In 1973, "The Exorcist" premiered to fans all across the nation and would go down in history as the scariest film of all time, by most people's standards. But according to director William Friedkin, the movie was never intended to be a horror film.

In a candid interview with The Hollywood Reporter just days before Halloween, the director opened up about what he had set out to make, which was not in any way supposed to be a horror film.

Although he was not surprised by the way it turned out, he had an alternative goal for the film.

"I thought it was a film about the mystery of faith ... but I didn't set out to make a horror film," Friedkin told The Hollywood Reporter. "But by now, I have accepted that it is [a horror film]."

Friedkin had previously won an Oscar for his film, "The French Connection," before he even started on "The Exorcist." He was later nominated for an Academy Award for the film, but it did not win.

But what surprised him most about "The Exorcist" is that after completion, he and backing studio Warner Bros. were expecting the film to get an "X" rating from the MPAA. But Dr. Aaron Stern personally called Friedkin and told him that he loved the film and he was going to give it an "R" rating, without any requests to cut a single scene.

Friedkin detailed how an "X" rating, although not offensive to him, would have been devastating because that would have essentially meant that the film would be banned in most theaters across the nation. He wanted his film to be seen by as many as possible.

Stern also had the same sentiments.

"'I think this movie should be widely seen ... I don't think the film should be banned,'" Friedkin quoted Stern, as what he told him.

But in regards to what he intended the movie to be about, he said he was trying to remain true to the material in a way that unravels the mystery of faith in society.

"Life is such a gift and, and yet a mystery, and I don't think we make movies about that stuff anymore and that is what 'The Exorcist' is about," Friedkin said.

Friedkin and book author William Peter Blatty were both honored on Friday when the steps from the film were immortalized with a large bronze plaque in Washington, D.C. They both spoke at the event.