Which horror film has just had its broadcast ban lifted

A. The controversial horror classic The Exorcist, banned for many years, is to be given its TV premiere on 17 March.

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Q.� Which channel will it be on

A.� Channel 4 is to show director WIlliam Friedkin's movie, which is widely regarded as the scariest movie of all time.

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Q.� Why has it been banned up until now

A.� There are some disturbing scenes such as a possessed child's head spinning in opposition from religious forces. There has also been a lot of debate about the subject matter, i.e. a child in the grip of dark forces who is exorcised, and at the time of its release in Britain in 1974, there were stories about weird things happening to the production team of the film.

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Q.� So, that's why it was banned

A.� It also fell foul of the infamous Video Recordings Act in the early 1980s and was barred as a home video, because it was viewed as a video nasty, although it had been available for three years before videos required certificates.

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Q.� How did cinema audiences react at the time

A.� The film has ground-breaking special effects�that were so successful that reports emerged of cinema-goers fainting and vomting in the aisles or running from theatres because of the disturbing scenes.

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Q.� So, it hasn't been seen since the 1970s

A.� Not quite. The Exorcist, which won two Oscars, was re-released in 1998 in more than 250 UK cinemas and attracted huge audiences. A year later, the British Board of Film Classification gave the video an 18-only certificate, which had previously been withheld because of concerns it could cause emotional problems in young women.

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Q.� What's the film about

A.� It was actually inspired by real-life events�that occurred in 1949 in Mount Rainier in Maryland and follows a young girl Regan (Linda Blair) in modern-day Washington DC who is possessed by the devil. Based on William Peter Blatty's novel, also called The Exorcist, it presents a contemporary twist to the age-old battle between good and evil.

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Q.� Is it the scariest film ever

A.� For some The Omen, which dazzled audiences in the '70s, was a hard act to follow. Other horror classics include The Wicker Man, The Blair Witch Project, Michael Man's Manhunter and the Texas Chainsaw Massacre were horror landmarks.

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By Katharine MacColl