The Exorcist Premiere Sent Moviegoers to the ER

When The Exorcist opened on December 26, 1973, Warner Bros. expected a solid hit. It opened in just 24 theaters in the US, and the crowds that showed up caught everyone off guard.

Lines wrapped around city blocks in the winter cold, with some people waiting hours. Theaters in cities like New York and Chicago reported moviegoers fainting, vomiting, and leaving mid-film in numbers nobody had planned for.

Newspapers of the time ran stories about theater staff handling sick audience members. Some theaters reportedly kept barf bags on hand, and a few had medical help close by as word of the film spread.

Director William Friedkin leaned into realism on set. He reportedly fired a gun off-camera to rattle actors, and the bedroom set was refrigerated so actors' breath would show on camera.

Critics debated whether the film was art or exploitation, and the public didn't wait for an answer. It went on to earn roughly $440 million worldwide over its runs, a staggering figure for a horror film then.

The movie also became the first horror film nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture. It won two Oscars, for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound, and horror's place in mainstream cinema shifted for good.

Now it's a Halloween ritual for many people. Fifty-plus years on, folks still dare each other to watch it alone, in the dark, with the lights off, and plenty still admit they peeked through their fingers.