The Only Room On The Set Of The Exorcist That Wasn't Destroyed
"The Exorcist" is often cited as one of the scariest movies ever made, and the cast and crew would likely agree but for behind-the-scenes reasons. Director William Friedkin's infamous treatment of the cast includes slapping William O'Malley — a real-life priest playing a small part in the film — before a scene, attempting to surprise Jason Miller by firing a gun near his ear, and dismissing Ellen Burstyn's safety concerns before she injured her spine.
In 2018, though, Burstyn said that she's "impressed" with his work. "He does sometimes go a little further than is safe for the actors, and I would caution him to hold back on that, but he was a great director, and I loved working with him," she told Yahoo. However, she is still dealing with the ramifications of that stunt gone wrong.
Beyond the personal injuries, the set had haunting energy. Many horror movie sets have supposedly been cursed, but "The Exorcist" took it to another level. Death surrounded everyone working on the film, and the temperature was freezing to see the actors' breath. Then, Friedkin received a 4 a.m. phone call alerting him that a fire had broken out on set and destroyed all but one room.
So, which room from "The Exorcist" survived a fire?
The scariest room on set survived
After a pigeon flew into a circuit box and caused a fire on the set of "The Exorcist," the sets of the MacNeil family's house burned down. Only one room survived the unexpected fire: the room of Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair).
Ironically, this room is where the majority of the film's scares occur. From the possessed little girl spewing pea-green vomit to her ungodly acts with a crucifix to her explosive exorcism, that bedroom saw all sorts of horrors. "Interestingly, (the fire) was while we were shooting the exorcism scene," Friedkin recalled 45 years after the incident (via the Oscars YouTube channel).
"That's the only thing that happened during the entire film that I thought was some kind of bad karma," the director said.
The incident caused a six-week production delay, after which a priest was brought in to pray over the set (via The Sun). While the cursed energy behind the scenes was a nightmare for everyone involved, it helped create an aura of pure terror around the film that carries on today.