58 Fun Facts About The Exorcist

In which year was The Exorcist released in US cinemas?

The Exorcist opened in US cinemas on December 26, 1973, the day after Christmas, in a small number of theatres before expanding as queues and word of mouth built.

Who directed The Exorcist (1973)?

The producer insisted on him after The French Connection, over the studio's choice of Mark Rydell.

Who wrote the 1971 novel The Exorcist and won an Oscar for adapting it?

He was a comic novelist and screenwriter first, and only tackled the story after seeing Rosemary's Baby in 1968.

Who played the possessed 12-year-old Regan MacNeil?

Linda Blair won the part after her mother brought her to the casting office; Denise Nickerson's parents found the script too dark, and Janet Leigh would not let Jamie Lee Curtis audition.

In which Washington, D.C. neighbourhood is The Exorcist set?

The author heard about the real 1949 case as a Georgetown student in the class of 1950, so he set the story by the campus.

What is the name of the demon that possesses Regan?

Pazuzu is a real Assyrian and Babylonian demon of the wind; Father Merrin unearths its amulet and confronts its statue on an archaeological dig in the prologue.

What does Regan use to contact the 'friendly' spirit she calls Captain Howdy?

Regan contacts Captain Howdy through 'A Ouija board' she found in a closet; the demon masquerades as an invisible playmate before the possession takes hold, and the planchette jerks away when Chris tries it.

Which instrumental piece by Mike Oldfield became famous as the theme of The Exorcist?

Tubular Bells opens Mike Oldfield's debut album; the director used its piano motif after rejecting the commissioned score, and the film's exposure helped the album reach number one in the UK.

The Exorcist was the first horror film ever nominated for which Academy Award?

Best Picture had never before listed a horror film among its nominees; The Exorcist lost the top prize but took home Oscars for Adapted Screenplay and Sound.

Which of these was a real-world consequence of the film's release?

'Audiences fainted and vomited in cinemas' during the film's first run: reports of fainting, vomiting and walkouts were widespread, and some theatres reported keeping ambulances on call for stricken patrons.

Which 2017 film finally overtook The Exorcist as the highest-grossing R-rated horror movie?

It (2017), Andy Muschietti's Stephen King adaptation, grossed over $700 million worldwide to pass The Exorcist's roughly $440 million as the top-grossing R-rated horror film, a title The Exorcist had held since the 1970s.

What is the famous image of Father Merrin arriving at the MacNeil house, used on the poster, based on?

'A René Magritte painting', Empire of Light (1954), inspired the shot of Merrin silhouetted under a streetlamp outside the fog-lit house; Bill Gold's poster turned the frame into the film's defining image.

Which film director, played by Jack MacGowran, is found dead below Regan's bedroom window?

Burke Dennings, the hard-drinking director of the film Chris MacNeil is shooting, is the possession's first victim, his head twisted backwards; Jack MacGowran, who played him, died of influenza some eleven months before the film's release.

Which 2023 legacy sequel brought Ellen Burstyn back as Chris MacNeil?

The Exorcist: Believer (2023), directed by David Gordon Green, brought Ellen Burstyn back as Chris MacNeil; Universal and Peacock had paid about $400 million for a planned trilogy, then shelved the direct sequel after the film's poor reception.

What was the working relationship between the film's producer and its author?

'They were the same person': the novelist also produced the film and won the Adapted Screenplay Oscar, though he and the director clashed over cuts, a rift healed by the 2000 extended version.

Which voice actress supplied The Exorcist's demon voice after raw eggs, whiskey and chain-smoking?

Mercedes McCambridge, an Oscar winner for All the King's Men, swallowed raw eggs, drank whiskey and chain-smoked to produce the demon's rasp; she was left off the credits until the Screen Actors Guild forced the issue.

Which actor originally signed to play The Exorcist's Father Karras had his contract bought out?

Stacy Keach had already been signed and paid when the director saw Jason Miller's play and cast the playwright instead; Miller, a Catholic-educated writer with no film acting experience, told him 'Karras is me'.

Which actress did the novelist use as the model for Chris MacNeil?

Shirley MacLaine, a friend of the novelist who had starred in his comedy John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!, was his model for the movie-star mother Chris MacNeil, though she was never cast in the film.

Warner Bros. wanted which star to play Father Merrin, only for the director to refuse?

Marlon Brando was the studio's pick for Merrin, but the director refused, fearing the film would become 'a Brando movie', and cast Max von Sydow, who had played Jesus in The Greatest Story Ever Told.

Where were the film's opening archaeological-dig scenes shot?

The prologue was shot 'In and near Mosul, Iraq', the last sequence filmed; with the US and Iraq then lacking diplomatic relations, the director negotiated directly with Iraqi officials and worked in extreme desert heat.

Why was Regan's bedroom set refrigerated during the exorcism scenes?

