The Exorcist (1973) - 130 mistakes

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.

Continuity: When Sharon is taking a walk with the priest Damien, she throws her cigarette to the floor, but in the next shot it's back in her mouth again.

Continuity: When Father Karras visits his mother, he places his collar edge-wise on the shelf. In the next shot the collar is lying down at a different angle.

Continuity: At the movie set, Chris yells, "Hold it, hold it" as Father Karras watches and walks away. In the next shot several extras along with the line of shade behind him disappear.

Audio problem: At the end of the movie Chris calls to Father Dyer from her car and says, "I thought you'd like to keep this". If you read her lips she just says, "I thought you'd like this".

Continuity: As Regan spins her head around her blue nightgown is now totally clean.

Continuity: Father Merrin says, "I cast you out", and the green vomit that was around her mouth has now disappeared.

Continuity: After Burke Dennings is killed, Chris goes upstairs and finds the window in Regan's room is wide open. It's so cold that you can see the condensation from her breath in some shots, but not in others.

Continuity: Father Dyer runs to Chris' car at the end of the movie as we see another car coming at them and passing on their left. In the next shot that car has disappeared.

Continuity: After Chris returns home from the movie set, items on the window sill, the flowers on Sharon's desk and the pencils in her pencil holder all move inbetween the two close-up shots of her as she sits at her desk.

Continuity: Father Karras is out for an early morning jog and jogs past the same place twice as he jumps three-quarters of the track between shots.

Continuity: When Damien jumps through Regan's window we can see that half of the window frame is still there. But a couple of shots later when Det. Kinderman looks through it almost all the window is knocked out.

Continuity: As the first part of the exorcism comes to a close, Father Karras picks the blanket up off the floor and covers Regan with it. Father Merrin's red prayer book can be seen on the left night table but in the next shot it's moved and we see his crucifix there instead.

Revealing: As Father Merrin speaks to another archaeologist in the beginning of the movie the clock on the wall stops between ticks and he turns around to look at it. It's easy to see that the clock pendulum has been pushed up against the window from behind in order to make it stop.

Continuity: The long curtain on the window behind her has been noticeably moved between shots as a doctor puts Regan in a trance.

Continuity: At the end of the movie Chris calls to Father Dyer from her car and a Volkswagen beetle appears parked in front of them on the right side of the road, even though we've heard no car passing them.

Continuity: Regan sits up in bed as Father Merrin says, "By this sign of the Holy Cross" and she has no frozen vapor coming out of her mouth. In the next shot before her head spins around frozen vapor appears and can be seen all the way down to her blanket.

Revealing: As Chris walks around the attic to see what's making the noise the shadow of the candlestick appears on her face which is not possible as it's the only light source up there.

Continuity: When we first see her, Chris MacNeil lays in bed editing her script. The lamp above her head changes position between shots after she turns it on.

Revealing: Crash mats are visible on the steps, when the Father is thrown through the window and rolls down the stairs.

Continuity: After the first part of the exorcism Father Karras sits on the steps as Father Merrin walks to the bathroom. His coat and purple scarf are draped across the railing but two shots later as Father Karras goes back into Reagan's room the items have disappeared.

Continuity: Damien goes back into Reagan's room and takes the towel on the night stand to her right and wipes her forehead with it. He never puts it back on the nightstand but when Father Merrin comes back into the room it's there again.

Continuity: After the first part of the exorcism, Father Merrin leaves Regan's room and we see his red prayer book and crucifix sitting on the nightstand as he does. He sits on the steps and then goes into the bathroom to take a pill, but later as he goes back into her room he has the book and crucifix in his hand.

Deliberate "mistake": Father Merrin says, "It is He who commands you", and we hear and see the ceiling crack above his head. In the next shot we see the ceiling above him and they are no cracks in it, but four shots later we see the exact same spot and now cracks appear even though we hear no more cracking over-dubs after the first one.

Continuity: Father Merrin prays with his Rosary Beads as Chris brings him a cup of coffee. At first the cross is up near his hand but in the next shot it's dangling close to the floor.

Continuity: Back at his apartment Damien plays the tape of Regan backwards again on his tape recorder. Some items on the 1st and 2nd shelf on the back wall are rearranged between shots.

Continuity: As Father Karras listens to a tape recording of Regan at the university language lab the lamp above his head is on his left. In the next shot it's right in front of him.

