The Exorcist

Linda Blair was a nasty little devil as a child.

Like many 12-year-olds she would throw fits and tantrums if she couldn't get her own way. However, few pre-teens would express their moods through vomiting pea soup or revolving their heads 360 degrees.

As Regan, a possessed girl in horror blockbuster The Exorcist, she managed to do all of the above and became one of the most feared actresses of her generation.

Few Hollywood insiders thought that when the movie - based on William Peter Blatty's novel - started shooting in 1972, it would make a fortune and set the standard for which many expected from other horror flicks. However, it taxed everyone involved in the production, not least the director.

"The original shooting schedule was 105 days," recalls Friedkin. "But it turned out to be the hardest thing I ever shot. The French Connection was shot in 50 days, but with The Exorcist, we ultimately wound up shooting for 200 days.

"The script changed daily," he continues. "I spent almost a year in research before I even started the film. The most frightening thing to me was looking at the accounts of the actual case. When I set out to do the picture it was with the intention of doing a realistic story about actual events."

Choosing the right girl for the pivotal role was no easy task as Peter Blatty remarks. –I always knew that casting the role of Regan was going to be difficult, and I must admit that at one point I did think we might end up using a 25-year-old midget."

The late Dana Plato - who went on to play Kimberley in the hit sitcom Diff'rent Strokes - was among those offered the role of Regan. She eventually lost out to Linda Blair as the big screen's most fearsome child who was put through her paces during the production.

"My back was actually damaged during the filming," recalls Blair. "When we were shooting one of the bed bouncing scenes, some of the equipment came loose. In the script I was meant to be shouting 'Make it stop! Make it stop!" But the thing is I really did want them to stop. They thought I was acting."

There were some lighter moments, at least from the actress' point of view. "We would do screen tests for the pea soup, and I got to vomit on the first assistant director, who wore rain gear. That was very funny."

Financially at least, all the hard work paid off.

Produced for a relatively cheap $12million, the movie went on to make over $165million. It went on to pick up an Oscar for Best Screenplay but lost out as Best Picture, the theme proving too strong for the Academy's blood.

It also spawned two official sequels with a third now in the pipeline, a poor spoof, Repossession (also starring Blair) and set a new standard for horror.

Perhaps one of the reasons for the movie's success is it's grounding in reality. For the first half, very little out of the ordinary happens and Regan touches a chord with all parents as the perfect pre-teen. When things start going rather strange, science is called in to sort out the problem.

At first, her mother Christine (Ellen Burstyn), along with some medical doctors think she has a lesion in her brain which is causing her to act stranger than most pre-teens, but when no physical evidence is found, they assume it's a psychological disorder. Then the possibility of spiritual possession is brought up. At first Christine scoffs the idea, but then believes it after finding no other explanation.

When Regan starts levitating and vomiting, it's obvious that something more than milk of magnesia is needed. "Doing the soundtrack was terrible," recalls Mercedes McCambridge who provided the voice of the demon. "When the girl spits out the green vomit I made the sounds by swallowing 18 raw eggs and a pulpy raw apple."

See also:

The Blair Witch Project I The Sixth Sense I End of Days

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