Rare Footage Surfaces From 'THE EXORCIST' Showcasing The Original Classic’s Demon Makeup Tests!

It’s common knowledge that a LOT went on during the filming of William Friedkin’s ‘THE EXORCIST’ from injuries to the cast to weird rumors of curses being placed on the actors, the film runs the gambit when it comes to folk lore and tall tales even 50yrs after its release. One bit of news that just landed was a lost makeup test for the original demon, Pazuzu, played by Eileen Dietz, that has NEVER been released…until now.

Where’s an old priest and a young priest when we need them?

Paul Davis on social media came forward with this newly found footage.

Davis, who directed Beware the Moon: Remembering An American Werewolf in London as well as the films The Body and Uncanny Annie (both part of Blumhouse’s anthology series “Into the Dark”), has shared a brief snippet of what he calls the “holy grail of outtakes from The Exorcist,” and he promises that more of the unearthed footage is coming soon.

“I’ll be releasing a commentary video over Halloween that includes 10mins of unseen outtakes and the full 2min makeup test that was eventually used as the iconic face,” he writes.

As Davis explains, the face that became Pazuzu in Friedkin’s terrifying classic originally began as a makeup test for the possessed Regan MacNeil, and the footage from that rejected makeup test ended up being spliced back into the movie. The rest, as they say, is horror history.

“This is a very early makeup test for Regan, worn by Eileen Dietz and applied by Dick Smith. Director William Friedkin didn’t think that the makeup was organic in terms of what is described as Regan’s physical appearance in the script,” Paul Davis explains.

His tweet thread continues, “Nearly a year later, editor Bud Smith came across the reel and spliced two frames into the sequence in which Father Karras dreams of his mother. Friedkin found the effect so startling that he not only added another clip from the makeup test in the exorcism sequence (overlapped with the dummy of Linda Blair), but he had Dietz get back into this makeup to add another flash of the demon as Regan writhes around in the bed.”

Dietz ended up playing not only the face of Pazuzu in the finished movie, but she also doubled for Linda Blair during key sequences that required too much of the young actress.

Expect more from Paul Davis sooner than later.

Here is a snippet of the holy grail of outtakes from THE EXORCIST. I’ll be releasing a commentary video over Halloween that includes 10mins of unseen outtakes and the full 2min makeup test that was eventually used as the iconic “Captain Howdy” face. pic.twitter.com/iHgm5I4QMQ

— Paul Davis (@The_Kesslerboy) October 4, 2023

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