Continuity: Father Merrin opens his red prayer book on the bedspread on the edge of Regan's bed and the page marker can be seen as he opens it. In subsequent shots the marker is not in his book, but can be seen in Damien's.

Continuity: Father Karras listens to a tape recording of Regan at the university language lab and there are three rows of seats in front of him. In the next shot from behind there are two rows in front of him.

Continuity: As Father Karras listens to a tape recording of Regan at the university language lab we see the tape recorder running, a pen in his right hand and no ash tray or cigarette. In the next shot from behind smoke rises from a lit cigarette and the pen is on the desk.

Continuity: In his apartment as Father Karras listens to the backwards tape of the voices coming from Regan, the tape recorder moves about four inches away from the edge of the desk between shots.

Continuity: Damien brings a tape recorder to Regan's room and a brown/green plastic bowl is on the table to her left. In the next shot when the draw of the table pops out the plastic bowl is moved back about four inches.

Continuity: Damien plays the tape of Regan for the Language Lab Director and when we first see them a chair is in front of Damien. In the next shot the chair is gone and a coat appears next to him on his right.

Continuity: Damien starts the tape recorder in Regan's room twice between shots.

Continuity: As the Language Lab Director plays the tape of Regan backwards for Damien he turns on the wrong tape recorder. There's no indication that this is not the first time he's heard the tape and he uses the recorder on the left to listen, and is not dubbing anything onto the recorder on the right. When we hear the backwards tape he uses the recorder on the right which does not have the right tape spooled up and doesn't have an overdub of the original to play backwards either.

Continuity: Lots of stuff moves as Damien waits on the couch in Chris's living room as she pours him a drink. The flower pot on the back wall under the ceramic pumpkin moves to the left and the couch he's sitting on moves a couple of feet to the left. Later everything moves back.

Continuity: The Language Lab Director plays the tape of Regan backwards for Damien but if you look at the tape it's running in the same direction.

Continuity: In the basement as Chris irons Father Karras' clean shirt, her cup on the ironing table rotates 45 degrees throughout the scene without being touched.

Other: As Regan pukes on Father Karras the superimposed vomit passes right threw her teeth twice.

Continuity: Father Karras confronts Regan for the first time and just before she pukes on him fresh vomit appears on her night gown. Her eye makeup becomes darker and her hair is matted down also between shots.

Continuity: In the scene with the crucifix, Chris falls to the floor after Regan bashes her in the face. Look closely at the dresser that eventually comes sliding across the room at her. When we first see it, it's about half a foot to the right of the closet door on the left of the room, and is never touched or moved. When we see it again as it comes sliding across the room at Chris it's been moved to the left right up against the closet door.

Continuity: Chris first meets Damien on a bridge as two other people walk in front of him. In the next shot they're behind him.

Continuity: After she gets up from the table, Chris walks into the kitchen and we see an oil and vinegar tray on the lower level of the shelf above the cutting board. We see this spot before behind Det. Kinderman as he looks at his coffee, and the oil and vinegar tray are not there.

Continuity: Det. Kinderman talks to Chris as they're having coffee in the kitchen and says, "My opinion, he was killed by a very powerful man" and her right hand appears by her face between shots.

Visible crew/equipment: After he stirs it, Det. Kinderman lifts the spoon out of his coffee as he starts to talk to Chris at the dinner table. A perfect reflection of the cameraman can be seen in the left of the spoon.

Continuity: Chris interrogates Sharon and Willi about who put the cross under Regan's pillow, and Sharon goes from touching the phone with her left hand to holding a pad of paper between shots.

Deliberate "mistake": Det. Kinderman walks up the stairs where Burke Dennings fell to his death and looks up at Regan's window. This could not possibly be the outside of her window because when we see the room from the inside as Chris closes the window near the beginning of the movie, there's at least 6 to 8 feet between the window and corner of the house. Now when we see it as he looks up, the window is right at the corner of the house.

Continuity: As Father Karras talks to Det. Kinderman by the tennis court fence, the towel around his neck goes from being longer on the right side to longer on the left between shots.

Continuity: As they talk, Det. Kinderman describes how Burke Dennings was found, "with his head turned completely around, facing backwards". In the next shot they're standing in a different place. At first Father Karras has a shiny fence clamp on the right of his head than in the next shot it disappears.

Deliberate "mistake": Det. Kinderman appears between shots sitting on the bleachers as Father Karras is out for his early morning jog around the track.

