How old is reagan in the exorcist

For example, during the exorcism scenes, Regan is bedridden, only wearing a nightgown. Regan's costume is notable because the temperature on-set would often drop below zero. According to an Intimate Portrait episode highlighting Linda Blair , the extremely low temperatures were a result of the air conditioning units used to achieve the visible cold breath during the nightmarish scenes.

Crew members would be wearing appropriate protective gear against the cold. Blair, on the other hand, was freezing cold. Infamously, Blair was often strapped into a harness during exorcism scenes.

In these sequences, Regan would be violently thrashing and jerking about, and all the while, the harness would repeatedly hit Blair on the spine. A less extreme example of what Linda Blair had to endure during production was the extensive application of makeup. Each day, Blair would have to undergo at least two hours in the makeup chair, with sessions sometimes lasting for as long as five hours. The application process was grueling, and during an interview with Studio 10 , Blair explained that the glue used to hold the prosthetics together actually burned her face.

Though many films have gone through difficult or taxing production periods, The Exorcist had a rather extensive list of tragedies and deaths related to the film's production.

Disaster after disaster kept plaguing filming until finally a priest was called upon to exorcise the set. Perhaps the most bizarre occurrence during The Exorcist's production was the electrical fire that burned down the set. Set ablaze by a pigeon that flew into the light box, the fire occurred during shoots for the infamous exorcism scene.

The film was put on hold for six weeks while the set had to be rebuilt. According to director William Friedkin, this is the strangest occurrence that made him question if the film was genuinely cursed. But the fire was far from the only tragedy to happen during the film's production. Jack MacGowran, who played Burke Dennings in the film, died unexpectedly after contracting influenza. Vasiliki Maliaros, the actress portraying Father Karras' mother, also died before the film's release.

As if the deaths of MacGowran and Maliaros weren't terrible enough, their deaths weren't the only ones associated with the film. Other actors lost family, including Blair, whose grandfather passed during the film's production.

Altogether, nine people related to the production are said to have died during the making of the film. For Linda Blair , the events of The Exorcist were fascinating but fictional.

For a portion of the movie, the girl's mother also attributes a lot of the behaviour to the girl and not a possessing influence. The only reference by either priest to symptoms is "speaking in a language she never learnt". Much of this behaviour is shown onscreen, with the unspoken implication that it is the result of the possession; none of the behaviour exhibited is directly and specifically attributed to the demon. There is no clear reason given for this. One interpretation is that the demon wished for an encounter with Merrin in the form of a confrontational exorcism.

In order to do so, the demon would do anything to make this a reality. It didn't know that the water wasn't blessed, but reacted as though it was, in order to convince Karras of possession.

This analysis presents some conflicting issues, though. Another interpretation would be to confuse Karras and validate his impression that Reagan was not possessed. The demon didn't want Karras to perform the exorcism though it taunts him to do so, knowing full well he doesn't want to perform it, therefore traumatizing Karras for his lack of faith , but wanted Merrin to arrive for the fateful confrontation. The demon seemed to know a lot, including Karras' mother recently passing away and his recent contact with a nameless homeless man "Can you spare some change for an old altar boy?

According to Father Merrin, "It will mix lies with the truth in order to confuse us with a powerful psychological attack". Uncertainty is the premise of the entire movie, and so is the question of faith, so it would seem that the reaction to the tap water is an albeit clumsy attempt by director Friedkin to further the confusion. Many demonologists believe in three observed stages of demonic attack.

First, Infestation brought on by calling upon demonic forces, whether intentional or not. Initially a demon may only scratch at walls, so as to mostly go undetected. Secondly, oppression, in which demons systematically oppress humans, often those who are the most emotionally vulnerable.

Finally, if a demon has not been exorcised and its victim has been thoroughly tormented to the point where all their mental barriers against it have collapsed, the demon may execute fully-fledged possession.

None of this is detailed in the movie. The noises in the attic, among other things, go unexplained. That question is never answered in the movie. Its appearance seems to be little more than a MacGuffin, escalating the demonic read: blasphemous behaviour of Regan and creating a seemingly legitimate reason to bring the priests into the main plot: Chris MacNeil had been hitherto reluctant to turn to religion to help Regan. In the first half of the film, the demonic voice that comes from the possessed Regan is mostly Linda Blair's own voice, albeit heavily distorted.

Actress Mercedes McCambridge also provides some lines, while most of the vocal effects and a few extra lines are done by Ron Faber. After the crucifix masturbation scene, Regan is voiced entirely by McCambridge until she is freed from her possession at the end of the movie. It was initially intended for Blair to provide the demon's voice all the way through, but after some testing, Friedkin felt that the adolescent Blair did not have enough power or depth in her voice, so McCambridge was brought in.

Warner Bros initially kept McCambridge's involvement quiet, for no clear reason. The physicians initially diagnosed a "disorder of the nerves", which quickly changed to a diagnosis of "a lesion When nothing showed up on the following x-rays and arteriograms of Regan's brain, she was referred to a psychiatrist.

A group of them diagnosed the condition as "somnambuliform possession" and recommended that Chris seek out an exorcist; the reason they gave was that believing oneself to be possessed can sometimes be cured by believing that exorcism works.

What was actually going on inside Regan was left open to the reader to decide in the novel , although it was for the most part suggested that she was possessed.

On the other hand, the film makes it clear that she is actually possessed by showing such humanly impossible things as a head that can turn itself in a complete degree rotation, a levitating bed and—later—body, sliding armoires, slamming doors, etc. But most important of all, the demon is seen to exchange bodies, leaping into Damien Karras at his demand.

When he is possessed, Damien's irises turn a yellowish green, just as Regan's had while possessed. The priest with the help of an exorcist, who dealt with this demon before, defeats the demon, but at the cost of both of their lives. When Regan goes away with her mother, she shows gratitude for what the priests did by kissing a third one.

In the second movie it is found out, that Regan was possessed, because she has the ability to heal others, something the demon hates. She is now receiving psychological treatment. Pazuzu made a second attempt, but this time she is stronger and can defeat him with the help of a priest, who is prepared for this surviving it on the way together with the priest. Quality of the actual film aside, Blair returned as Regan, now years-old.

Regan still doesn't remember her past, but some ill-advised psychiatric techniques awaken her repressed trauma, and the remnants of the demonic force that once occupied her body. Thankfully, she's once again able to defeat Pazuzu, this time with the help of a Father Lamont, who almost gets seduced by her evil side in a sequence that's creepy for all the wrong reasons.

That would be the last time Regan MacNeil appeared in an Exorcist film, although she would return to the franchise in a surprising way. In a late game twist, Angela is revealed to be an adult Regan, who changed her name to try and start a new life. Unfortunately, Pazuzu decided to target her daughter this time. Priests Ortega and Keane help her combat the demon, who's ultimately forced out, but not before breaking Regan's back and confining her to a wheelchair.