You Can’t Unsee It: The Most Shocking Moment in The Exorcist

I do not recommend The Exorcist to someone unless I know them well. Those who have watched this movie know that it is definitely for hard-core horror enthusiasts only—for normal people, that might be too much terror.

Honestly, I could only watch it with a group of friends with the lights on.

Directed by William Friedkin, The Exorcist triggered mass controversy and moral panic upon its release in 1973. Interestingly, while the reports of temporary psychosis, vomiting, and fainting were all over, people of all ages were lining up outside the theater to be scared and scarred for life.

My breaking point in fear was when Regan’s head turned completely to talk to her mother, spewing expletives and vulgarities.

In this article, we’ll discuss how William Friedkin shot this scene and why it remains iconic, even 50 years later.

The Scene

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Chris McNeil (Ellen Burstyn) is a young single mother of a 12-year-old girl and a rising star. She is at her wits' end when her daughter, Regan (Linda Blair), suddenly starts behaving strangely. Even after multiple medical tests, nothing shows up in any of her reports, yet her condition continues to worsen with each passing day.

As Chris struggles to find help for her ailing daughter, this scene appears in the film, which raises the stakes.

The scene opens with Chris pacing anxiously in her living room downstairs when she hears a distinct baritone male voice yelling at her daughter, “Do it, do it.” Chris rushes upstairs to check on her daughter and finds everything in the room levitating and crashing against each other.

Her daughter, Regan, is on the bed, stabbing her own vagina with a cross. Her face, covered in lesions, is unrecognizable, her eyes cold and demonic.

Chris immediately starts fighting with Regan to pull the cross out of her hand, but she is too strong for her. Regan hits and assaults her mother. Helpless and scared, Chris struggles to free herself. Regan’s slap throws her across the room.

Hearing the struggles, other characters come to her rescue, but a chair flies at the door, shutting it to block entry. A huge antique wooden cabinet rushes toward Chris, who cowers in fear. She somehow crawls away.

As she tries to move the chair and escape, Chris glances back at her daughter. What she sees freezes her blood. Regan is facing the window, but her head slowly turns 180 degrees.

In a grave baritone, Regan speaks in a male voice, “Do you know what she did?”

Behind The Scenes

But how exactly did Friedkin achieve this terrifying effect?

Friedkin shared in an interview how it was actually fun shooting the scene. He shared how everyone was extremely inquisitive about the doll's workings, taking turns operating it.

The life-sized mechanical dummy, created by legendary special effects makeup artist Dick Smith, closely resembled Linda Blair, and its head could rotate a full 360 degrees.

The doll was created using a mold of Blair's body and constructed with foam latex. Its head and eyes could be controlled by radio. Today, the cinematic artifact remains on display at the Museum of the Moving Image in Queens, New York.

The technical mastery used in the scene explains much of its lasting impact.

Why Does the Horror Work So Well in This Scene?

The head-turning scene from The Exorcist is a milestone in special effects, especially considering that the movie was released in the 1970s and every visual horror effect was achieved without the aid of CGI.

The ‘70s were indeed a decade of horror, and Friedkin’s visuals and conflicts were bold—something unseen in horror before.

Challenging the range of what the audience was accustomed to seeing in possession movies, The Exorcist didn’t rely heavily on subtext. Instead, the visuals were focused on explicit horror.

This scene is a depiction of the total violation of the human body and the natural order, a confirmation that Regan is indeed possessed by something supernatural and undoubtedly demonic.

This moment marks Chris’ realization that her worst nightmare has come true, as she stares at her suffering daughter in horror and helplessness.

The release of the film brought a lot of attention to Linda Blair. While she was widely praised for her performance, the film attracted some negative attention toward her. To the extent that Warner Bros. had to arrange for her constant protection until public attention subsided.

Did you know that during the pre-production, one morning at about 4 a.m., Friedkin was woken up by a call from his production manager, informing him that the $500,000 house for The Exorcist in Georgetown had mysteriously burned down?

In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Friedkin further revealed that there were inexplicable and ominous occurrences during the filming of The Exorcist. The problem was so severe, they “had a priest who came on the set periodically and would exorcise the set,” said Friedkin.

What’s your favorite scene from the movie?