Continuity: When Det. Kinderman meets Father Karras by the bleachers, Damien's collar is up. In the next shot it isn't.

Continuity: As they walk, Det. Kinderman talks about Burke Dennings death and Father Karras says, " Only what I read in the papers". Father Karras goes from not holding the towel around his neck to holding it between shots.

Continuity: The Psychiatrist hypnotizes Regan and the blanket on the chair behind her head is rearranged several times between shots.

Continuity: The Psychiatrist that hypnotizes Regan is wearing a tie that in the close-ups, is retied differently as the scene progresses.

Continuity: Chuck, the Assistant Director leaves after telling Chris and Sharon that Burke Dennings has been killed. In the next shot Chris' scarf is tied differently around the back of her neck.

Continuity: Chuck, the Assistant Director comes in and tells Chris and Sharon that Burke Dennings has been killed. Chris turns around and says, "Heard what" and in a bad over-dub we see her mouth move as she says something else that is been edited out.

Continuity: Chris drives home past the police cars and ambulance out side her house and when she gets in there's no one there. If you look closely as she turns into her driveway, tire marks on the wet pavement can be seen in the exact same spot from a previous take.

Continuity: After Burke Dennings is killed, Chris drives home past the police cars and ambulance out side her house with her high beams on. In the next shot as she pulls into her driveway, her low beams are on.

Continuity: Chris drives home past the police cars and ambulance outside her house after Burke Dennings is killed on the steps. At first there are a bunch of people on the steps, then the next time we see it two seconds later there's a lone policeman standing there.

Continuity: After the second set of tests on Regan, Dr. Klein asks Chris, "Do you keep any drugs in your house?". If you look closely he faces the wrong direction when he says this as Chris has not move yet from the spot where she's standing. She moves in the next shot.

Continuity: After he gets socked in the mouth, Dr. Klein gets ready to give Regan another injection and the lamp near the window and the curtain behind it move between shots.

Continuity: Dr. Klein gets socked in the mouth by Regan and blood drips out of his nose. The next time we see him, and in all the subsequent shots in this scene, there's no blood on his face.

Continuity: Dr. Klein talks to Chris about what Regan's test results indicate and she's touching her face with her left hand. In the next shot from the front, she's touching her face with her right hand.

Continuity: Dr. Klein and Dr. Taney arrive at the house and go up to Regan's room to see her for themselves. We see inside the room and the two doctors, Chris and Sharon are the only ones there but as they try to give her an injection, Karl appears from out of nowhere restraining her.

Continuity: As Father Karras lays down, Father Dyer shuts all the lights for him. The lamp on his desk is right over the typewriter the first time we see it than later as he turns it off it has been moved to the left.

Continuity: In his room, Father Dyer starts to sit next to Father Karras as he tries to console him. In the next shot he's standing in front of him.

Continuity: As he lays down, Father Dyer takes Father Karras' cigarette from him and puts it in his mouth. In the next shot it's back in Father Karras' right hand.

Continuity: Father Dyer walks into Father Karras' room and the Chivas Regal bottle on the floor changes sides between shots.

Continuity: Father Dyer walks down the hall on his way to Father Karras' room and the florescent ceiling lamp closest to the window is turned off between shots.

Continuity: Regan screams, "Mother, make it stop" and the books near the lamp on her desk move to the right between shots.

Continuity: After Chris puts her to sleep and walks down the steps, Regan screams and there is a close-up of the lamp flickering on the wall. In the next shot the lighting has changed as a dark shadow appears behind the lamp.

Visible crew/equipment: After Chris puts Regan to sleep she walks threw an equipment shadow as she goes down the steps and asks the maid, "Is it coming out Willi?".

Continuity: After her bath as she gets ready for sleep Regan asks Chris, "What's wrong with me?" and her left arm goes from being under the pillow to under her head between shots.

Continuity: At the party Father Dyer sings just before Regan walks in and says to the Astronaut, "You're gonna die up there". The music book on the piano is open to the same page but the manuscript paper underneath has been moved between shots.

Continuity: At the party, a drunk Burke Dennings calls Karl a, " Bloody, damned, butchering, Nazi pig!" and the chain around his eyeglasses moves on his chest twice between shots.

Continuity: Sitting in front of the fireplace at her party, Chris asks Father Dyer, "Who's the priest I keep seeing there…" and the woman to his left has a drink in her hand. In the next shot the drink is on the table.

