Ten Facts About The Exorcist (1973)
1973’s The Exorcist, written by William Peter Blatty and directed by William Friedkin, is regarded as one of the greatest horror films of all time — a sentiment we are inclined to agree with. The film elevated the horror genre to a new level, similar to what Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey did for science-fiction films, and it still remains startlingly effective and continues to possess moviegoers generation after generation.
With David Gordon Green’s reboot/sequel Exorcist: The Believer coming out this year, we thought we’d toss out some facts about the film that started it all, so hold on to your head!
It was released at Christmastime.
That’s right, The Exorcist, one of the “scariest films of all time,” was ironically released during the most notoriously jolly time of year (on December 26, 1973), which is probably the funniest fact on this list.
Paintings played a pivotal role in the film’s look.
In Leap Of Faith: William Friedkin On The Exorcist, Friedkin professes his love for the medium of painting and sheds insight on how several painters and specific works directly influenced aspects of the film. This includes one of the film’s most famous shots (which was highlighted on the poster — and used in the image for this article), which was inspired by René Magritte’s "L'Empire des lumières” (or “Empire of Light”), which features a daytime sky looming over a nighttime street. Friedkin stated the painting had a profound effect on him, and he decided to impose a figure into the painting’s scene (Max Von Sydow’s priest) and have the light from Regan’s bedroom ominously shining down on him like a spotlight.
The works of Caravaggio, Vermeer, and Rembrandt also heavily influenced Friedkin’s composition and stylistic lighting choices, not just in The Exorcist but within his whole body of work.
Blatty really wanted to play the role of Father Karras.
Another interesting factoid tucked into Leap Of Faith: William Friedkin On The Exorcist is Friedkin’s confession that Blatty wanted to play the part of Father Karras so badly that he actually offered Friedkin his entire percentage of profit of the movie in exchange for the role. Friedkin didn’t see him as the character, so he turned that lucrative offer down (thankfully), but Blatty wasn’t the only complication that came with casting the part.
Actor Stacy Keach was actually hired for the role, but Jason Miller, who Friedkin had seen in his play, That Championship Season, was very adamant on wanting the part, going so far as to phone Friedkin to tell him “that guy is me.” At that point, Friedkin thanked Miller for his interest and informed him that Keach had already signed on. Miller was persistent thought and asked to be given a screen test, which Friedkin reluctantly obliged. Ultimately, Miller won Friedkin over with his "dark good looks, haunted eyes, quiet intensity, and low, compassionate voice."
Friedkin went to the studio to relay his decision, which the studio was not happy about because Miller was an “unknown.” As a result of Friedkin’s late-stage casting shuffle, the studio had to pay off Keach off in full, but he had to follow his instinct (which he calls his “sleepwalker’s security”).
Other actors considered for the role prior to its final decision were Jack Nicholson, Marlon Brando, and Paul Newman, all of whom the studio would have preferred because they well-established and “known.”
Friedkin used some extreme methods to get the footage and performances he wanted.
For The Exorcist, Friedkin went to some extraordinary lengths to get realistic reactions from his cast. This included firing off guns (with blanks) on set to get a startled effect from Jason Miller (which led to a major verbal confrontation), as well as slapping them (specifically William O'Malley to get a more emotional performance in the film’s conclusion). A ringing ear and a slap to the face are one thing, but both Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair received serious spinal injuries during the filming.
For Blair, it occurred when she was violently bounced around in the bed, which was mechanically rigged and wound up fracturing her spine. She recalled in Shudder’s “Cursed Films” series,” "I'm crying, I'm screaming, they think I'm acting up a storm. It fractured my lower spine. No, they didn't send me to the doctor, it is the footage that's in the movie."
For Burstyn, her injury occurred when she was slapped across the room by the possessed Regan. For the scene, she was rigged with a harness, which Friedkin had instructed the crew to yank on violently. This resulted in a fractured coccyx that rendered her unable to film for two weeks and put her on crutches for the rest of the production. Burstyn’s injury — like Blair’s — bore lasting effects and the take where she sustained the injury also made it into the film’s final cut.
Mercedes McCambridge went to great lengths to achieve the film’s chilling demon voice.
On the topic of extreme methodology, this next factoid is probably the most astonishing one in this whole list…
For the voice of the possessed Regan, Friedkin was looking for something that straddled the line between female and male, which led him to reach out to Mercedes McCambridge (“the world's greatest living radio actress,'“ according to Orson Welles) who he felt had the kind of voice that could fit the bill. After showing her a rough cut of the film (with the demon dialogue delivered by the innocent sounding Blair), he recalls her saying, “Do you know anything about me? I was a practicing Catholic from childhood. Then I became a suicidal drunk. I went through AA, and I can no longer have a drink even. But in order for me to do what you need me to do for this voice, I’m going to have to put alcohol down my throat, and I’m gonna to swallow raw eggs several times a day, and I’m going to take up smoking again.”
