Corrected entry: The movie establishes its own rules regarding the reality of the physical abuse suffered by the Regan character. Apparently, all the evil manifestations and physical damage suffered by Regan is real, for she has the scars at the end of the movie to show it. This shows that they are not just a mental trick played on the others by the 'demon'. So when Regan turns her head completely around at two different points in the movie, the actual physical damage she suffered should have killed her. You could even hear bones cracking during the sequence, suggesting that she was indeed going through some extreme physical suffering. Even if the 'demon' kept her body 'alive' with his special powers even though it should have been dead, Regan should have died moments after the 'demon' left her body and invaded Father Karras'.
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Correction: Not exactly. Job 1:12 says "And the Lord said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand". This is usually interpreted that the Devil (or demons) can not kill humans, even though they may tempt us, or wreak havoc with our lives (although they may make other humans kill us - bit of a loophole there). So Pazuzu had to keep her alive during any potentially lethal damage, such as the head-twist, and heal her back after it was done. The other injuries were superficial, and keeping them would increase the "fun" Pazuzu had with the family. And besides, Pazuzu would want to keep Regan alive in pure self-interest. He knows there are times he may have relinquish control of the body for a while, and would not want to come back to a broken "toy".
Twotall