The Exorcist - Trivia, Questions and Fun Facts

[discussimdb]

Fan of The Exorcist or just want to share your movie knowledge? This topic is dedicated to all trivia and questions related to The Exorcist

[elmer]

"The Exorcist", "The Omen" and "Carrie" are all highly regarded 70s demon child movies thought to be the progeny of "Rosemary's Baby", and there are many similar themes between the three movies, as well as similar characters, and many striking differences. The Chris from "The Exorcist" is the hero; Chris (MacNeil) who is the mother of the demon child in "The Exorcist". The Chris in "Carrie" though, Chris Hargenson, is the villain of that story, the bully who spills the pigs' blood on "Carrie". Similarly William from "The Exorcist", Lt. William Kinderman, is one of the heroes of that story, the detective who is trying to solve the Burke Rankings murder, whereas the William from "Carrie", Billy Nolan, is one of the villains who kills the pigs that they use to spill blood on "Carrie" with. Karl from "The Exorcist", Chris' cook and Butler, is a nebulous character who could be either good or bad; whereas Carl from "The Omen", Carl Bugenhagen, is one of the heroes of that story, he is the exorcist who gives Robert Thorne the knives to kill Damien. Damien on the other hand is the hero of "The Exorcist"; Damien Karras is the priest who stops the demon at the end of "The Exorcist". Whereas Damien in "The Omen", Damien Thorne the anti-Christ, is the villain of the "Omen" series who is trying to bring on Armageddon. Tom in "The Exorcist" is a priest who is trying to help the heroes; and Tom in "Carrie", Tommy Ross, is the kind boy who befriends Carrie at the ending and tries to make her feel loved. The nanny in "The Exorcist", Sharon Spencer, is a good character who is trying to help Chris and save Regan. The nanny in "The Omen" is an evil character, Mrs. Baylock, who is also trying to save the demon child of that story, but will do it by any means possible, even if it means killing the rest of the Thorne family. The father in "The Omen" is good; Robert Thorne is the hero who is trying to stop the anti-Christ. The father in "Carrie" is nebulous, Ralph White has abandoned Margaret and Carrie before the story starts; not enough information is provided to enable the audience to know him well enough to know if he caused all the problems in the story or not, although Margaret accuses him of raping her at the ending, and Carrie says he ran out on them; and he has not kept up with Carrie either, he abandoned her when she could have used his help in dealing with her mom; so all of this does make him seem bad and negative. And the father in "The Exorcist" is definitely bad; he runs out on Chris and Regan, does not even check in on his daughter on her birthday, or even when she is battling Pazuzu, and obviously does not care about her, and it's hinted that his abandoning the family is what allows the demon to get control of Regan in the first place. The mothers in "The Exorcist" and "The Omen", Chris and Catherine, are both good, although Catherine might be more of a victim, whereas Chris might be stronger; she stands up to evil and saves her daughter and herself in the ending. And Margaret, the mother in "Carrie", is very evil and crazy, and her abusiveness towards Carrie, and her insistence on keeping her shuttered away from the rest of society is what sets up the bullying dynamic with the other kids in the story and the tragedy at the prom as well. The demon child attacks all three mothers in the stories; in "Carrie" she kills her, in "The Omen" he knocks her off a step stool with his big wheel tricycle, and in "The Exorcist" Regan throws Chris against a wall and telekinetically shoves a chest of drawers in her direction. There is an exorcist in all three stories and they are also different. In "The Exorcist", the exorcist of that story is one of the heroes, Lancaster Merrin, is trying to save Regan from Pazuzu. The exorcist in "The Omen", Carl Bugenhagen, is also heroic, but he is trying to kill the demon child in "The Omen", not save him. There is also an exorcist in "Carrie", Margaret White, who does an exorcism ceremony on her daughter after she goes to the prom; although unlike the other two exorcists who are good, Margaret is quite crazy and winds up trying to kill her daughter at the end of "Carrie". The three demon children are also strikingly different. Regan in "The Exorcist", is a good girl with an evil demon trapped inside her, and for most of that story, because she is possessed, she is actively evil and trying to kill, corrupt and destroy the people around her. Damien, however, is the anti-Christ, but he does seem to be fully aware of his evil and his powers; until the final chapter of this series. He seems to be manipulated by evil forces around him for most of "The Omen". Even in the infamous tricycle scene, it seems like he's being manipulated by his father, the Devil, and isn't completely aware of what he's doing in that scene. Carrie on the other hand, is a sympathetic demon child; for most of the story she is a very sweet, put upon victim character, and when she finally does use her powers, it's only because evil people around her have pushed her into it; and they more or less deserve her punishment of them, unlike the demon children in "The Omen" and "The Exorcist".

