Visible crew/equipment: Near the beginning of the movie, the old priest is in Northern Iraq and you can see the shadow of a microphone on his hat.
The Exorcist (1973)
Plot summary
Directed by: William Friedkin
Starring: Max von Sydow, Ellen Burstyn, Lee J. Cobb, Linda Blair, Jason Miller
When Chris McNeil begins to notice strange things going on with her daughter, Regan, she takes her to the hospital. However, the doctors can't find anything wrong with Regan. Finally, believing that Regan is possessed by a demon, Mrs. MacNeil asks a priest who used to be a psychiatrist, Damien Karras, to exorcise the demon.
More mistakes in The Exorcist
Regan MacNeil: You're going to die up there.
Trivia: In the scene where Regan's mother is supernaturally blasted away from the bedside, she is being yanked by the crew by a length of rope. After dozens of takes director William Friedkin was still unhappy with the look of the shot and ordered the crew to haul her more fiercely. The scream in the shot that made the cut was of genuine pain and required no dubbing for effect.
Question: What was the significance of the father being an absentee dad? Did that make Reagan more vulnerable to being possessed?
Answer: It's possible it made her more vulnerable, but the mother, being a big movie star with an adolescent child would probably be divorced at this stage. It was more likely a literary choice by the author. Fewer characters make for a less complicated plot and eliminates the need to add an additional character who may not serve the story in a meaningful way.
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Answer: The demon wants everyone to lose hope for the girl and give up on her. Her father, having already flown the coop, just makes this goal that much easier.
TonyPH