released on 26th december 1 day after Christmas- the exorcist, by the jew william friedkin. about a demon which appears in judaism. the statue in the film is a replica of a statue of the demon that used to stand outside iraq to warn off attackers.
-Serious forces of nature displayed themselves during the early showings of The Exorcist in Rome, Italy.
An eight foot long cross of a nearby sixteenth century church had been struck by lightning. The cross had sat atop that church for 400 years before it fell to the ground of the piazza after being struck.
Pazuzu, in Mesopotamian religion, the king of wind demons, son of Hanpa and brother of Humbaba (Huwawa). Adherents believed Pazuzu helped humans ward off other demons, and, thus, representations of his face served as popular apotropaic amulets in the 1st millennium BCE in the Middle East.
The earliest archaeological evidence of Pazuzu—found in the grave of a royal woman entombed in Nimrud (near present-day Mosul, Iraq)—dates to the 8th century BCE. Images of Pazuzu have been found throughout the ancient Middle East, dating to the 1st millennium BCE, including the Neo-Assyrian, Neo-Babylonian, and late Babylonian periods (see history of Mesopotamia).
Pazuzu’s body is similar to those of other Mesopotamian demons, but his head is distinct from all others. It is a rectangular shape, with capric horns, massive eyebrows over deep-set round eyes, a canine jaw that displays teeth and tongue, a long two-pronged beard marked out by horizontal lines, and protruding ears. The composition of Pazuzu’s head is the earliest known example of Mesopotamian iconography blending multiple animal and human features; earlier iconography had added only one animal body part, such as a lion’s head, on a human body. In addition, Pazuzu’s iconography has puzzled researchers because of its sudden and fully realized appearance in the archaeological record, displaying no apparent evolutionary stages. The lack of any earlier identifiable representations renders it impossible to pinpoint the exact geographic origins of the imagery, though it most likely developed in either Egypt or Mesopotamia.
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Pazuzu
from : https://aminoapps.com/c/horror/page/blog/the-exorcist-creepy-facts/aVZF_0uZMYMBqgJXGl577kz2D72G1D
- At least six people associated with The Exorcist died either during production or prior to the release of the movie.
•An unexplained set fire delayed the discovery of the demon.
•Ellen Burstyn (Chris MacNeil) refused to acknowledge the devil. She also suffered a permanent spinal injury during filming.
•Snow fell indoors, on the set.
In order to provide the effect of visible breath, the set was refrigerated and cooled by four air conditioners. Temperatures often plunged below freezing and on one occasion when the air was saturated with moisture, the crew arrived to a layer of snow covering the set.
1976 scared to death from a film? - https://allthatsinteresting.com/anneliese-michel-exorcism
