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==Trivia==
==Trivia==

* Jane Fonda and Shirley MacLaine were approached to play the role of Chris MacNeil. Audrey Hepburn was also approached and only agreed to do it if it was filmed in Rome. Anne Bancroft was another choice but she was in her first month of pregnancy and was dropped.

*Lalo Schifrin's score was rejected; see also The Amityville Horror (1979). Friedkin later said that had he heard the music of Tangerine Dream (who scored his later film Sorcerer (1977)) earlier, he would have had them score The Exorcist (From the Sorcerer (1977) soundtrack liner notes).

*The agency representing Linda Blair overlooked her, recommending at least 30 other clients for the part of Regan. Blair's mother brought her in herself to try out for the role.


*The studio initially wanted Stanley Kubrick to direct the film, but he turned it down. He later directed The Shining (1980). Following the success of The French Connection (1971) the studio finally agreed to go for Friedkin and signed him for the film.

*Cameo: [William Peter Blatty] producer of the film that Chris is acting in; he's seen talking to Burke.

*The name "Captain Howdy" is also used as a killer's chatroom alias in the film Strangeland (1998). This film was written by 'Dee Snider' , the former lead singer of Twisted Sister. On the album "Stay Hungry" there is a song called "Stay Away from Captain Howdy."

*The scene wherein Father Merrin asks Chris the child's middle name was cut for the 1973 release, but there is still the scene where Merrin exorcises Regan and uses her first, middle, and last names.

*Contortionist Linda R. Hager was hired to perform the famous "spider walk" scene, filmed on April 11, 1973, but deleted by William Friedkin before the film's December release. He felt it was "too much" of an effect because it appeared too early in the film before the possession was fully established by the end of the first hour of the movie. Almost 30 years later, Friedkin changed his mind and added the scene back for the special edition. Ms. Hager was able to perform the scene by use of a harness and flying wires hung above the staircase used in the set; she would advise Friedkin when she was just barely touching the stairs with her hands and feet, and then she maintained that light touch as she was moved down the staircase by the harness and wires.

*The language lab scene was filmed in a room in the basement of Keating Hall on Fordham University's Bronx campus. The same room was used as a Pentagon office in A Beautiful Mind (2001).

*William Friedkin had to take an all-British crew to film in Iraq because the US had no diplomatic relations with Iraq at that time. They were allowed to film on conditions that included teaching Iraqi filmmakers advanced film techniques as well as how to make fake blood.

*The film was not released on video in the UK for 14 years.

*Entertainment Weekly voted this the Scariest Movie of all time.

*The inspiration for the book (published 1971) on which the movie was based dates back to a real episode of exorcism that occurred in 1949. Writer William Blatty was at Georgetown University and had read a Washington Post (20 August 1949) account by Bill Brinkley ("Priest Frees Mt. Rainier Boy Reported Held In Devil's Grip") of an exorcism, involving a 13 year-old boy in Mount Rainer, Maryland. The exorcism of "Roland Doe" (pseudonym) took place between January and April 1949 by Father E. Albert Hughes and Father William Bowdern.

*When originally released in the UK a number of town councils imposed a complete ban on the showing of the film. This led to the bizarre spectacle of "Exorcist Bus Trips" where enterprising travel companies organised buses to take groups to the nearest town where the film was showing.

*The statue of "Pazuzu" was accidentally sent to Hong Kong, before arriving on location in Iraq.

*This is Jason Miller's first role on screen. He was discovered in a play.

*When released in 1973, the film caused such mass hysteria, with people screaming, fainting and paramedics being called to theaters, making it one of the most controversial films ever made.

*In the scene in the language lab, a white banner is visible with the following letters TASUKETE written in red. TASUKETE means "Help me" in Japanese.

*One of the most famous scenes in the movie and the shot used for the posters and the cover of the DVD/VHS releases was inspired by the 1954 painting Empire of Light ("L'Empire des lumières") by René Magritte. It is the scene where Fr. Merrin steps out of a cab and stands in front of the MacNeil residence bathed in an eerie glow.

*The Greek song playing on the radio when Father Karras leaves his mother's house is called "Paramythaki mou" and is sung by Yiannis Kalantzis. Lyrics' writer Leyteris Papadopoulos has admitted that a few years later when he was in financial difficulties he asked some compensation for the intellectual rights of the song.

*In _A Decade Under the Influence (2003)_ , William Friedkin talks about the original poster that the studio created for the film. It was a drawing of Regan's hand holding the bloody crucifix that she stabs herself with. The original tagline was "God help this girl". Friedkin rejected the poster, stating that the word "God" should not be used in a movie tagline.

*The scenes showing Father Karras in his room at Georgetown were filmed in Fordham University's freshman residence, Hughes Hall, fourth floor. Hughes was once the site of Fordham Preparatory school. Since there was no elevator at the time, the windows had to be removed in order to accommodate for the camera on a crane. Each year, Father William O'Malley talks about his experience with the movie after students watch it on the same floor where it was filmed.

*A filmgoer who saw the movie in 1974 during its original release fainted and broke his jaw on the seat in front of him. He then sued Warner Brothers and the filmmakers, claiming that the use of subliminal imagery in the film had caused him to pass out. The studio settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.

*In order to bring some levity to the shoot, William Peter Blatty suggested shooting a scene (not for the movie, but to amuse everyone at the screening of the rushes) in which Father Merrin would enter the house, take off his hat, and reveal himself to be Groucho Marx, a friend of Blatty's. The parody would even go as far as featuring an appearance from the duck from "You Bet Your Life". Groucho was keen, but Friedkin got sick that day and the idea was abandoned.

*Due to death threats against Linda Blair, Warner Bros had body guards protecting her for six months after the film's release.

