The Exorcist Trivia
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This Exorcist trivia quiz has 58 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 58 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which year was The Exorcist released in US cinemas?
1973
The Exorcist opened in US cinemas on December 26, 1973, the day after Christmas, in a small number of theatres before expanding as queues and word of mouth built.
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
Linda Blair won the part after her mother brought her to the casting office; Denise Nickerson's parents found the script too dark, and Janet Leigh would not let Jamie Lee Curtis audition.
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
Pazuzu is a real Assyrian and Babylonian demon of the wind; Father Merrin unearths its amulet and confronts its statue on an archaeological dig in the prologue.
Q 07What does Regan use to contact the 'friendly' spirit she calls Captain Howdy?
A Ouija board
Regan contacts Captain Howdy through 'A Ouija board' she found in a closet; the demon masquerades as an invisible playmate before the possession takes hold, and the planchette jerks away when Chris tries it.
Q 08Which instrumental piece by Mike Oldfield became famous as the theme of The Exorcist?
Tubular Bells
Tubular Bells opens Mike Oldfield's debut album; the director used its piano motif after rejecting the commissioned score, and the film's exposure helped the album reach number one in the UK.
Q 09The Exorcist was the first horror film ever nominated for which Academy Award?
Best Picture
Best Picture had never before listed a horror film among its nominees; The Exorcist lost the top prize but took home Oscars for Adapted Screenplay and Sound.
Q 10Which of these was a real-world consequence of the film's release?
Audiences fainted and vomited in cinemas
'Audiences fainted and vomited in cinemas' during the film's first run: reports of fainting, vomiting and walkouts were widespread, and some theatres reported keeping ambulances on call for stricken patrons.
Q 11Which 2017 film finally overtook The Exorcist as the highest-grossing R-rated horror movie?
It
It (2017), Andy Muschietti's Stephen King adaptation, grossed over $700 million worldwide to pass The Exorcist's roughly $440 million as the top-grossing R-rated horror film, a title The Exorcist had held since the 1970s.
Q 12What is the famous image of Father Merrin arriving at the MacNeil house, used on the poster, based on?
A René Magritte painting
'A René Magritte painting', Empire of Light (1954), inspired the shot of Merrin silhouetted under a streetlamp outside the fog-lit house; Bill Gold's poster turned the frame into the film's defining image.
Q 13Which film director, played by Jack MacGowran, is found dead below Regan's bedroom window?
Q 21Why was Regan's bedroom set refrigerated during the exorcism scenes?
So the actors' breath would be visible
The set was chilled 'So the actors' breath would be visible' on camera, signalling the demon's supernatural cold; air-conditioning units froze the room so hard that the crew worked in winter clothing.
Q 22How was the sound of Regan's head rotating created?
By twisting a leather wallet
The head-turning crack was made 'By twisting a leather wallet', a worn wallet bent close to the microphone; the demon's voice was layered with animal sounds, including squealing pigs.
Q 23Roughly how many shooting days did principal photography take, far beyond its original schedule?
Burke Dennings
Burke Dennings, the hard-drinking director of the film Chris MacNeil is shooting, is the possession's first victim, his head twisted backwards; Jack MacGowran, who played him, died of influenza some eleven months before the film's release.
Q 14Which 2023 legacy sequel brought Ellen Burstyn back as Chris MacNeil?
The Exorcist: Believer
The Exorcist: Believer (2023), directed by David Gordon Green, brought Ellen Burstyn back as Chris MacNeil; Universal and Peacock had paid about $400 million for a planned trilogy, then shelved the direct sequel after the film's poor reception.
Q 15What was the working relationship between the film's producer and its author?
They were the same person
'They were the same person': the novelist also produced the film and won the Adapted Screenplay Oscar, though he and the director clashed over cuts, a rift healed by the 2000 extended version.
Q 16Which voice actress supplied The Exorcist's demon voice after raw eggs, whiskey and chain-smoking?
Mercedes McCambridge
Mercedes McCambridge, an Oscar winner for All the King's Men, swallowed raw eggs, drank whiskey and chain-smoked to produce the demon's rasp; she was left off the credits until the Screen Actors Guild forced the issue.
Q 17Which actor originally signed to play The Exorcist's Father Karras had his contract bought out?
Stacy Keach
Stacy Keach had already been signed and paid when the director saw Jason Miller's play and cast the playwright instead; Miller, a Catholic-educated writer with no film acting experience, told him 'Karras is me'.
Q 18Which actress did the novelist use as the model for Chris MacNeil?
Shirley MacLaine
Shirley MacLaine, a friend of the novelist who had starred in his comedy John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!, was his model for the movie-star mother Chris MacNeil, though she was never cast in the film.
Q 19Warner Bros. wanted which star to play Father Merrin, only for the director to refuse?
Marlon Brando
Marlon Brando was the studio's pick for Merrin, but the director refused, fearing the film would become 'a Brando movie', and cast Max von Sydow, who had played Jesus in The Greatest Story Ever Told.
Q 20Where were the film's opening archaeological-dig scenes shot?
In and near Mosul, Iraq
The prologue was shot 'In and near Mosul, Iraq', the last sequence filmed; with the US and Iraq then lacking diplomatic relations, the director negotiated directly with Iraqi officials and worked in extreme desert heat.
More than 200
Principal photography ran 'More than 200' days, more than double the original schedule, delayed by a set fire, cast injuries and the demon statue being mis-shipped to Hong Kong on its way to the desert location.
Q 24Which famous deleted scene was cut before the 1973 premiere and restored in the 2000 director's cut?
The spider-walk
The spider-walk, performed by contortionist Linda R. Hager on wires, was dropped because the wires showed and it came too early in the story; it was restored with digital cleanup in the 2000 'Version You've Never Seen'.
Q 25Which makeup artist designed the ageing makeup that turned Max von Sydow into Father Merrin?
Dick Smith
Dick Smith, who had aged Dustin Hoffman to 121 in Little Big Man, designed the latex ageing makeup that turned the middle-aged Max von Sydow into the elderly Merrin, with a young Rick Baker assisting.
Q 26Which Polish composer's avant-garde works, including Polymorphia, were used on the film's soundtrack?
Krzysztof Penderecki
Krzysztof Penderecki's dissonant pieces, including Polymorphia, supplied much of the film's sparse, unsettling music after the commissioned score was rejected, alongside Anton Webern and Mike Oldfield.
Q 27What did The Exorcist ultimately cost Warner after its shoot ran months over?
$12 million
The final cost came to '$12 million', far above the original budget, after the shoot ran months over schedule; the film went on to gross some $441 million worldwide across its releases.
Q 28Which director made Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), widely called one of the worst films ever made?
John Boorman
John Boorman, who had turned down the original, directed the 1977 sequel, with Richard Burton as Father Lamont and Kitty Winn among the returning cast; it was re-edited shortly after its poor opening.
Q 29Which actor replaced the late Lee J. Cobb as Lieutenant Kinderman in The Exorcist III?
George C. Scott
George C. Scott took over Kinderman after Lee J. Cobb's death in 1976, playing the detective investigating a string of sacrilegious murders; Brad Dourif played the killer's spirit speaking through a hospital patient.
Q 30The Gemini murders in The Exorcist III were partly modelled on which real-life case?
The Zodiac Killer
The Zodiac Killer, who murdered in Northern California in the late 1960s and taunted newspapers with coded letters, was the model for the Gemini Killer of the 1983 novel Legion and its film adaptation.