We got so many facts here today, it'll make you stare in disbelief.

Wait, I was suppose to say "make your head spin". This day is now totally ruined.

- William Peter Blatty based the original novel on a real life exorcism peformed in Maryland in 1949. He worked to make the story as close to recollections of everyone involved as possible, though he doubts that there was actual head-spinning.

- Ellen Burstyn broke her coccyx when her character was thrown across the room during the crucifix scene.

- The above painting, L'Empire des lumières, served as the inspiration for the iconic image of Father Merrin stepping out of the cab.

- Linda Blair was nominated for her performance as Regan, but she was soon after disqualified when it was revealed that past Oscar-winner Mercedes McCambridge provided the voice of Demon Regan in the second half of the film. McCambridge got the evil voice just right via chain-smoking and forcing herself to vomit.

- The "Captain Howdy" face that subliminally appears throughout the movie was actress Eileen Dietz. She also doubled for Linda Blair and Ellen Burstyn during some of the more intense moments.

- The original teaser trailer was banned from theaters for being too scary.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=-Es2DRp-ufA

Imagine seeing that on a big screen.

- A man sued Warner Bros. when the movie caused him to faint and break his jaw on the seat in front of him.

- The sound of Regan's possessed screaming was a recording of pigs squealing as they were brought to the slaughter.

- The room temperature in the room was made to be so cold that snow actually formed around Linda Blair.

- Max von Sydow (Father Merrin) was so initially shocked by Linda Blairs profanity that he forgot his lines.

- Director William Friedkin used hardcore methods to get authentic shocked reactions from the actors, including firing guns behind them and slapping them in the face without warning.

- Much like Poltergeist, this movie has been thought to be at the center of a curse. Mysterious events and bad vibes during the production resulted in the filmmakers asking a friar to bless the MacNeil house set. Unfortunately, this did not stop the set from burning to the ground, all except for the bedroom...

- Adding fuel to the idea of a curse on the film, actors Jack MacGowran and Vasiliki Maliaros, who played characters who died in the movie, died shortly after the film's release.

- Linda Blair got several death threats during the film's release.

- Max von Sydow was 44 when the movie was made, but looked way older. So one point in the movie, makeup artist Dick Smith (who also did Marlon Brando's old age makeup in The Godfather) had him done up in young age makeup. At one point, he as wearing more makeup then Linda Blair, and this was during the final stages of the rotted-away transformation. You just didn't notice because Dick Smith is a boss.

- Linda Blair didn't fully understand what her character was doing during the crucifix scene. Meanwhile, everyone in the audience peed their pants.

- Adjusted for inflation, the movie is the highest grossing R-rated movie of all time.

- In the UK, many towns banned the film from showing, so people would take specially-created bus trips to see the movie wherever it was showing.

- Stanley Kubrick wanted to direct and produce, but Warner Bros was worried he would once again go over-budget and shoot for longer than the time allotted. Thankfully, he got to make to make his own Kubrick-tastic horror movie a few years later.

- I can't really show any clips from the movie without going NSFW, so have this awesome Mondo poster.

Your brother chucks rocks in Wells!