*If adjusted for inflation, this would be the top grossing R-rated film of all time.

*The sound of the demon leaving Linda's body is actually the sound of pigs being herded for slaughter.

*While he was writing the novel, William Peter Blatty was collecting unemployment benefits.

*The demon mask used in the movie Onibaba (1964) inspired William Friedkin to use a similar design for the makeup in subliminal shots of a white-faced demon.

*This was the film in which makeup legend Dick Smith hired Rick Baker as his assistant.

*In the disturbing scene where The Devil/Regan is masturbating with the crucifix a stunt double was used rather than Linda Blair herself because it was felt that the scene would be too graphic for a child to perform.

*William Peter Blatty based the character of Chris MacNeil on his good friend Shirley MacLaine. Prior to the 1973 production, MacLaine attempted to have a movie made of Blatty's novel and interested Lew Grade in backing the project, but the plans fell through.

*There were three separate beds built to do three separate movements.

*Father Dyer is played by Reverend William O'Malley, an actual priest who still teaches to this day at Fordham University.

*The original teaser trailer, which consisted of nothing but images of the white-faced demon quickly flashing in and out of darkness, was banned in many theaters, as it was deemed "too frightening".

*Linda Blair injured her back when a piece of the rig broke as she was thrown about on the bed.

*Linda Blair received her Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination before it was widely known that previous Supporting Actress winner Mercedes McCambridge had actually provided the voice of the demon. By Academy rules, once Blair was given the nomination, it could not be withdrawn. But the controversy about Blair being given credit for another actress's work ruined her chances of winning the award.

*'Max von Sydow' was actually quite young (early forties) at the time of filming, and required several hours of makeup each day to appear as the frail elderly Father Merrin.

*The studio wanted Marlon Brando for the role of Father Merrin. Friedkin immediately vetoed this by stating that with Brando in the film it would become a Brando movie instead of the important film he was going to make.

*Reverend William O'Malley has told students, that the movie is approximately 80% true. He claims the big discrepancies between the movie and reality were: it was a boy who was possessed not a girl; the possession did not occur in Georgetown, it occurred outside DC in MD; and the color of the "pea-soup vomit" was not green. He claims most everything else in the movie did actually occur.

*The last scenes of the movie to be filmed were the first you see in the movie. The opening sequences in Iraq were shot after other principal filming was completed in the United States.

*In the documentary included on the 25th Anniversary Edition, the actors reveal that in many shots it was not necessary to "act", as what was captured on film were genuine reactions. For example, Ellen Burstyn mentions that her scream and facial reaction after being slapped by Regan, were due to being pulled too hard by a harness. Linda Blair's screaming was a true reaction to being bounced around on her bed. Reverend William O'Malley recalls that William Friedkin slapped him prior to shooting and this caused his hand to tremble while blessing Father Karras.

*Vasiliki Maliaros had never acted in a movie before. She was discovered by William Friedkin in a Greek restaurant. Her only acting experience was in Greek stage dramas. Friedkin selected her because she bore an uncanny resemblance to his own mother and William Peter Blatty felt she resembled his mother too.

*Geraldine Page passed on the role of the mother that went to Ellen Burstyn.

*The green pea soup used for the vomit scene was Anderson's specifically. The crew tried Campbell's but didn't like the "effect". Linda Blair hated vegetable so much at that time, that the use of the soup actually did make her throw up.

*The original shooting schedule was 85 days, but filming lasted for 224 days.

*Father Merrin's arrival was filmed on Max von Sydow's first day of work.

*Among the subliminal photos inserted throughout the film ("the version you've never seen") are: when Reagan visits Dr. Klein's office for the first time she sees the face of the demon for a second while she's getting her EEG recorded; when Father Karras has his dream there is a very quick flash of picture of a demon/devil, then the screen goes white, then the picture is briefly flashed again; when Chris Macneil comes home and finds the kitchen lights flickering, the same demon/devil picture, though much smaller, is superimposed on the overhead exhaust fan above the stove; seconds later, just before Chris Macneil enters her daughter's room, what appears to be a very large, rudimentary representation of the demon in paint (it's very "puffy"-looking and almost amorphous, except for the very noticeable eyes and teeth) appears on the door as it is opened; then, when Chris leaves the room, an image of a gargoyle slowly becomes visible just to the left of the doorway, remains briefly, then fades away again; during the final exorcism scene there is another superimposition of the demon's face on Reagan's for a brief instant.

*Ellen Burstyn received a permanent spinal injury during filming. In the sequence where she is thrown away from her possessed daughter, a harness jerked her hard away from the bed. She fell on her coccyx and screamed in pain, which was filmed for the movie.

*There were originally many very brief "blink and you'll miss them" cutaway shots in this film, intended to create unease in the viewer. For instance: when the priest is dreaming of his mother coming up out of the subway, there is a brief cutaway of a face (Eileen Dietz), painted black and white, grimacing. There are two other places where this image is displayed: when Regan, lying on the bed, turns to look at Father Merrin and Father Karras, and just after the head-turning scene. The same image is later superimposed over scenes later in the film: the first can be seen on the hood of the stove when Chris MacNeil has just returned home from speaking with the doctors and the lights go out in the kitchen; the next image can be seen in the scene directly following the former, on the inside door of Regan's bedroom when Chris MacNeil goes to check on her after realizing that Sharon wasn't present in the house; The first image is the same as the others: the "painted face"; the second image on the door, however, seems to be a caricature of the head of the "demon" figure that Father Merrin finds in the prologue. All of these shots were removed before theatrical release but have been restored for "The Version You've Never Seen".