Continuity: Sitting in front of the fireplace at her party, Father Dyer tells Chris that Father Karras' mother had died the previous night. The candle in the candleholder to her right rotates throughout the scene.

Continuity: Chris takes Regan to Doctor Klein for some tests to see what's wrong with her. As she sits in the office waiting for the doctor to come in, the papers on his desk move between shots without anyone going near them.

Continuity: As Chris sits in the office waiting for Doctor Klein to come in, the tissue coming out of the Kleenex box behind his desk moves between shots without anyone going near it.

Continuity: As Damien walks into the psychiatric ward to visit his mother the woman directly across from her changes sides on her bed between shots.

Visible crew/equipment: In his office as Chris talks to Doctor Klein the boom mike's reflection can be seen moving around in the metal light behind him.

Continuity: In Doctor Klein's office the handle on the ice bucket in the back of the room under the blue picture is moved as the scene progresses and Chris talks to the doctor.

Continuity: After Chris is startled by the exploding flame in the attic there's a shot of a priest caring flowers into the courtyard of a church and if you look closely the flowers on the right are the same in the close-up but the flowers on the left are not. When he walks into the chapel the flowers are rearranged again.

Audio problem: After Chris is startled by the exploding flame in the attic there's a shot of the bell tower of a church as a priests carries flowers into the courtyard. If you look closely the bell we hear overdubbed from the tower is not moving.

Visible crew/equipment: As Chris walks around the attic a gas operated candle that doesn't have a wick is used in the shot when she's startled by the exploding flame.

Continuity: Before Chris goes up into the attic to see what's making the noise Regan is wearing a blue nightgown. A few seconds later they cut back to her and she's wearing a pink nightgown.

Continuity: In bed Regan reads "Photoplay" magazine as Chris touches the covers of the bed. In the next shot she's pulling the magazine away from Regan.

Continuity: As Chris goes up into the attic to see what's making the noise, the flame on the candle gets longer between shots as she walks up the steps.

Continuity: Father Damien and Tom have a drink at a local bar where Damien confides that he has lost his faith. When he brings the beers over both glasses are full but several seconds later when he takes his first sip the head is already gone.

Continuity: After Chris is startled by the exploding flame in the attic there's a shot of a priest carrying flowers across a courtyard into a chapel. When he first opens the door to the chapel he's in the shade, but when we see him walking into the chapel from the other side of the door the sun is shining.

Continuity: Chris talks to Regan as she puts her to bed. If you look closely the large pictures on her night table change position throughout the scene.

Continuity: Father Karras bandages his mother's leg and we see her right hand as she raises it and he says, "Mama, I could take you somewhere…". In the next shot she raises her hand to her head and she now has a band-aid on her wrist.

Continuity: Father Karras eats dinner in his mother's apartment and the curtain on the far side of the table moves without being touched the second time we see it.

Continuity: Before Father Karras walks into his mother's apartment the lights are on. In the next shot as he walks in the lights are off and he turns them on.

Continuity: In the scene in their basement Chris brings the Ouija board over to the ping pong table and Regan puts the paddle down with the ball underneath. In the next shot the paddle is there but the ball disappears.

Continuity: As Father Karras goes to New York to see his mother a woman in yellow on the sidewalk with her two children disappear between shots as he crosses the street.

Continuity: As Chris and Regan discuss how to play the Ouija board the pointer is to the right of the word No. In the next shot when Regan picks it up it's covering the word No.

Continuity: In the scene in their basement Chris takes the painted bird from Regan who touches the wood post in the center of the room with her right hand. In the next shot she's leaning against it.

Continuity: After returning home from the movie set Chris walks in and says hello to Sharon. The bottle of Coke, the typewriter carriage and the page she is typing all move between shots by the time Chris gets to the desk.

Continuity: After returning home from the movie set, Chris gets a letter from the White House which she reads with both hands. Regan says, "Hi Mom" and in the next shot Chris has a drink in her hand.

Continuity: At the movie set, Chris says to Burke Dennings, "It just doesn't make sense" and the guy in the blue shirt in the background is standing up. In the next shot he's bending over.

Continuity: After returning home from the movie set, Chris' necklace is tucked under her collar. She doesn't go near it but two shots later it's over her collar.

