The Exorcist is a 1973 American horror film, adapted from the 1971 novel of the same name by William Peter Blatty, dealing with the demonic possession of a young girl, and her mother’s desperate attempts to win back her daughter through an exorcism conducted by two priests. The film features Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Max von Sydow, Kitty Winn, Lee J. Cobb, Jason Miller and Mercedes McCambridge. Both the film and novel took inspirations from a documented exorcism in 1949, performed on a 14-year-old boy. The film is one of a cycle of 'demonic child'
movies produced in the late 1960s and early 1970s, including The Omen and Rosemary's Baby.The film became one of the most profitable horror films of all time, grossing $402,500,000 worldwide. The film earned ten Academy Award nominations—winning two, one for Best Sound and Best Adapted Screenplay, and losing Best Picture to The Sting. Along with the novel on which it was based, Blatty's script has been published several times over the years. The Exorcist was commercially released in the United States by Warner Bros. on December 26, 1973, and re-released on March 17, 2000, with a restored version released on September 22, 2000.

Plot
Based on the 1971 novel by William Peter Blatty, The Exorcist marries three different scenarios into one plot.The movie opens with Father Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow) on an archaeological dig near Nineveh. He is then brought to a nearby hole where a small stone head is found, resembling a grimacing, animal-like creature. After talking to one of his supervisors, he then travels to a spot
where a strange statue stands, specifically Pazuzu, with a head similar to the one he found earlier. He sees both an ominous figure and two dogs fight loudly nearby, setting the tone for the rest of the film.

Meanwhile, Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller), a young priest at Georgetown University, begins to doubt his faith while dealing with his mother's terminal sickness.

In the central storyline, Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), an actress filming in Georgetown, notices dramatic and dangerous changes in the behavior and physical make-up of her twelve year-old daughter Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair). Regan exhibits strange, unnatural powers, including levitation and great strength, and often expresses vulgar language and blasphemy in a demonic male voice during these periods. At first, Chris believes that Regan's rapid mental and physical changes are products of the trauma of Chris's recent divorce. Regan is forced to endure a series of unpleasant medical tests as doctors try to find an explanation for her bizarre changes. When X-Rays show nothing out of the ordinary, Doctors retire the belief that Regan has brain abnormalities causing her bizarre behavior. Chris is advised by a doctor that Regan should see a psychiatrist. After Regan assaults the psychiatrist, supernatural occurrences continue to surround her at the MacNeils household,
including violently shaking beds, strange noises and unexplained movement. The director of the film Mrs. MacNeil is starring in is found brutally murdered after being asked to babysit for Regan.

When all medical possibilities of explaining Regan's worsening condition are exhausted, a doctor recommends an exorcism, explaining that if Regan's symptoms are a psychosomatic result of a belief in demonic possession, then an exorcism would likewise have the psychosomatic effect
of ending such symptoms. Chris consults Father Karras, since he is both a priest and a psychiatrist. Despite his doubts, Karras is eventually convinced that he should request permission from the Church to perform an exorcism.

Father Merrin, who in addition to being an archeologist is also an experienced exorcist, is summoned to Washington to help. In a climactic series of scenes, He and Father Karras try to drive the spirit from Regan. Regan, or rather the spirit, claims she is not possessed by a simple demon, but by the Devil himself.

At the climax of the exorcism, Father Merrin dies of a heart attack that was possibly brought on by Regan. Father Karras tries to give him CPR, but to no avail, and notices Regan giggling as he tries to save him. Karras becomes infuriated and grabs her, and begins to strike her, and finally
challenges the demon to leave Regan and enter him. The demon does enter Damien, but the priest immediately throws himself through Regan's bedroom window in order to stop the demon from murdering her. He falls down the steps outside where, at the bottom, a devastated Father Dyer, his best friend, administers the Last Rites as Father Karras dies. Regan is restored to her normal self, and according to Chris, does not remember any of the experience. The film ends as the MacNeil mother and daughter leave Georgetown to move on from their ordeal.

Casting
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. Pamelyn Ferdin, a veteran of science fiction and supernatural drama, was a candidate, but the producers may have
felt she was too well-known. Actress Denise Nickerson (who played Violet Beauregarde in Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory) was considered, but her parents pulled her out, troubled by the material. In an interview on the January 12, 2007 broadcast of the Mr. KABC radio program it was revealed that actress/comedienne April Winchell was being seriously considered for the part of Regan MacNeil however she had developed a serious kidney infection which caused her to be hospitalized and ultimately taken out of consideration. At one point the search for a young actress capable of playing Regan was so trying that Friedkin claims he even considered auditioning adult dwarf actors. The part went instead to Linda Blair, a relatively unknown actress.

