The Exorcist remains one of the most iconic horror movies of all time, known for its terrifying portrayal of a young girl’s demonic possession – but many believed it too was cursed
The Exorcist transformed the horror genre in one fell swoop when it was first released more than 50 years ago.
From the moment the film hit cinemas in 1973, movie goers claimed that it was so frightening that theatres had paramedics on standby for audience members. Rumours of people walking out, or even passing out in terror, were rife, as the William Friedkin flick shocked viewers worldwide. But it wasn’t just the global audience that were unsettled by the movie, as throughout its production it was blighted by unfortunate incidents.
From the set catching fire to a whole host of deaths, it seemed whatever could go wrong, did go wrong.
The Exorcist follows Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair), a 12-year-old girl who after playing with an Ouija board, becomes possessed by a demonic entity.
Desperate to help her daughter, Regan’s mother enlists the help of two priests to perform an exorcism. What follows is a terrifying ordeal, full of projectile vomiting, colourful language, and an unspeakable act with a crucifix.
Due to the themes it addresses, the strange events that happened on the set and to people involved with the film, it was widely believed to have been cursed.
So the Daily Star has gathered together a list of the occurrences, so you can decide whether the movie was hit by a strange number of unfortunate incidents, or stricken by God.
Set fire
The filming of The Exorcist went through various problems that led to it being delayed and taking more than 200 days to wrap, resulting in production going over budget. Adding to those problems was a fire that destroyed the interiors of the MacNeil’s house. However, creepily everything was completely burned, except Regan’s room, where the whole exorcism scene happened. It remained absolutely untouched.
Injuries to crew and cast members
Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair, the film’s stars, both sustained serious injuries on set. Burstyn fractured her coccyx during the scene where Regan hurls her mother across the room. The stuntman yanked the wire attached to her harder and faster than expected, resulting in permanent chronic spinal damage. Blair also fractured her lower spine in the scene where her bed was violently rocked. Chillingly, the director used the audio from both injuries in the film. Other reported injuries on the set were a lightning technician who lost a toe and a carpenter who lost a thumb.
Multiple deaths
Two of the actors in the film, Jack MacGowran (Burke Dennings) and Vasiliki Maliaros (Father Karras’ mother), who were written to have an on-film death, ended up dying in real life as well. Both happened shortly after the movie was wrapped, and was about to be released. Seven other people who were related to cast and crew members ended up dying too, including Linda Blair’s grandfather and Max von Sydow’s brother. Deaths among the crew or those close to them included the night watchman, the operator of the refrigeration system for Regan’s room and an assistant cameraman’s newborn.
Psychological impact
Some crew members reported feeling disturbed or uneasy while filming the intense exorcism scenes, contributing to the “cursed” narrative. Friedkin believed there might have been some supernatural interference, telling the horror-film magazine: “We were plagued by strange and sinister things from the beginning.”
The man in charge of special effects on the movie, Marcel Vercourtere, said he “felt I was playing around with something I shouldn’t be playing around with.” To mollify the crew, Friedkin asked Father Bermingham, the film’s technical advisor, to perform an exorcism on the set. Bermingham instead blessed the cast and crew, believing that an actual exorcism would only make the cast more anxious.
Extra found guilty of murder
Paul Bateson appeared as a radiologic technologist in what some viewers thought to be the one of the movie’s most disturbing scenes. In 1979, Bateson was convicted of the murder of film industry journalist Addison Verrill and sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison. But to make matters worse, he was subsequently suspected of six additional slayings of gay men in Manhattan, known as the “bag murders”, killings he boasted about in jail. However, no additional charges were ever brought against him.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