The set was chilled 'So the actors' breath would be visible' on camera, signalling the demon's supernatural cold; air-conditioning units froze the room so hard that the crew worked in winter clothing.

How was the sound of Regan's head rotating created?

The head-turning crack was made 'By twisting a leather wallet', a worn wallet bent close to the microphone; the demon's voice was layered with animal sounds, including squealing pigs.

Roughly how many shooting days did principal photography take, far beyond its original schedule?

Principal photography ran 'More than 200' days, more than double the original schedule, delayed by a set fire, cast injuries and the demon statue being mis-shipped to Hong Kong on its way to the desert location.

Which famous deleted scene was cut before the 1973 premiere and restored in the 2000 director's cut?

The spider-walk, performed by contortionist Linda R. Hager on wires, was dropped because the wires showed and it came too early in the story; it was restored with digital cleanup in the 2000 'Version You've Never Seen'.

Which makeup artist designed the ageing makeup that turned Max von Sydow into Father Merrin?

Dick Smith, who had aged Dustin Hoffman to 121 in Little Big Man, designed the latex ageing makeup that turned the middle-aged Max von Sydow into the elderly Merrin, with a young Rick Baker assisting.

Which Polish composer's avant-garde works, including Polymorphia, were used on the film's soundtrack?

Krzysztof Penderecki's dissonant pieces, including Polymorphia, supplied much of the film's sparse, unsettling music after the commissioned score was rejected, alongside Anton Webern and Mike Oldfield.

What did The Exorcist ultimately cost Warner after its shoot ran months over?

The final cost came to '$12 million', far above the original budget, after the shoot ran months over schedule; the film went on to gross some $441 million worldwide across its releases.

Which director made Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), widely called one of the worst films ever made?

John Boorman, who had turned down the original, directed the 1977 sequel, with Richard Burton as Father Lamont and Kitty Winn among the returning cast; it was re-edited shortly after its poor opening.

Which actor replaced the late Lee J. Cobb as Lieutenant Kinderman in The Exorcist III?

George C. Scott took over Kinderman after Lee J. Cobb's death in 1976, playing the detective investigating a string of sacrilegious murders; Brad Dourif played the killer's spirit speaking through a hospital patient.

The Gemini murders in The Exorcist III were partly modelled on which real-life case?

The Zodiac Killer, who murdered in Northern California in the late 1960s and taunted newspapers with coded letters, was the model for the Gemini Killer of the 1983 novel Legion and its film adaptation.

Who directed the 2004 theatrical Exorcist prequel, Exorcist: The Beginning?

Renny Harlin reshot the prequel almost entirely after Morgan Creek shelved Paul Schrader's version; Schrader's cut was later released as Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2005), which the novel's author much preferred.

Which composer scored Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)?

Ennio Morricone wrote the score for Exorcist II: The Heretic, including 'Regan's Theme' and the frenzied choral piece 'Magic and Ecstasy'; the music was one of the few elements of the 1977 sequel to draw praise.

What was the pseudonym given to the Maryland boy whose 1949 exorcism inspired the novel?

'Roland Doe' (also 'Robbie Mannheim') was the pseudonym used for the Cottage City, Maryland boy; the Skeptical Inquirer identified him in 2021 as Ronald Edwin Hunkeler, who had died in 2020.

Which Jesuit led the 1949 Saint Louis exorcism that inspired aspects of the novel?

William S. Bowdern, a Jesuit who taught at Saint Louis University, led the weeks-long 1949 rite at relatives' home in the Saint Louis area and at the Alexian Brothers Hospital, assisted by Walter Halloran.

The novel sold poorly until its author went on which TV programme to debate whether the devil exists?

The Dick Cavett Show gave the novel its break in 1971: the author's lengthy on-air discussion of the devil and possession sent the book up the bestseller lists, where it stayed for over a year.

Whose death leaves Father Karras wracked with guilt during the film?

His mother, left alone in a New York tenement and briefly committed to a Bellevue psychiatric ward, dies while Karras is away; the guilt torments him, and the demon later taunts him in her voice.

Which metal band's 1992 album Vulgar Display of Power takes its title from Regan's taunt to Father Karras?

Pantera took Vulgar Display of Power from the demon's line to Karras, 'That's much too vulgar a display of power', and the 1992 album, with 'Walk' and 'Mouth for War', became their breakthrough.

In which 1990 comedy did Regan's actress spoof her own role as a housewife in need of exorcism?

Repossessed (1990) cast the original Regan as possessed housewife Nancy Aglet opposite Leslie Nielsen's exorcist; Saturday Night Live had already parodied the film in 1975 with Richard Pryor as the priest.

Which actress appears as the demon's flashing white face, nicknamed Captain Howdy?

Eileen Dietz played the demon's chalk-white face, nicknamed Captain Howdy, seen in subliminal flashes during Karras's dream and the exorcism; she later claimed credit for other possessed-Regan moments, which the director disputed.