*In the "Version You've Never Seen" a digital coat was added to Chris MacNeil in the scene where Karras and Merrin go to confront the demon for the first time. This was an obvious goof in the original release which showed Chris with and without the coat in different scenes happening around the same time

*Other directors that Warner had approached to direct the film included Arthur Penn (who was teaching at Yale), Peter Bogdanovich (who wanted to pursue other projects, subsequently regretting the decision)and Mike Nichols (who didn't want to shoot a film so dependent on a child's performance).

*The archaeological dig site seen at the beginning of the movie is the actual site of ancient Nineveh in Hatra, Iraq.

*The first scene to be shot was of a distressed Karras pacing the corridors of Bellevue psychiatric hospital, agitatedly discussing with his uncle his mother's incarceration.


*Director William Friedkin went to some extraordinary lengths to abuse the cast. He fired off guns behind the actors to get the required startled effect. He was said to have slapped one actor across the face before rolling the camera. He even went as far as to put Linda Blair and Ellen Burstyn in harnesses and have crew members yank them violently.

*The bedroom set had to be refrigerated to capture the authentic icy breath of the actors in the exorcizing scenes. Linda Blair, who was only in a flimsy nightgown, says to this day she cannot stand being cold.


*The refrigerated bedroom set was cooled with four air conditioners and temperatures would plunge to around 30 to 40 below zero. It was so cold that perspiration would freeze on some of the cast and crew. On one occasion the air was saturated with moisture resulting in a thin layer of snow falling on the set before the crew arrived for filming.

*The substance that the possessed Regan (Linda Blair) hurls at Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller) is actually thick pea soup

*Stacy Keach had been hired by William Peter Blatty to play the role of Father Karras until William Friedkin spotted Jason Miller in a Broadway play. Despite Miller never having acted in a movie before, Keach's contract was bought out by Warner Bros and Miller was cast in the role.


*According to William Peter Blatty, director Friedkin also considered Gene Hackman for the role of Father Karras

*Director Friedkin eventually asked technical advisor Rev. Thomas Bermingham to exorcise the set. He refused, saying an exorcism might increase anxiety. Rev. Bermingham wound up visiting the set and gave a blessing and talk to reassure the cast and crew.

*The "Exorcist steps", 75 (or 74 - one is very small) stone steps at the end of M-Street in Georgetown, were padded with 1/2"-thick rubber to film the death of Father Damien Karras. The stuntman tumbled down the stairs twice. Georgetown University students charged people around $5 each to watch the stunt from the rooftops

*Gonzalo Gavira was called on to create many of the special sound effects after William Friedkin recalled his work from the movie, Topo, El (1970). One of the more memorable sounds, the 360-degree turning of Regan's head, was actually made by twisting a sound crew member's old leather wallet in front of a mike.

*There are tales about ominous events surrounding the year-long shoot, including the deaths of nine people associated with the production and stories about a mysterious fire that destroyed the set one weekend. Actors Jack MacGowran & Vasiliki Maliaros died before the film was released.

*The network TV version was edited by William Friedkin who shot a replacement insert of the Virgin Mary Statue showing her face painted like a harlot (instead of the more obscene version in the theatrical film). The looping of the Demon voice to remove the profanity was also done by Friedkin himself because of his unwillingness to work with Mercedes McCambridge again. Lines like "Your mother sucks cocks in hell, Karras" and "Shove it up your ass you faggot" were re-dubbed by Friedkin to be "Your mother still rots in hell" and "Shut your face you faggot." By and large, this network TV version is not used for TV and cable showings today.

*The Prospect Avenue apartment where the story takes place was once inhabited by the author, William Peter Blatty, while he was a student at Georgetown University. The house was owned by Ms. Florence Mahoney and is at the corner of 36th and Prospect. During shooting of the exterior scenes the crew had to build special sets to allow sunlight in to avoid her garden plants from dying.

*Christian evangelist Billy Graham claimed an actual demon was living in the celluloid reels of this movie.

*Author William Peter Blatty once won $10,000 on the Groucho Marx show "You Bet Your Life" (1950). When Groucho asked what he planned to do with the money, he said he planned to take some time off to "work on a novel." This was the result.

*The "spider-walk" sequence, which was cut from the original version, was reworked for Ruby (1977) and other low-budget films.

*In the uncut version, we find out that Regan's middle name is Teresa.

*The nurse who comes into Dr. Taney's office after the arteriogram is actress Linda Blair's mother

*Mercedes McCambridge had to sue Warner Brothers for credit as the voice of the demon.

*John Boorman had been offered the chance to direct "The Exorcist" but declined because he felt the storyline was "cruel towards children". He did, however, accept the offer to direct Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977).

*Ellen Burstyn agreed to doing the movie only if her character didn't have to say the scripted line: "I believe in the devil!" The producers agreed to eliminate the utterance.

*McCambridge's voice was reportedly not processed to make it sound more demonic. She had worked extensively in [[radio drama]] and had a flexible vocal range. In interviews, she described eating raw eggs, a pulpy apple, and experimenting with hot pepper sauce to get a properly rough, gurgling sound.
*McCambridge's voice was reportedly not processed to make it sound more demonic. She had worked extensively in [[radio drama]] and had a flexible vocal range. In interviews, she described eating raw eggs, a pulpy apple, and experimenting with hot pepper sauce to get a properly rough, gurgling sound.


Revision as of 16:58, 5 May 2006

The Exorcist
File:Exorcist2000poster.jpg
Directed byWilliam Friedkin
Written byWilliam Peter Blatty
Produced byWilliam Peter Blatty
StarringEllen Burstyn
Max von Sydow
Jason Miller
Lee J. Cobb
Kitty Winn
Linda Blair
Distributed byWarner Bros.
Release dates
December 26, 1973 (USA)
Running time
122 Min Theatrical Cut
132 Min Director's Cut
LanguageEnglish / Arabic
Budget$12,000,000 (estimated)

The Exorcist is a novel written by William Peter Blatty first published in 1971. It was made into a successful and Academy Award-winning horror film in 1973, with the screenplay being written by Blatty as well.

