who reach the limits of their skills. Increasingly, though, viewers are swept up and captured in the tension and drama, following the film step by step through its inevitable shocks.

On the evening of January 26, in the International Ballroom of the Beverly Hilton Hotel, The Exorcist was awarded the Golden Globe as Best Motion Picture – Drama. Friedkin was feted as Best Director, and Blatty won Best Screenplay. Young Linda Blair, meanwhile, received the Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress.
The film, and its awards, established Blair as a horror icon and scream queen. Among many other movies, she starred in 1977’s sequel, Exorcist II: The Heretic. But, as both before and after the exemption of The Exorcist, most serious award voters again were scared away.