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." Jack Nicholson was originally up for the part of Father Karras before Stacy Keach had been hired by Blatty to play the role. Friedkin then spotted Miller in a Broadway play. Even though Miller had never acted in a movie before, Keach's contract was bought out by Warner Bros. and Miller was cast in the role (Blatty would later give Keach the leading role in The Ninth Configuration). Other actors considered for the role at the time included Gene Hackman. Jane Fonda and Shirley MacLaine were approached to play the role of Chris MacNeil. Fonda reportedly called the project a "capitalist piece of shit." Audrey Hepburn was approached, but said she would only agree if the film were to be shot in Rome. Anne Bancroft was another choice, but she happened to be in her first month of pregnancy and was dropped. Ellen Burstyn agreed to doing the movie.

Vasiliki Maliaros, who played Father Karras' mother, 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.

It was originally intended to use Linda Blair's voice, electronically deepened and roughened, for Pazuzu's dialogue. While Friedkin felt this worked fine in some places (including the infamous "Let Jesus fuck you" line, which was voiced by Blair herself despite the common misconception that an unnamed male actor provided the line) he felt that the scenes with Regan/Pazuzu confronting the two priests lacked the dramatic power required. It was decided that an experienced voice actor would be required for the role, and Friedkin selected legendary radio actress Mercedes McCambridge. After filming however, Warner Bros. attempted to conceal McCambridge's role in the film, which eventually
led to a lawsuit, and a grudge between her and Friedkin that was never healed.

Filming locations

Exorcist stepsThe movie's eerie opening sequence was filmed in the Iraqi town of Sinjar, near the Syrian border. The people of Sinjar are mostly Kurdish members of the ancient Yezidi sect, which worships a deity often equated with the Devil. The archaeological dig site seen at the beginning of the movie is the actual site of ancient Nineveh in Hatra.

The "Exorcist steps", stone steps at the end of M Street in Georgetown, Washington DC, were padded with 1/2"-thick rubber to film the death of Karras. The stunt man tumbled down the stairs twice. Georgetown University students charged people around $5 each to watch the stunt from the rooftops.

The MacNeil residence interiors were filmed at CECO Studios in Manhattan. The bedroom set had to be refrigerated to capture the authentic icy breath of the actors in the exorcizing scenes. The temperature was brought so low that a thin layer of snow fell onto the set one morning. Linda Blair, who was only in a thin nightgown, says to this day she cannot stand being cold.

Urban legends and on-set incidents
There are stories which claim the film was cursed. Blatty has stated on video some strange occurrences. Ellen Burstyn has indicated that some of these rumors are true in her 2006 autobiography Lessons in Becoming Myself. The interior sets of the MacNeil residence, except for Regan's bedroom, were indeed destroyed by a studio fire and had to be rebuilt. Director William Friedkin also notes that the set sometimes appeared "cursed." He has also claimed that a priest was brought in numerous times to bless the set. Other issues include Linda Blair's harness breaking
when she is thrashing on the bed and injuring the actress. Burstyn also noted that she was slightly hurt when Regan throws her across the room.

Cut scenes
The scene where Father Merrin asks Chris the child's middle name (Teresa) was cut for the 1973 release, but there is still the scene where Merrin exorcises Regan.

The "Spider-Walk Scene"
Contortionist Linda R. Hager was hired to perform the infamous "spider-walk scene" that was filmed on April 11, 1973. Director William Friedkin deleted the scene just prior to the film's original December 26, 1973 release date because he felt it was very ineffective technically.

However, with advanced developments in digital media technology, Friedkin worked with CGI artists to make the scene look more convincing for the 2000 theatrically re-released version of The Exorcist: The Version You've Never Seen. Since the film's original release, myths and rumors still exist that a variety of spider-walk scenes were filmed despite Friedkin's insistence that no alternate version was ever shot.

In 1998, Warner Brothers re-released the digitally remastered DVD of The Exorcist: 25th Anniversary Special Edition. This DVD includes the special feature BBC documentary, The Fear of God: The Making of The Exorcist, highlighting the never-before-seen original non-bloody version of the spider-walk scene. The updated "bloody version" of the spider-walk scene appears in the 2000 re-release of The Exorcist: The Version You've Never Seen utilizing CGI technology to incorporate the special effect of blood pouring from Regan's mouth during this scene’s finale.

Network TV version
The network TV version was edited by Friedkin. He dubbed the Demon's more obscene lines himself because he didn't want to work with Mercedes McCambridge again. "Your mother sucks cocks in hell" became "Your mother still rots in hell" and "Shove it up your ass, you faggot" became "Shut your face, you maggot".