The film version was directed by William Friedkin and starred Max von Sydow as Father Lankester Merrin, Ellen Burstyn as Chris MacNeil, Jason Miller as Father Damien Karras, Jack MacGowran as Burke Dennings, Lee J. Cobb as Lieutenant William Kinderman and Linda Blair as Regan MacNeil. Regan's voice when possessed was dubbed by Mercedes McCambridge. The theme music is a part of Tubular Bells by Mike Oldfield.

Blatty based his novel on a supposedly genuine exorcism from 1949, which was partially performed in both Cottage City, Maryland [1] and Bel-Nor, Missouri. [2] Several area newspapers reported on a speech a minister gave to an amateur parapsychology society, in which he claimed to have exorcised a demon from a thirteen-year-old boy named Robbie, and that the ordeal lasted a little more than six weeks.

Plot

Template:Spoiler

In the film, Father Merrin, an elderly priest, is in the Middle East studying ancient relics which are evidence of demon worship. His discovery of a bizarre statue seems to release an evil force. Meanwhile, a young girl named Regan, living in Georgetown, Washington, D.C., with her mother (a famous actress), becomes inexplicably ill. She undergoes a series of physical and psychological changes.

After unsuccessful medical tests and treatment, Regan's mother turns to religion. The girl is examined by a priest, Father Damien Karras, who is convinced of the diabolical nature of the case. He turns to the local bishop, who appoints Father Merrin to perform an exorcism with Karras assisting. The lengthy exorcism tests the priests, both physically and spiritually. It is interesting to note that the demon possessing Regan went by the name of Pazuzu who Father Merrin had battled on his own years before. One of the more famous lines from the exorcism itself is the two priests chanting: "The power of Christ compels you!"

The film originally contained several key sequences from the novel, which were cut prior to release by director Friedkin, despite Blatty's protests. These scenes were later restored and — along with a number of new digital effects — inserted into the re-release subtitled "the version you've never seen" in 2000.

Responses

The film was a huge international hit in 1973, becoming the highest-grossing film of the year. To date, it has a total gross of $402,500,000 worldwide (not adjusted for inflation). It was nominated for ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and also won four Golden Globes, including the award for Best Picture - Drama (for the year 1974). McCambridge's role was originally uncredited; after Blair was nominated for her role, McCambridge initiated a lawsuit seeking redress.

The Exorcist is regarded by some critics as being one of the best and most effective horror films; admirers say the film balances a stellar script, gruesome effects, and outstanding performances. However, the movie has developed some detractors as well, including Kim Newman, Pauline Kael, and Vincent Canby, who have criticised it for what they see as messy plot construction, conventionality, and overblown pretentiousness, among other perceived defects. Writer James Baldwin provides an extended negative critique in his book length essay The Devil Finds Work .

The Exorcist contained a number of special effects, engineered by makeup legend and pioneer Dick Smith. Roger Ebert believed the effects to be so unusually graphic he wrote, "That it received an R rating and not the X is stupefying."[3]

The Exorcist was also accused of, among many other things, manipulation of its audience through the use of subliminal imagery. While a detailed article in the July/August 1991 issue of Video Watchdog provides stills that seem to verify this claim, some fans of the film have noted that the imagery in question should be easily apparent to all viewers and therefore cannot be truly considered subliminal.

The film has been seen by some commentators as evoking contemporary issues of female identity, particularly in how female sexuality is threatening to men.

In the United Kingdom, the movie was included in the 'Video nasty' phenomenon of the early 1980s. Although it had been released uncut for home video in 1981, when resubmitted for classification to the British Board of Film Classification after the implementation of the Video Recording Act 1984 it was refused a release and no video copies were to be sold in the UK. However, following a successful re-release in cinemas in 1998, the film was resubmitted and was passed uncut with an 18 certificate rating in 1999, signifying a relaxation of the censorship rules with relation to home video in the UK. The movie was shown on UK television for the first time in 2001, on Channel 4.

Academy Awards

The Exorcist was nominated for a total of 10 Academy Awards in 1973. At the 46th Annual Academy Awards ceremony, it won two statuettes.

Wins:

Nominations:

Sequels

John Boorman's poorly-received Exorcist II: The Heretic was released in 1977. Subsequent sequels ignore it.

Blatty directed The Ninth Configuration, a post-Vietnam War drama set in a mental institution. Released in 1980, it was based on Blatty's novel of the same name. Though it contrasts sharply with the tone of The Exorcist, Blatty regards Configuration as its true sequel. A minor character in The Exorcist, an astronaut named Lt. Cutshaw (he actually wasn't given a name in the first film, though Blatty has stated that they are the same person) is the lead character.

The more successful The Exorcist III appeared in 1990, written and directed by Blatty himself from his own 1983 novel Legion, the true sequel to the original novel. Exorcist III ignored the events of Exorcist II and presented a satisfying conclusion to the story after 15 years. Following the precedents set in The Ninth Configuration, Blatty turned a minor character from the first film into the chief protagonist — this time, it is the bumbling Detective Kinderman.

A parody entitled Repossessed was released the same year, with Blair lampooning the role she played in the original.

A made-for-television film entitled Possessed was broadcast on Showtime on October 22, 2000. It claimed to follow the true accounts that inspired Blatty to write The Exorcist. It was directed by Steven E. de Souza and written by de Souza and Michael Lazarou, from the book of the same name by Thomas B. Allen. Main characters were played by Timothy Dalton, Henry Czerny and Christopher Plummer.