[cassandra]

This movie was originally to be remade in 2015, but was cancelled.

[albert]

When she was working as a model, Kim Basinger auditioned for the role of Regan McNeill.

[ray]

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.

[claude]

The actual residence in Georgetown that is used for the exterior shots has a rather large yard between it and the infamous steps. The window that leads to Regan's room is at least 40 feet from the top of the steps. This distance would make it impossible for anyone "thrown" from the window to actually land on the steps. In the movie, set decorators added a false wing to the house, so that Regan's supposed window would in fact be close to the infamous steps.

[beth]

Linda Blair hated vegetables so much at the time that the use of the pea soup actually did make her vomit.

[russell]

It was on this film that William Peter Blatty met his wife-to-be, professional tennis champ Linda Tuero (see Linda Blatty). She'd been hired as an extra.

[kristen]

Anissa Jones auditioned for the role of Regan, but she was rejected.

[kenzi]

The Exorcist is the first horror film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. The only other one is Get Out (2017). Jaws (1975), The Silence of the Lambs (1991) and The Sixth Sense (1999) were all nominated, and "The Silence of the Lambs" won, but, these films are not designated as horror films on IMDb.

[cassandra]

Louise Fletcher plays Dr. Gene Tusk in Exorcist 2. This is interesting because she was up for the Chris MacNeil part in Exorcist 1 and was passed over, the role went to Ellen Burnstyn, but Fletcher graciously decided to come back to do Exorcist 2 anyway. Similarly, Richard Burton was being considered for the Merrin part in The Exorcist, and was rejected for the part in favor of Max Von Sydow who got the role, and then Burton came back to appear in part 2 anyway playing the title role "Heretic" of that movie. Also similarly, Dana Plato was being considered for the Regan role in the Exorcist, and was passed over, and wound up appearing in Exorcist 2 anyway. Also similarly John Boorman was offered the role of director for part 1, turned it down, and then came back to direct part 2. In this way Exorcist 2 can be seen as kind of the road company version of Exorcist 1's original Broadway cast.

[RenataHom]

Felon 2008

A family man convicted of killing an intruder must cope with life afterward in the violent penal system.

Felon features brutal, realistic, tense, emotional and serious style.

[xpyneuusp]

In Hell 2003

A man must survive a prison where hardened criminals battle to the death for the wardens entertainment.

In Hell features harsh, stylized, brutal, emotional and intense style.

[cassandra]

Death Warrant 1990

The Canadian policeman Louis Burke is assigned in a jail to investigate in some murders of prisoners and jailors. When in jail Lois using his outstandings martial arts is able to save his life and make himself respected in that violent world. At ...

Death Warrant features detective, exciting, suspenseful, rough and action packed style.

[javier]

The Last Castle 2001

A Court Martialed general rallies together 1200 inmates to rise against the system that put him away.

The Last Castle features intense, exciting, tense, rough and inspirational style.

[dustin]

Escape from Alcatraz 1979

Escape from Alcatraz tells the story of the only three men ever to escape from the infamous maximum security prison at Alcatraz. In 29 years the seemingly impenetrable federal penitentiary which housed Al Capone and quotBirdmanquot Robert ...

Escape from Alcatraz features suspense, atmospheric, suspenseful, realistic and exciting style.

[arthur]

Brawl in Cell Block 99 2017

After working as a drug courier and getting into a brutal shootout with police a former boxer finds himself at the mercy of his enemies as they force him to instigate violent acts that turn the prison he resides in into a battleground.

Brawl in Cell Block 99 features suspense, disturbing, tense, rough and suspenseful style.

[MarcoTix]

Get the Gringo 2012

A career criminal Gibson nabbed by Mexican authorities is placed in a tough prison where he learns to survive with the help of a 9-year-old boy.

Get the Gringo features intense, clever, brutal, entertaining and exciting style.

[FrankKag]

Brubaker 1980

The new warden of a small prison farm in Arkansas tries to clean it up of corruption after initially posing as an inmate.

Brubaker features realistic, factual, suspense, harsh and serious style.

[sara]

The Switch 2010

An unmarried 40-year-old woman turns to a turkey baster in order to become pregnant. Seven years later she reunites with her best friend who has been living with a secret he replaced her preferred sperm sample with his own.

The Switch features romantic, humorous, feel good, cute and romantic comedy style.