i am at the very pinnacle of all of that
so it all became my fault welcome to
watch mojo and today we're counting down
our picks for the top 10
creepiest things that happened behind
the scenes of the exorcist
we had a fire still a mystery
this this story was begging to be a flop
and could easily
have turned into a laugh riot well then
let's introduce ourselves
i'm damian carros and i ain't the devil
now
kindly undo these straps for this list
we'll be looking at weird or unsettling
things that reportedly happened during
the production and release of the
exorcist
let us know in the comments which of
these things you thought was the
creepiest
number ten a layer of snow covered the
set one morning
one morning we had a lovely surprise we
came in and found
that there was like a thin thin layer of
snow over the entire set
this wouldn't sound so bad except that
this part of the set was indoors
the snow was caused by the crew running
air conditioners at the same time
bringing temperatures down to 30 degrees
below zero
director william friedkin pushed for
this because he wanted to see the breath
coming out of character's mouths for the
climax where the two priests confront
the demon
cold yeah the snow discovered on the set
could be a happy coincidence for a movie
about a winter wonderland
but for a film about demonic possession
it would be more likely interpreted as a
strange omen
early screenings had controversial
responses
amen when film-goers went to see the
exorcist around
christmas in 1973 they didn't know what
they were in for
barf bags were given to the audience in
some theaters just in case they couldn't
stomach graphic scenes like the pea soup
vomiting
what is it
the film was so intense there were
reported cases of people fainting
and others needing medical attention
evangelist
billy graham said that the film itself
was cursed as if each film reel
containing the film literally had the
devil inside
during one premiere in rome not far from
where the movie was being shown
a church was hit with lightning so maybe
reverend graham was on to something
number eight ellen burstin was badly
injured i had a rig
around my midriff with a wire coming out
the back
and the stuntman was pulling me wanting
everything to be as grounded in reality
as much as possible
friedkin placed a huge emphasis on
practical effects
and billy said well it has to look real
i said i understand
but i'm telling you i could get hurt
this led to physically demanding shoots
for several cast members
especially actress ellen burstin who
played the mother of the possessed girl
unfortunately while filming the infamous
crucifix scene where burstin's character
was thrown on her back
bursting permanently injured her spine
due to a mishap with a harness that was
pulling her
billy motioned to owen to tilt the
camera down on me
and i saw it and i was so furious
and said turn the
effing camera off in fact the screams
she gives in the scene are genuine
because of the pain the injury caused
knowing this makes the scene more
disturbing
number seven linda blair was threatened
by strangers
it was so controversial so of course i
am at the very pinnacle of all of that
for her work playing the possessed girl
reagan mcneil linda blair received a
best supporting actress oscar nomination
at the age of 15.
you really don't want me to play huh no
i do
captain howdy said no however she may
have done too good of a job
believing her performance was glorifying
satan several people sent
death threats to blair and bodyguards
were sent by warner brothers to look
after her for six months
are you comfortable reagan
yes unfortunately it isn't too
surprising that a popular movie about
religion stirred enough passion in
people to do something as irrational as
threaten a child
for merely playing a role in a movie
number six
one bad movie-going experience resulted
in a lawsuit
i'll have to talk to warner brothers and
see why there's no
holy water or crosses there to assist
the public
through this experience remember how
some 1973 moviegoers couldn't handle the
exorcist because of the graphic material
well apparently one woman was so shocked
by the film
she fainted and broke her jaw in
response she decided
to sue warner brothers which is the
studio that made the film
the suit allegedly claimed that the film
sent out subliminal messages that caused
her to pass out
how these supposed messages could cause
such an effect is unclear when i touch
your forehead
open your eyes
wanting to avoid bad publicity warner
brothers reportedly settled the suit out
of court
for better or for worse the movie has
had an effect on people
number five the woman behind the voice
i'm afraid you might hurt yourself
reagan
i'm not praying one of the qualities
that made demon possessed reagan
so scary was the voice work of actress
mercedes mccambridge
to achieve the otherworldly voice