A prequel, Exorcist: The Beginning (2004) attracted attention and controversy even before its release. John Frankenheimer was originally scheduled to direct the script by William Wisher and Caleb Carr. However, Frankenheimer died during the film's early casting.

Paul Schrader was hired to replace Frankenheimer. He filmed a version called The Exorcist: Dominion (later retitled Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist), starring Stellan Skarsgård as a younger Father Merrin. Morgan Creek Productions disliked Schrader's rough final edit of the film. Roger Ebert writes that the company thought Schrader's version was "too complex and intelligent, although those of course were not the words they used, and not scary enough." Ebert adds, "it seems scary to me ... (it) is not a conventional horror film, but does something risky and daring: It takes evil seriously."[4]

Schrader was replaced by Renny Harlin. Harlin re-cast some of the parts, keeping Skarsgård, Julian Wadham, Andrew French, Ralph Brown, and Antonie Kamerling, and replacing Gabriel Mann with James D'Arcy (Mann had a scheduling conflict and was unavailable) and Clara Bellar with Izabella Scorupco. Alexi Hawley rewrote the script to make it more conventionally scary. The New York Times quotes Skarsgård as saying that Hawley's contribution "wasn't really a script ... but just a bunch of ideas about how to make the film scarier, basically by throwing in unmotivated scares in every second scene. I didn't like it and I didn't want to do it. But then Renny Harlin came on, who I've worked with before ... who is a friend."[5]

Harlin's version was not widely screened for critics (and was generally panned by those critics who did see it). Blatty was quoted in the New York Times, saying his screening of Harlin's version "was surely the most humiliating professional experience of my life, particularly the finale. I don't blame Renny Harlin, for he gave Morgan Creek, I promise you, precisely what Morgan Creek demanded: not shocking obscenity, but shocking vulgarity."

Harlin's version did disappointing business, grossing about $40 million (the budget was about $30 million for Schrader's unreleased version, and another $50 million for Harlin's).

Schrader's version was ultimately given a limited release, opening the same weekend as Star Wars: Episode Three. The film was renamed Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist and was released as a separate DVD on October 25, 2005. While general reaction to the film has been negative, most reviewers have considered it superior to the Renny Harlin version.

DVD & Soundtrack Releases

DVD

The Exorcist has been released three times on DVD:

  • Originally as a bare bones DVD.
  • Then, as a 25th Anniversary Special Edition, featuring commentaries from Freidkin and Blatty, storyboards and the 75 minute BBC documentary The Fear of God - The Making of the Exorcist. (This version has also been released in a Collector's Set, featuring the CD, a book on the making of the film, and reprints of the original lobby-cards.)
  • Strangely, the current release has been reverted to another practically bare-bones edition, featuring only the newer Version You Haven't Seen, with another commentary from Freidkin (generally considered to be far inferior to his earlier commentary, since he has nothing new to add and merely describes what is happening onscreen), Dolby Digital 5.1 EX sound and some trailers.

Thus, there is currently no 'definitive' release of the Exorcist. The 25th Anniversary Edition contains a fine selection of extras, but only has the older cut of the film. The 'Version You've Never Seen' release has far superior picture and sound, but only contains the newer cut and practically no extras.

CD

Original Release

The original LP has only been released once on CD, as an expensive and hard to find Japanese import. It is noteworthy for being the only soundtrack to include the Tubular Bells theme, and the composition Night Of The Electric Insects.

Track listing

  • 1. Iraq (Jack Nitzche/Krzysztof Penderecki) (01:57)
  • 2. Georgetown/Tubular Bells (Mike Oldfield) (05:27)
  • 3. Five Pieces For Orchestra, Op. 10: Sehr langsam und ausserst ruhig (Anton Webern) (01:16)
  • 4. Polymorphia (Krzysztof Penderecki) (11:48)
  • 5. String Quartet (Krzysztof Penderecki) (07:11)
  • 6. Windharp (Harry Bee) (02:41)
  • 7. Night of the Electric Insects (George Crumb) (01:38)
  • 8. Kanon for Orchestra and Tape (Krzysztof Penderecki) (09:48)
  • 9. Tubular Bells (Mike Oldfield) (00:27)
  • 10. Fantasia for Strings (Hans Werner Henze) (02:11)

Rerelease

The Warners re-release (included in the 25th Anniversary collector's set) omits the main theme (Tubular Bells) and the Night Of The Electric Insects, for rights reasons. But includes 15 minutes of music which Lalo Schifrin originally composed for the film.

Track listing

  • 1. Iraq (Jack Nitzsche/Krzysztof Penderecki) (01:56)
  • 2. Five Pieces For Orchestra (Anton Webern) (01:11)
  • 3. Polymorphia (Krzysztof Penderecki) (11:49)
  • 4. String Quartet No. 1 (Krzysztof Penderecki) (07:14)
  • 5. Beginnings from "The Wind Harp" (Harry Bee) (02:41)
  • 6. Kanon for Orchestra and Tape (Krzysztof Penderecki) (09:52)
  • 7. Fantasia for Strings (Hans Werner Henze) (02:21)
  • 8. Music from the Unused Trailer (Lalo Schifrin) (01:10)
  • 9. Suite from the Unused Score to THE EXORCIST (Lalo Schifrin) (11:11)
  • 10. Rock Ballad - Unused Theme from THE EXORCIST (Lalo Schifrin) (01:52)

Trivia

  • Jane Fonda and Shirley MacLaine were approached to play the role of Chris MacNeil. Audrey Hepburn was also approached and only agreed to do it if it was filmed in Rome. Anne Bancroft was another choice but she was in her first month of pregnancy and was dropped.
  • Lalo Schifrin's score was rejected; see also The Amityville Horror (1979). Friedkin later said that had he heard the music of Tangerine Dream (who scored his later film Sorcerer (1977)) earlier, he would have had them score The Exorcist (From the Sorcerer (1977) soundtrack liner notes).
  • The agency representing Linda Blair overlooked her, recommending at least 30 other clients for the part of Regan. Blair's mother brought her in herself to try out for the role.


