While the Milwaukee rite was completed in a single day, the Earling exorcism took 23 days. After the Earling exorcism, Riesinger returned to the monastery in Marathon.

Many theories abound as to the festival’s origins. It probably comes from an ancient exorcism rite during Tanabata, when small candle boats were released on a river ("toro-nagashi").

Here, two priests in a small town in Iowa in 1928 are enlisted to perform the exorcism. As Father Theophilus, a hunched Al Pacino speaks in an exaggerated accent that wavers between Crazy ...

Once Hafstrom’s pawns have moved into place, “The Rite” systematically works its way down a preordained checklist of exorcism-movie staples.