Friedkin also recalls McCambridge asking him to tie her down to a chair during the session and requesting that two priests (which were personal friends of hers) be present in the room while recording. Friedkin said, “She would finish a scene, go back to the rear of the sound stage where her two priests sat, and collapse in their arms into tears.” Now that’s commitment!
Unfortunately, Warner Brothers had failed to credit her at the time of the release for her MASSIVE contribution. McCambridge later sued the studio over this, and eventually she would be given a credit on subsequent prints of the film— although it’s not the type she would have preferred. Instead of labeling her as "the voice of the demon,” the studio just put a credit that states: "and Mercedes McCambridge."
That creepy subliminal demon face was an accident.
Among the many searing and chilling images in the film, the subliminal flashes of a demon, known as Captain Howdy (or Pazuzu), are probably the most terrifying. Interestingly enough, these shots of the ominous wide-eyed, white-faced demon was a rejected makeup test for a potential appearance for the possessed Regan. Friedkin wound up adding them into the completed film to create a sense of unease in the viewer (which, mission accomplished!). He would later add more flashes into the 2000 re-release version.
The name “Captain Howdy” is also an interesting play on Howard, which is the name of Regan’s father who had left her and her mother prior to the events of the film. The absence of the father likely left the young Regan looking for a surrogate, and when she happens to contact the demon via the Ouija Board, it’s likely that Pazuzu is aware of Regan’s desire and exploits her vulnerability by introducing himself as “Howdy” to emulate her father — but maybe we’re reaching with this one.
Projectile vomit mistake.
The Exorcist has some legendary special effects, but one of its more memorable moments comes courtesy of some pea soup (Andersen’s brand — not Campbell’s) and a malfunction to the rig.
In the scene where the possessed Regan projectile vomits at Father Karras, the intended target was Jason Miller’s chest, but when the plastic tubing misfired, it caused it to hit him square in the face. His reaction of total shock and disgust while wiping away the “vomit” is completely genuine, and Miller later admitted in interviews that he was angered by the special effects mishap — but, hey, it sure looks good!
The Cruising connection.
There’s a bizarre connection that actually links The Exorcist to a later Friedkin banger, Cruising. That connection is Paul Bateson, the bearded man who assists the doctor during the arteriogram scene. Bateson was an X-ray tech at NYU Medical Center where the film was shot, and because Friedkin favored realism instead of performance whenever he could get it, he put real doctors and techs into the scene, including Bateson who has most of the scene’s dialogue and an eerily calm demeanor.
Flash forward six years after the film’s release to 1979, where Bateson is actually arrested and convicted for the murder of film industry journalist, Addison Verrill, and sentenced to 20 years in prison. But Verrill might not have been the only victim of Bateson. No, he was suspected of — and also openly bragged about — killing six other men, whom he said he picked up in gay bars and had sex with before murdering and dismembering their bodies “for fun” between 1977 and 1978. Because the victim’s body parts were placed in plastic bags, the killings were known as the “bag murders.”
Even though investigators sincerely believed Bateson to be the culprit in these murders, he was never officially charged and those murders have remained unsolved. Theses killings were later fictionalized in Friedkin’s 1980 film Cruising, and because Friedkin actually knew Bateson, he went to go speak to him directly to better understand the mind of killer for the purposes of the film. Bateson is also a character featured in David Fincher’s Netflix series Mindhunter.
It was the first horror film to be nominated for a Best Picture Oscar.
For the 46th Academy Awards in 1974, The Exorcist received a staggering 10 nominations: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, Best Picture, Best Production Design, Best Film Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress, Best Actress, and Best Cinematography.
Of its 10 nominations, the film won two categories (Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound Mixing), but its nomination as a Best Picture candidate marked a historic first for horror cinema, an honor that would later be shared with Jaws, The Silence of the Lambs, The Sixth Sense, Black Swan, and Get Out.
It's the highest-grossing horror film adjusted for inflation.
When adjusted for inflation, The Exorcist’s $428 million global box office translates to an astonishing $2.9 billion total gross in 2023 dollars. At the time of this writing, Barbie has reached a global gross of $1.34 billion, which means The Exorcist is still Warner Bros.’ biggest cash cow to date. How’s that for some head-spinning factoid!
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