  • The studio initially wanted Stanley Kubrick to direct the film, but he turned it down. He later directed The Shining (1980). Following the success of The French Connection (1971) the studio finally agreed to go for Friedkin and signed him for the film.
  • Cameo: [William Peter Blatty] producer of the film that Chris is acting in; he's seen talking to Burke.
  • The name "Captain Howdy" is also used as a killer's chatroom alias in the film Strangeland (1998). This film was written by 'Dee Snider' , the former lead singer of Twisted Sister. On the album "Stay Hungry" there is a song called "Stay Away from Captain Howdy."
  • The scene wherein Father Merrin asks Chris the child's middle name was cut for the 1973 release, but there is still the scene where Merrin exorcises Regan and uses her first, middle, and last names.
  • Contortionist Linda R. Hager was hired to perform the famous "spider walk" scene, filmed on April 11, 1973, but deleted by William Friedkin before the film's December release. He felt it was "too much" of an effect because it appeared too early in the film before the possession was fully established by the end of the first hour of the movie. Almost 30 years later, Friedkin changed his mind and added the scene back for the special edition. Ms. Hager was able to perform the scene by use of a harness and flying wires hung above the staircase used in the set; she would advise Friedkin when she was just barely touching the stairs with her hands and feet, and then she maintained that light touch as she was moved down the staircase by the harness and wires.
  • The language lab scene was filmed in a room in the basement of Keating Hall on Fordham University's Bronx campus. The same room was used as a Pentagon office in A Beautiful Mind (2001).
  • William Friedkin had to take an all-British crew to film in Iraq because the US had no diplomatic relations with Iraq at that time. They were allowed to film on conditions that included teaching Iraqi filmmakers advanced film techniques as well as how to make fake blood.
  • The film was not released on video in the UK for 14 years.
  • Entertainment Weekly voted this the Scariest Movie of all time.
  • The inspiration for the book (published 1971) on which the movie was based dates back to a real episode of exorcism that occurred in 1949. Writer William Blatty was at Georgetown University and had read a Washington Post (20 August 1949) account by Bill Brinkley ("Priest Frees Mt. Rainier Boy Reported Held In Devil's Grip") of an exorcism, involving a 13 year-old boy in Mount Rainer, Maryland. The exorcism of "Roland Doe" (pseudonym) took place between January and April 1949 by Father E. Albert Hughes and Father William Bowdern.
  • When originally released in the UK a number of town councils imposed a complete ban on the showing of the film. This led to the bizarre spectacle of "Exorcist Bus Trips" where enterprising travel companies organised buses to take groups to the nearest town where the film was showing.
  • The statue of "Pazuzu" was accidentally sent to Hong Kong, before arriving on location in Iraq.
  • This is Jason Miller's first role on screen. He was discovered in a play.
  • When released in 1973, the film caused such mass hysteria, with people screaming, fainting and paramedics being called to theaters, making it one of the most controversial films ever made.
  • In the scene in the language lab, a white banner is visible with the following letters TASUKETE written in red. TASUKETE means "Help me" in Japanese.
  • One of the most famous scenes in the movie and the shot used for the posters and the cover of the DVD/VHS releases was inspired by the 1954 painting Empire of Light ("L'Empire des lumières") by René Magritte. It is the scene where Fr. Merrin steps out of a cab and stands in front of the MacNeil residence bathed in an eerie glow.
  • The Greek song playing on the radio when Father Karras leaves his mother's house is called "Paramythaki mou" and is sung by Yiannis Kalantzis. Lyrics' writer Leyteris Papadopoulos has admitted that a few years later when he was in financial difficulties he asked some compensation for the intellectual rights of the song.
  • In _A Decade Under the Influence (2003)_ , William Friedkin talks about the original poster that the studio created for the film. It was a drawing of Regan's hand holding the bloody crucifix that she stabs herself with. The original tagline was "God help this girl". Friedkin rejected the poster, stating that the word "God" should not be used in a movie tagline.
  • The scenes showing Father Karras in his room at Georgetown were filmed in Fordham University's freshman residence, Hughes Hall, fourth floor. Hughes was once the site of Fordham Preparatory school. Since there was no elevator at the time, the windows had to be removed in order to accommodate for the camera on a crane. Each year, Father William O'Malley talks about his experience with the movie after students watch it on the same floor where it was filmed.
  • A filmgoer who saw the movie in 1974 during its original release fainted and broke his jaw on the seat in front of him. He then sued Warner Brothers and the filmmakers, claiming that the use of subliminal imagery in the film had caused him to pass out. The studio settled out of court for an undisclosed sum.
  • In order to bring some levity to the shoot, William Peter Blatty suggested shooting a scene (not for the movie, but to amuse everyone at the screening of the rushes) in which Father Merrin would enter the house, take off his hat, and reveal himself to be Groucho Marx, a friend of Blatty's. The parody would even go as far as featuring an appearance from the duck from "You Bet Your Life". Groucho was keen, but Friedkin got sick that day and the idea was abandoned.
  • Due to death threats against Linda Blair, Warner Bros had body guards protecting her for six months after the film's release.
  • If adjusted for inflation, this would be the top grossing R-rated film of all time.
  • The sound of the demon leaving Linda's body is actually the sound of pigs being herded for slaughter.
  • While he was writing the novel, William Peter Blatty was collecting unemployment benefits.
  • The demon mask used in the movie Onibaba (1964) inspired William Friedkin to use a similar design for the makeup in subliminal shots of a white-faced demon.
  • This was the film in which makeup legend Dick Smith hired Rick Baker as his assistant.
  • In the disturbing scene where The Devil/Regan is masturbating with the crucifix a stunt double was used rather than Linda Blair herself because it was felt that the scene would be too graphic for a child to perform.
  • William Peter Blatty based the character of Chris MacNeil on his good friend Shirley MacLaine. Prior to the 1973 production, MacLaine attempted to have a movie made of Blatty's novel and interested Lew Grade in backing the project, but the plans fell through.