Continuity: Chris picks up a newspaper as she tells Carl, "We've got rats in the attic". In the next shot the newspaper is unmoved.

Continuity: The phone on the right of the archaeologist's desk moves between shots in the close-up. The first time we see it the connector chord is flush with the desk but the second time we see it the chord is above the desk and no one goes near it.

Continuity: Chris says to Carl, "We've got rats in the attic" and he replies, "Rats?". All the items on the table to her left have been rearranged between shots as she turns towards him.

Continuity: Father Merrin walks over to see what the other archaeologist has found at the dig site and the items in the sifter move between shots in the close-up.

Continuity: Father Merrin watches three metal smiths working and the piece of metal on the anvil is red hot in one shot and not in the next.

Continuity: At the dig site in the beginning of the movie, the items on the rock behind Father Merrin move in the close-up after the other archaeologist shows him what he has found.

Revealing: You can see wires in the scene where Regan levitates above her bed in the exorcism scene, lifting her up. The way they pull on her dress is also visible.

Continuity: After the exorcism, Regan's wrists are tied together, but are then later seen tied to the bed.

Continuity: Father Dyer tells Chris about Father Karras' mother's death and gets the story wrong. He tells her that she died in the apartment and was there for several days before they found her. This contradicts all we saw in the previous scene in the psychiatric ward.

Continuity: Father Merrin says, "Be gone" as he walks over to the other side of Regan's bed, and the lamp on her right almost falls over. In the next shot it's not moving at all.

Continuity: Father Merrin says, "Hear my prayer" as he puts his hand on Regan's head. If you look closely the vomit first comes out when her head is facing the right and it totally soils her blue nightgown. In the next shot with her head facing left there's nothing on her blue nightgown.

Continuity: Father Merrin says the Lord's Prayer as he stands at the edge of Regan's bed. At first she's sticking her tongue out at him then in the next shot she's not.

Continuity: Father Karras goes to see Bishop Michael trying to convince him that an Exorcism would be appropriate for Regan. If you look closely the chair on Father Karras' left, the chord to the black phone and the waste paper basket all move between shots.

Continuity: At her front door, Father Karras asks Chris, "Did Regan know a priest was coming over?" as he looks at her. In the next shot he's looking down.

Continuity: Before she gets up from the table, Chris asks Det. Kinderman, "Would you like some more coffee?". His cup is obviously empty as she picks it up but if you look closely throughout this continuous scene, he's never touched it.

Audio problem: In Doctor Klein's office Regan spits at him as he tries to give her an injection. We hear it but if you look closely nothing comes out of her mouth.

Continuity: Chris and Regan walk back to Sharon's desk and the radio on the shelf to the right of the desk has moved between shots.

Continuity: In the archaeologists office at the beginning of the movie Father Merrin looks at the clock on the wall as it stops. The first time we see it the pendulum is to the left of center but the second time we see it, it's dead center and it hasn't been touched.

Continuity: When the full IV bottle falls and breaks during the exorcism, no liquid splashes out of it.

Revealing: As Father Merrin puts his hand on Regan’s head, nasty green vomit starts to come out of her mouth. If you look closely when she turns her head towards him you can see the hose under her ear that proceeds under a false cheek and into her mouth.

Continuity: As Chris walks around the attic to see what's making the noise more candle wax appears dripping down its side between shots.

Continuity: Det. Kinderman throws his napkin down flat on the table in front of Chris as he gets up. In the next shot it has been rearranged on the table.

Continuity: After Chris puts her to sleep and walks down the steps, Willi the maid is cleaning up Regan's mess on the living room carpet from the previous party scene. We saw a nice close-up of the wet carpet as it happened and now Willi is not even close to cleaning the right spot. In fact she's kneeling right on it, yikes.

Visible crew/equipment: When the Father's are exorcising Regan, as she floats above her bed, the boom is visible at the extreme top of the screen.

Continuity: When Father Karras sprinkles holy water on Regan, they forgot to paint her ear lobes and it looks terrible.

Continuity: As they speak about Regan, Chris sits down at his desk and a shadow appears on Dr. Klein's forehead that wasn't there in the previous shot before she walked to the seat.

Continuity: In the scene where Chris McNeil goes into the attic to investigate, the size of her candle shrinks at an incredible rate between shots.

Continuity: Father Karras says to Det. Kinderman, "It didn't happen in the fall?" And his right hand goes from holding the fence to being wrapped around the poll between shots.