Come back Pazuzu, all is forgiven!
We got a first look at this lovely lady last week, and Vincent Van Dyke Effects has now taken to Instagram to share some much better shots of the female demon who only makes a very brief appearance in The Exorcist: Believer.
Spoilers ahead.
In David Gordon Green's critically-panned legacy sequel, Lamashtu shows up during the final act exorcism scene, but we only get a couple of brief shots while the rite is being performed. She eventually departs - taking the soul of one of the girls, Katherine, with her.
During a recent interview, VFX artist Christopher Nelson revealed that the evil entity originally had a larger role in the film.
“You see [Lamashtu] very abstractly in the final exorcism,” Nelson explained. “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.”
Interestingly, Pazuzu and Lamashtu were adversaries in Mesopotamian legend, with the former said to protect pregnant women from the malevolent demigoddess. Could we see Pazuzu return in Deceiver or the final chapter in the trilogy for a face-off with his ancient enemy? Yes, we're sure William Friedkin is turning in his grave at the mere suggestion.
Check out some new photos below. The post also includes a detailed breakdown of the work that went in to turning actress Lize Johnson into the creature.
"Exactly 50 years ago this fall, the most terrifying horror film in history landed on screens, shocking audiences around the world. Now, on Friday, October 13, a new chapter begins. From Blumhouse and director David Gordon Green, who shattered the status quo with their resurrection of the Halloween franchise, comes The Exorcist: Believer.
Since the death of his pregnant wife in a Haitian earthquake 12 years ago, Victor Fielding (Tony winner and Oscar nominee Leslie Odom, Jr.; One Night in Miami, Hamilton) has raised their daughter, Angela (Lidya Jewett, Good Girls) on his own. But when Angela and her friend Katherine (newcomer Olivia Marcum), disappear in the woods, only to return three days later with no memory of what happened to them, it unleashes a chain of events that will force Victor to confront the nadir of evil and, in his terror and desperation, seek out the only person alive who has witnessed anything like it before: Chris MacNeil."
The Exorcist: Believer also stars Ann Dowd as Victor and Angela’s neighbor, and Jennifer Nettles and Norbert Leo Butz as the parents of Katherine, Angela’s friend.
The movie is still in theaters, and was released on Digital earlier this week. The Exorcist: Deceiver is currently set to arrive on April 18, 2025.