Pazuzu (The Exorcist) the first film, Linda Blair played Regan. Mercedes McCambridge provided the majority of Pazuzu's dialogue, most notably in all the scenes with Fathers Karras and Merrin. In earlier scenes, Pazuzu's voice is provided by Linda Blair herself in some scenes, and Ron Faber in others. The face of Pazuzu is provided by Eileen Dietz, who also plays Regan during the vomiting, levitation and masturbation scenes. Pazuzu is mostly manifested by a swarm of locusts in "Exorcist II: The Heretic", though is also shown possessing the young Regan and a young boy named Kokumo during flashback sequences. While the stand-in for
The Exorcist (film series) the screen before.” However, Vincent Canby, writing in "The New York Times", dismissed "The Exorcist" as “a chunk of elegant occultist claptrap…[A] practically impossible film to sit through…it establishes a new low for grotesque special effects...” Andrew Sarris complained that “Friedkin’s biggest weakness is his inability to provide enough visual information about his characters…whole passages of the movie’s exposition were one long buzz of small talk and name droppings…"The Exorcist" succeeds on one level as an effectively excruciating entertainment, but on another, deeper level it is a thoroughly evil film.” Writing in "Rolling Stone", Jon Landau felt the film was,