The Exorcist (1973) | Ep. 83 - Part 1

The set burned to the ground overnight. Regan's bedroom came out of it without a mark. Luke, Matt, and Westy begin the story of the film that dragged horror out of the drive-in and all the way to the Academy Awards.

In Part 1 we cover the prologue shot in 130-degree heat in northern Iraq, the casting of Burstyn, Blair and Jason Miller, and William Friedkin's methods for getting a performance, which ran from firing guns on set to hiding rotting meat around it. Standard directing.

Merrin hasn't arrived and nobody has been down those steps yet. Part 2 goes upstairs: the crew, the exorcism, the ending, the legacy. Out now.

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