mccambridge chain smoked
drank jack daniel's whiskey and even
swallowed raw eggs
originally friedkin was going to leave
mccain bridge off the credits
because he thought it would be more
effective if the audience thought that
linda blair was behind the voice i'm
damien carrolls
and i ain't the devil now kindly undo
these strats
however mccambridge was able to get her
name on the credits with legal action
mccainbridge suffered a great personal
tragedy in 1987 when her son committed
multiple crimes against his family
before ending his own life
number four the film's production
literally needed an exorcist
father tom birmingham was in the film
and was the technical advisor
there have been rumors that the exorcist
was cursed while working on the film a
carpenter lost a thumb
and a lighting technician lost one of
his toes how do you go about getting an
exorcism
i beg your pardon a fire burned down a
large part of the set
which we'll get to later to counter such
eerie events freed can asked reverend
thomas birmingham a jesuit priest who
served as a technical advisor for the
film and played the character tom
to perform an exorcism i'll work with
you then if
on one condition that you take it
seriously i don't want another
rosemary's baby
i want somebody that really will
confront the awesome problem
of the evil in god's world believing
such a ritual unnecessary
reverend birmingham declined the request
but later performed a blessing on the
cast and the set
guess it wasn't an excellent day for an
exorcism what an
excellent day for an exorcism number
three the film is based on real life
events
sort of the fictional story of the
exorcist can be traced back to some real
life events that happened in 1949. if
you were disturbed by the exorcist
at least you could say it was only a
movie right not so fast
and in class i heard some details about
a so-called case of possession
and an exorcism that was going on and
somewhere nearby the movie was actually
based on william peter blatty's 1971
novel which was partly based on the 1949
case of a 14 year old boy from maryland
who was reportedly possessed
what we do know is that for a period of
about three months a 14 year old boy had
grown up in this area
and had been experimenting with a ouija
board underwent some form of illness
that caused his personality to change
caused welts and lettering to appear on
his body and apparently caused some
poltergeist activity the boy was taken
to st
louis missouri where a group of priests
performed exorcisms on him at both a
relative's home and a hospital
with the rituals lasting for weeks you
heard the story
same thing here much like in the movie
the bed the child was in shook as he
convulsed
and according to the st louis post
dispatch the child also allegedly spit a
foul substance at the priest during one
exorcism
number two most of the set burned down
because of a freak accident
in my 32 years of making films
i've never had a set burn down one of
the biggest setbacks to production was a
fire that burned down the house where
the film is set
the fire was supposedly caused by a bird
that flew directly into a circuit box
however the weird part is the only room
that didn't burn in the fire was
reagan's room makes you wonder how that
room of all places was spared
doesn't it could it be satan they
couldn't find an electrical problem they
couldn't find an arsonist they couldn't
find that
any any substantial reason that that
occurred
because of the fire the film's
production had to delay filming for six
weeks
then freed can call me and said would
you come down and exorcise the set
this was one of the events mentioned
earlier that led to reverend birmingham
performing a special blessing
he was coming to judge both the living
and the dead
and the world by fire before we continue
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number one the film is linked to nine
deaths you're gonna die up there
perhaps the greatest piece of evidence
that the exorcist is cursed is the
number of deaths reportedly tied to the
film around the time that it was
made there were a couple of unfortunate
deaths during the filming
there were nine deaths
which is an enormous amount of deaths
during its production a set technician
and
night watchman died additionally two
main cast members
max von sedao and linda blair lost
family members while shooting the film
shortly after production two cast
members died jack mcgowerin
who played the movie director burke
dennings and actress vasilyki meliaros
who played father charis's mother
i'm so glad you look good coincidentally
their respective characters also died in
the movie
i haven't heard
brooke's dead death is an unpleasant
subject and the grim tone of the
exorcist gives the deaths connected to
it an
unsettling feeling listen
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