  • There were three separate beds built to do three separate movements.
  • Father Dyer is played by Reverend William O'Malley, an actual priest who still teaches to this day at Fordham University.
  • The original teaser trailer, which consisted of nothing but images of the white-faced demon quickly flashing in and out of darkness, was banned in many theaters, as it was deemed "too frightening".
  • Linda Blair injured her back when a piece of the rig broke as she was thrown about on the bed.
  • Linda Blair received her Best Supporting Actress Oscar nomination before it was widely known that previous Supporting Actress winner Mercedes McCambridge had actually provided the voice of the demon. By Academy rules, once Blair was given the nomination, it could not be withdrawn. But the controversy about Blair being given credit for another actress's work ruined her chances of winning the award.
  • 'Max von Sydow' was actually quite young (early forties) at the time of filming, and required several hours of makeup each day to appear as the frail elderly Father Merrin.
  • The studio wanted Marlon Brando for the role of Father Merrin. Friedkin immediately vetoed this by stating that with Brando in the film it would become a Brando movie instead of the important film he was going to make.
  • Reverend William O'Malley has told students, that the movie is approximately 80% true. He claims the big discrepancies between the movie and reality were: it was a boy who was possessed not a girl; the possession did not occur in Georgetown, it occurred outside DC in MD; and the color of the "pea-soup vomit" was not green. He claims most everything else in the movie did actually occur.
  • The last scenes of the movie to be filmed were the first you see in the movie. The opening sequences in Iraq were shot after other principal filming was completed in the United States.
  • In the documentary included on the 25th Anniversary Edition, the actors reveal that in many shots it was not necessary to "act", as what was captured on film were genuine reactions. For example, Ellen Burstyn mentions that her scream and facial reaction after being slapped by Regan, were due to being pulled too hard by a harness. Linda Blair's screaming was a true reaction to being bounced around on her bed. Reverend William O'Malley recalls that William Friedkin slapped him prior to shooting and this caused his hand to tremble while blessing Father Karras.
  • Vasiliki Maliaros had never acted in a movie before. She was discovered by William Friedkin in a Greek restaurant. Her only acting experience was in Greek stage dramas. Friedkin selected her because she bore an uncanny resemblance to his own mother and William Peter Blatty felt she resembled his mother too.
  • Geraldine Page passed on the role of the mother that went to Ellen Burstyn.
  • The green pea soup used for the vomit scene was Anderson's specifically. The crew tried Campbell's but didn't like the "effect". Linda Blair hated vegetable so much at that time, that the use of the soup actually did make her throw up.
  • The original shooting schedule was 85 days, but filming lasted for 224 days.
  • Father Merrin's arrival was filmed on Max von Sydow's first day of work.
  • Among the subliminal photos inserted throughout the film ("the version you've never seen") are: when Reagan visits Dr. Klein's office for the first time she sees the face of the demon for a second while she's getting her EEG recorded; when Father Karras has his dream there is a very quick flash of picture of a demon/devil, then the screen goes white, then the picture is briefly flashed again; when Chris Macneil comes home and finds the kitchen lights flickering, the same demon/devil picture, though much smaller, is superimposed on the overhead exhaust fan above the stove; seconds later, just before Chris Macneil enters her daughter's room, what appears to be a very large, rudimentary representation of the demon in paint (it's very "puffy"-looking and almost amorphous, except for the very noticeable eyes and teeth) appears on the door as it is opened; then, when Chris leaves the room, an image of a gargoyle slowly becomes visible just to the left of the doorway, remains briefly, then fades away again; during the final exorcism scene there is another superimposition of the demon's face on Reagan's for a brief instant.
  • Ellen Burstyn received a permanent spinal injury during filming. In the sequence where she is thrown away from her possessed daughter, a harness jerked her hard away from the bed. She fell on her coccyx and screamed in pain, which was filmed for the movie.
  • There were originally many very brief "blink and you'll miss them" cutaway shots in this film, intended to create unease in the viewer. For instance: when the priest is dreaming of his mother coming up out of the subway, there is a brief cutaway of a face (Eileen Dietz), painted black and white, grimacing. There are two other places where this image is displayed: when Regan, lying on the bed, turns to look at Father Merrin and Father Karras, and just after the head-turning scene. The same image is later superimposed over scenes later in the film: the first can be seen on the hood of the stove when Chris MacNeil has just returned home from speaking with the doctors and the lights go out in the kitchen; the next image can be seen in the scene directly following the former, on the inside door of Regan's bedroom when Chris MacNeil goes to check on her after realizing that Sharon wasn't present in the house; The first image is the same as the others: the "painted face"; the second image on the door, however, seems to be a caricature of the head of the "demon" figure that Father Merrin finds in the prologue. All of these shots were removed before theatrical release but have been restored for "The Version You've Never Seen".
  • In the "Version You've Never Seen" a digital coat was added to Chris MacNeil in the scene where Karras and Merrin go to confront the demon for the first time. This was an obvious goof in the original release which showed Chris with and without the coat in different scenes happening around the same time
  • Other directors that Warner had approached to direct the film included Arthur Penn (who was teaching at Yale), Peter Bogdanovich (who wanted to pursue other projects, subsequently regretting the decision)and Mike Nichols (who didn't want to shoot a film so dependent on a child's performance).
  • The archaeological dig site seen at the beginning of the movie is the actual site of ancient Nineveh in Hatra, Iraq.
  • The first scene to be shot was of a distressed Karras pacing the corridors of Bellevue psychiatric hospital, agitatedly discussing with his uncle his mother's incarceration.


