This Exorcist trivia quiz has 60 free questions with answers and covers the film that made audiences faint in 1973 and everything around it: William Peter Blatty's novel and the Georgetown exorcism it drew on, the casting battles that passed over Brando, Nicholson and Carol Burnett, the refrigerated bedroom, the pea soup, the wallet that became a rotating head, Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells and the score that ended up in a parking lot. It also covers what came after: the R-rating fight and the UK video ban, the box-office records that stood until It, the first horror Best Picture nomination, Exorcist II, Blatty's own Exorcist III, the two duelling prequels, the Fox series, Believer and the coming Martyrs reboot. Easy questions ask who directed and who played Regan; hard ones want the stunt double's name, the town that fined a theatre $100 and the termite parasite named after the director. Every answer has been checked against the encyclopaedia entries for the films, the novel and the 1949 case, and each question shows its source once you have answered.
30 of 60 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which year was The Exorcist released in US cinemas?
1973
It opened the day after Christmas, on 30 screens, and ran for 105 weeks.
Q 02Who directed The Exorcist (1973)?
William Friedkin
The producer insisted on him after The French Connection, over the studio's choice of Mark Rydell.
Q 03Who wrote the 1971 novel The Exorcist and won an Oscar for adapting it?
William Peter Blatty
He was a comic novelist and screenwriter first, and only tackled the story after seeing Rosemary's Baby in 1968.
Q 04Who played the possessed 12-year-old Regan MacNeil?
Linda Blair
Her mother brought her in unannounced; Janet Leigh would not let Jamie Lee Curtis audition and Nickerson's family found the script too dark.
Q 05In which Washington, D.C. neighbourhood is The Exorcist set?
Georgetown
The author heard about the real 1949 case as a Georgetown student in the class of 1950, so he set the story by the campus.
Q 06What is the name of the demon that possesses Regan?
Pazuzu
It is a real ancient Assyrian demon; Father Merrin finds its statue on a dig in northern Iraq in the prologue.
Q 07What does Regan use to contact the 'friendly' spirit she calls Captain Howdy?
A Ouija board
The demon first masquerades as an invisible companion before the possession takes hold.
Q 08Which instrumental piece by Mike Oldfield became famous as the theme of The Exorcist?
Tubular Bells
The director wanted something with a childhood feel like Brahms' Lullaby, found the record in the studio's music library and had Warner buy the rights.
Q 09What foodstuff was used for the possessed Regan's projectile vomit?
Pea soup
It was porridge coloured to look like pea soup and pumped through a hidden tube; the actor was told it would hit his chest, so his disgust when it hit his face was real.
Q 10The Exorcist was the first horror film ever nominated for which Academy Award?
Best Picture
It was nominated for ten Oscars in all and won two, for adapted screenplay and sound.
Q 11Which of these was a real-world consequence of the film's release?
Audiences fainted and vomited in cinemas
One Toronto theatre manager said a plumber was 'practically living here now'; some cinemas kept ambulances on call.
Q 12Which 2017 film finally overtook The Exorcist as the highest-grossing R-rated horror movie?
It
The Sixth Sense had already passed it among supernatural horror in 1999; The Exorcist and Blair Witch remain the only 20th-century films in both top tens.
Q 13What is the famous image of Father Merrin arriving at the MacNeil house, used on the poster, based on?
A René Magritte painting
Q 21Where were the film's opening archaeological-dig scenes shot?
In and near Mosul, Iraq
The US and Iraq had no diplomatic relations, so the director negotiated directly with local Ba'ath Party officials; daytime hit 130 °F.
Q 22How cold was Regan's bedroom set refrigerated to so the actors' breath would show?
-20 °F
A $50,000 cooling system kept it that way for only three minutes at a time under the lights; the exorcism took a month to shoot.
Q 23How was the sound of Regan's head rotating created?
By twisting a leather wallet
The sound team also blended bees, dogs, hamsters and pigs into the demon's voice.
Empire of Light (1954) inspired the silhouette under the streetlamp; the crew spent a full day lighting the shot.
Q 14Who wrote and directed The Exorcist III (1990)?
William Peter Blatty
He adapted it from his own 1983 novel Legion, and Morgan Creek forced him to add an exorcism climax he never wanted.
Q 15Which 2023 legacy sequel brought Ellen Burstyn back as Chris MacNeil?
The Exorcist: Believer
Universal and Peacock paid $400 million for the rights to a planned trilogy, then scrapped it after the film's poor reception.
Q 16What was the working relationship between the film's producer and its author?
They were the same person
He wrote the novel, produced the film and won the Oscar for the screenplay, though he and the director clashed over cuts.
Q 17Which voice actress supplied The Exorcist's demon voice after raw eggs, whiskey and chain-smoking?
Mercedes McCambridge
The studio left her off the credits until the Screen Actors Guild forced the issue; the dispute killed a planned dialogue soundtrack album.
Q 18Which actor originally signed to play The Exorcist's Father Karras had his contract bought out?
Stacy Keach
Miller had studied to be a Jesuit for three years, read the novel and told the director '[Karras] is me'.
Q 19Which comedian did the director want for the role of Chris MacNeil, before the studio said no?
Carol Burnett
Audrey Hepburn, Anne Bancroft and Jane Fonda all turned the part down before Ellen Burstyn said she was 'destined' to play it.
Q 20Warner Bros. wanted which star to play Father Merrin, only for the director to refuse?
Marlon Brando
A photograph of the Jesuit scientist Teilhard de Chardin, a model for Merrin, led him to Max von Sydow instead.
Q 24Principal photography was scheduled to take 85 shooting days. Roughly how long did it actually run?
More than 200
A bird flew into a circuit breaker and burned down every set except Regan's bedroom, and the Pazuzu statue was shipped to Hong Kong instead of Iraq.
Q 25Which scene, not in the novel, did the producer refuse to ever watch and audiences find most disturbing?
The angiography
It was later described as the most realistic medical procedure in a popular film, and the director claimed it was used in radiology training.
Q 26Which famous deleted scene was cut before the 1973 premiere and restored in the 2000 director's cut?
The spider-walk
Stuntwoman Ann Miles did it without the special harness after two weeks' practice; the director denied it existed until Mark Kermode found the footage in the 1990s.
Q 27How long did it take each morning to apply Dick Smith's ageing makeup to Max von Sydow?
Four hours
Pauline Kael called it one of the most convincing ageing jobs she had seen; many viewers never realised he was made up at all.
Q 28Roughly how many minutes of music are in the two-hour film?
17
The director rejected Lalo Schifrin's score and threw the tapes away in the parking lot, using Penderecki, Webern and Oldfield instead.
Q 29The Exorcist was budgeted at $4.2m. What did it ultimately cost Warner Bros.?
$12 million
It grossed $193 million in its first run and $441 million lifetime, so nobody complained for long.
Q 30Which director made Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), widely called one of the worst films ever made?
John Boorman
He had turned down the original; Richard Burton starred as Father Lamont and only Blair and von Sydow returned.