Which composer's rejected score did the director throw away in the studio parking lot?

Lalo Schifrin, composer of the Mission: Impossible theme, had his score rejected; the director reportedly threw the tapes out into the Warner parking lot and replaced them with existing classical and rock recordings.

What is the title of the film Chris MacNeil is shooting when the story opens?

Crash Course is the campus-protest film Chris MacNeil is making on location; in its early scene she delivers a speech calming a crowd of student demonstrators while Father Karras watches from the crowd.

Which evangelist told the National Enquirer that 'the devil is in every frame of that film'?

Billy Graham, the Baptist evangelist, was quoted as saying 'the devil is in every frame of that film', a remark often repeated as a claim that the actual celluloid was possessed.

Which Muslim-majority country banned the film in 1975 as 'propaganda in favor of Christianity'?

Tunisia banned the film in 1975, its authorities calling it unjustified propaganda for Christianity; Pauline Kael, from the opposite direction, called it the Church's biggest recruiting poster since Going My Way.

In which year were all UK home-video copies of The Exorcist withdrawn after the BBFC director vetoed it?

In 1988 Warner withdrew all UK video copies after BBFC director James Ferman made clear he would not certify it under the Video Recordings Act; it was finally passed uncut with an 18 certificate in 1999, after his retirement.

Which special-effects artist rigged the shaking bed and the head-spinning Regan dummy?

Marcel Vercoutere, the film's special-effects artist, built the violently shaking bed rig and the animatronic dummy whose head turned fully around; the dummy's face was cast from the young star.

What was the 1975 medical term coined for the psychiatric episodes the film triggered in some viewers?

'Cinematic neurosis' was coined by psychiatrist James Bozzuto in a 1975 Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease paper describing patients whose psychiatric symptoms began after seeing the film.

In 1976 Mississippi's high court overturned an obscenity conviction of a theatre in which town?

The Hattiesburg theatre had been convicted under obscenity law for showing the film; in 1976 the Mississippi Supreme Court reversed the conviction, finding the film was not obscene.

What was named Daimonympha friedkini in 2023 in honour of the film and its director?

'A protist in a termite's gut', a single-celled parabasalid whose head-like front end rotates like Regan's, was named Daimonympha friedkini in 2023 by researchers who found it in a termite's hindgut.

Which network's 2016-2017 Exorcist TV series revealed its character Angela Rance to be the adult Regan?

Fox aired the series for two seasons; its fifth episode revealed Geena Davis's Angela Rance to be the adult Regan MacNeil living under a new name, making the show a direct sequel to the film.

How many Academy Award nominations did The Exorcist receive in total?

'Ten' nominations, spanning acting, directing, writing and technical categories, produced two wins: Adapted Screenplay, and Best Sound for Robert Knudson and Chris Newman.

Which play led the director to approach its author, Jason Miller, to play Father Karras?

That Championship Season, Miller's Pulitzer-winning play about a reunion of a high-school basketball team, so impressed the director that he cast the playwright, who had never acted on film, as Karras.

At which ancient ruins in northern Iraq does Father Merrin's archaeological dig take place?

Hatra, a Parthian-era walled city later listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, provided the ruins for Merrin's dig; the crew filmed there in punishing summer heat, decades before Islamic State militants damaged the site.

What caused a fire that destroyed most of the house sets and delayed shooting six weeks?

'A bird flying into a circuit breaker', reportedly a pigeon, started the blaze that destroyed every set except Regan's bedroom, which some crew found eerie; the director afterwards had a priest bless the set.

Which part of her body did Ellen Burstyn injure when a harness yanked Chris backward?

Her tailbone took the impact when the stunt harness jerked her across the floor harder than planned; the take is the one in the finished film, and she has described a lasting spinal injury from it.

In which year was The Exorcist added to the US National Film Registry?

The Library of Congress added The Exorcist to the National Film Registry in 2010, deeming it 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant', in the same class as The Empire Strikes Back and Airplane!

Which director had Warner hired before the producer insisted on The French Connection's director instead?

Mark Rydell was Warner's choice, but the producer, impressed by The French Connection, held out for its director; Mike Nichols had earlier turned the film down, doubting a child actress could carry it.

Which film edged out The Exorcist as 1974's top earner in US and Canadian rentals?

The Sting, released the same Christmas week as The Exorcist, topped Variety's 1974 rentals chart at roughly $68.5 million to The Exorcist's $66.3 million, though The Exorcist went on to become Warner Bros.' biggest hit to that point.

In what year did Washington, D.C. unveil a commemorative plaque on the 'Exorcist steps'?

The plaque was unveiled on October 30, 2015, the day before Halloween, with the novel's author and the film's director both attending the ceremony at the foot of the steep Prospect Street steps.