Oscar award-winning FX makeup artist Chris Nelson has revealed a full look at the demon from The Exorcist: Believer that didn’t make its way into the film.
Note: Spoilers follow.
Lamashtu demon
The Exorcist: Believer happens to feature a different demon than the first film, as Lamashtu is responsible for possessing the two girls in the flick, but the movie doesn’t make a big deal of it.
It’s revealed at one time The Exorcist: Believer was going to feature a full shot of the Lamashtu demon.
“We are really proud of our Lamashtu Demon make-up on the amazing @lizejohnston for The Exorcist: Believer,” Nelson explained on Instagram. “ALOT of hard work went into her by so many artists. This consisted of a harness, skullcap, and partial body suit. Full head and body prosthetics, dentures and lenses by @eyeinkfx . Applied on the day by myself, Kevin Kirkpatrick and Dave Dupuis. All labwork and build done at the amazing @vincentvandykefx who will tag everyone involved. More full body shots to come.”
Nelson also revealed to Polygon that the Lamashtu demon originally had a larger role in the film.
“You see [Lamashtu] very abstractly in the final exorcism,” Nelson said. “But we did an entire head-to-toe prosthetic suit, harness, wings, horns, a full realization of Lamashtu which I’m very, very proud of and was very difficult. It was five and a half hours of makeup in, about an hour and a half makeup out, including a 12-hour shoot day.”
Maybe in the sequel
As noted in the interview, in Sumerian mythology, Lamashtu was a female demon who harassed women during childbirth and attempted to steal their children, which fit right in with The Exorcist: Believer and its ending, and in Sumerian mythology, Lamashtu would gnaw on their bones and suck their blood.
“I tried to talk [director David Gordon Green] into putting it in there,” Nelson said. “But you know, David knows the movie better than I do. And it works well within the context of the story we’re seeing. But I would have liked to have seen more of the demon.”
Regarding why the scene may have been cut, the original movie only offers glimpses of the demon, Pazuzu, which I think comes off as better as sometimes showing less is more and a lot scarier when left up to the imagination.
However, Nelson says he has hopes the sequels, as The Exorcist: Deceiver is in development, might go more evil.
“I would have liked to have gone more evil. But that’s just me,” said Nelson. “I like to go to the extreme. David’s really good at pulling me back and keeping me based in reality. Otherwise, I think it would have been maybe too otherworldly. I had lots of evil ideas. Maybe on the next one, we can have something a lot more evil.”
Universal also first revealed the Lamashtu demon as part of its Halloween Horror Nights in Orlando Exorcist exhibit.
The Exorcist: Believer will be available to watch at home through VOD starting on Oct. 24, right in time for Halloween.