  • Director William Friedkin went to some extraordinary lengths to abuse the cast. He fired off guns behind the actors to get the required startled effect. He was said to have slapped one actor across the face before rolling the camera. He even went as far as to put Linda Blair and Ellen Burstyn in harnesses and have crew members yank them violently.
  • The bedroom set had to be refrigerated to capture the authentic icy breath of the actors in the exorcizing scenes. Linda Blair, who was only in a flimsy nightgown, says to this day she cannot stand being cold.


  • The refrigerated bedroom set was cooled with four air conditioners and temperatures would plunge to around 30 to 40 below zero. It was so cold that perspiration would freeze on some of the cast and crew. On one occasion the air was saturated with moisture resulting in a thin layer of snow falling on the set before the crew arrived for filming.
  • The substance that the possessed Regan (Linda Blair) hurls at Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller) is actually thick pea soup
  • Stacy Keach had been hired by William Peter Blatty to play the role of Father Karras until William Friedkin spotted Jason Miller in a Broadway play. Despite Miller never having acted in a movie before, Keach's contract was bought out by Warner Bros and Miller was cast in the role.


  • According to William Peter Blatty, director Friedkin also considered Gene Hackman for the role of Father Karras
  • Director Friedkin eventually asked technical advisor Rev. Thomas Bermingham to exorcise the set. He refused, saying an exorcism might increase anxiety. Rev. Bermingham wound up visiting the set and gave a blessing and talk to reassure the cast and crew.
  • The "Exorcist steps", 75 (or 74 - one is very small) stone steps at the end of M-Street in Georgetown, were padded with 1/2"-thick rubber to film the death of Father Damien Karras. The stuntman tumbled down the stairs twice. Georgetown University students charged people around $5 each to watch the stunt from the rooftops
  • Gonzalo Gavira was called on to create many of the special sound effects after William Friedkin recalled his work from the movie, Topo, El (1970). One of the more memorable sounds, the 360-degree turning of Regan's head, was actually made by twisting a sound crew member's old leather wallet in front of a mike.
  • There are tales about ominous events surrounding the year-long shoot, including the deaths of nine people associated with the production and stories about a mysterious fire that destroyed the set one weekend. Actors Jack MacGowran & Vasiliki Maliaros died before the film was released.
  • The network TV version was edited by William Friedkin who shot a replacement insert of the Virgin Mary Statue showing her face painted like a harlot (instead of the more obscene version in the theatrical film). The looping of the Demon voice to remove the profanity was also done by Friedkin himself because of his unwillingness to work with Mercedes McCambridge again. Lines like "Your mother sucks cocks in hell, Karras" and "Shove it up your ass you faggot" were re-dubbed by Friedkin to be "Your mother still rots in hell" and "Shut your face you faggot." By and large, this network TV version is not used for TV and cable showings today.
  • The Prospect Avenue apartment where the story takes place was once inhabited by the author, William Peter Blatty, while he was a student at Georgetown University. The house was owned by Ms. Florence Mahoney and is at the corner of 36th and Prospect. During shooting of the exterior scenes the crew had to build special sets to allow sunlight in to avoid her garden plants from dying.
  • Christian evangelist Billy Graham claimed an actual demon was living in the celluloid reels of this movie.
  • Author William Peter Blatty once won $10,000 on the Groucho Marx show "You Bet Your Life" (1950). When Groucho asked what he planned to do with the money, he said he planned to take some time off to "work on a novel." This was the result.
  • The "spider-walk" sequence, which was cut from the original version, was reworked for Ruby (1977) and other low-budget films.
  • In the uncut version, we find out that Regan's middle name is Teresa.
  • The nurse who comes into Dr. Taney's office after the arteriogram is actress Linda Blair's mother
  • Mercedes McCambridge had to sue Warner Brothers for credit as the voice of the demon.
  • John Boorman had been offered the chance to direct "The Exorcist" but declined because he felt the storyline was "cruel towards children". He did, however, accept the offer to direct Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977).
  • Ellen Burstyn agreed to doing the movie only if her character didn't have to say the scripted line: "I believe in the devil!" The producers agreed to eliminate the utterance.
  • McCambridge's voice was reportedly not processed to make it sound more demonic. She had worked extensively in radio drama and had a flexible vocal range. In interviews, she described eating raw eggs, a pulpy apple, and experimenting with hot pepper sauce to get a properly rough, gurgling sound.
  • The part of Regan was originally offered to actress Dana Plato, whose mother refused to allow her to take it. Pamelyn Ferdin, a veteran of science fiction and supernatural drama, was another candidate, but the producers felt she was too well-known. The part went instead to Linda Blair, a relative unknown who at that time could have been Ferdin's twin. Blair's stunt double in a few scenes was Eileen Dietz, an older actress.
  • There have been rumors that the various Exorcist films were cursed.[7] Blatty, Schrader and von Sydow have discounted such tales as nonsense, used primarily for promotion.
  • Father Dyer is played by Reverend William O'Malley, an actual priest who still teaches to this day at Fordham University. [8]
  • The film was edited at 666 Fifth Avenue in New York. [9]
  • The poster image and important scene where Father Merrin arrives at the MacNeil house was inspired by René Magritte's 1954 painting L'Empire des lumières (Empire of Light, several versions) [10] [11]. The painting has a daylight sky but the house below in darkness. The director explained (in the film documentary A Decade Under the Influence) it took all day and all night to setup the lighting and they shot the following night.
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