William Friedkin, the director of Oscar-winning films like The French Connection, cult-classics like Sorcerer, and beloved horror classic The Exorcist, died Monday. His wife, former producer and studio executive Sherry Lansing confirmed his death.
A Permanent Iconoclast
Friedkin was a part of the same generation of New Hollywood filmmakers as Robert Altman, Francis Ford Coppola, and Arthur Penn, and like his contemporaries, brought a serious dramatic center to the many genre films he made without shortchanging the exciting and salacious elements that made them genre pictures, to begin with. His style was inspired by documentaries, bringing audiences the feeling that they had discovered something as it was happening, ratcheting up the sense of danger in his films.
The filmmaker was no stranger to controversy as both The Exorcist and Cruising became lightning rods for protests upon their release, with the former garnering reports of causing filmgoers to faint and vomit. Friedkin didn’t lose his edge with age either; his adaptation of Tracy Letts’s play Killer Joe received the rare NC-17 rating in 2011 when Friedkin was well into his 70s.
An Incredible Impact
Fans online mourned the loss of the one-of-a-kind filmmaker they called “the greatest” and “legendary.”
RIP to William Friedkin one of the very greatest New Hollywood genre filmmakers. He had a unique skill for finding hell-on-earth horror in even his crime procedurals/action thrillers and was responsible for some of the most evocative images and soundscapes of his era. pic.twitter.com/EzfvUGFGt4
— Josh Lewis (@thejoshl) August 7, 2023
Literally no one did it like William Friedkin. Such a legendary run. Some directors are lucky to make at least one masterpiece. He made 5. pic.twitter.com/XL4UBmd8Vo
— Reyna Cervantes (@Jfcdoomblade) August 7, 2023
Filmmaker Don Coscarelli, best known by horror fans as the creator of the Phantasm franchise, noted Friedkin’s impact on him as a filmmaker.
William Friedkin made some enormously influential films that certainly had an impact on me. RIP pic.twitter.com/HpJg8G1ItK
— Don Coscarelli (@DonCoscarelli) August 7, 2023
And Elijah Wood called Friedkin “a true cinematic master whose influence will continue to extend forever.”
Aww man…a true cinematic master whose influence will continue to extend forever. So long, William Friedkin pic.twitter.com/sXppoS0FVK
— Elijah Wood (@elijahwood) August 7, 2023
A Hilarious Person
While many praised Friedkin’s art and mourned the passing of a brilliant and influential director, other fans highlighted that he was a hilarious and brilliant interviewee throughout his life.
One shared a clip from his conversation with Nicolas Winding Refn, calling Friedkin “a great and witty mind.”
Amazing director but also a great and witty mind. He gave us some real gemstone interviews. I highly recommend @TheMoviesMadeMe episode with him and this magnificently sassy meeting: pic.twitter.com/bf2LgSqIrQ
— Jan Luśnia (@JanLusnia) August 7, 2023
And another urged film fans to “watch every single William Friedkin Interview you can get your hands on.”
I can't recommend enough that you watch every single William Friedkin interview you can get your hands on
This is him talking about the Exorcist sequels pic.twitter.com/sjxcqoyj9m
— Joe McAdam (@joemcadam) August 7, 2023
Whether you remember him for his Oscar-winning classics, his underappreciated gems, or his biting wit, we’ll all miss this icon of cinema.
