Cool Horror Videos: Unused trailer for The Exorcist

Last Updated on July 23, 2021

WARNING: This may give you seizures!

This is the original teaser trailer cut for William Friedkin's THE EXORCIST in 1973. As you'll see, it's quite a disorienting experience, and was never used (I don't think) by Warner Bros. The word is that it was deemed too terrifying for audiences, so the studio "banned" it; it's more likely that the strobe effect was just too irritating.

And boy, does this thing go on forever. Can you imagine being confronted with this in a theater? Forget the horrors of the film's content, this preview would have you begging for mercy.

Source: Arrow in the Head

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Eric Walkuski is a longtime writer, critic, and reporter for JoBlo.com. He's been a contributor for over 15 years, having written dozens of reviews and hundreds of news articles for the site. In addition, he's conducted almost 100 interviews as JoBlo's New York correspondent.