10 Things You Definitely Googled After Watching These Horror Films

5. The Exorcist – Who Or What Is Pazuzu?

A spliced-in Pazuzu in The Exorcist
Warner Bros. Pictures

The Exorcist - adapted from William Peter Blatty's novel of the same name - is not only one of the scariest movies in the history of cinema, but the film is also one that has so much of its central narrative tied to the established lore and figures of Roman Catholicism, while also pulling inspiration from several real-life exorcisms.

While we all remember Regan crab-walking down the stairs, her famous head-spinning, vomit-spewing antics, and that scene with a cross, one of the biggest takeaways upon finishing a first watch of 1973's The Exorcist is the haunting visage of Pazuzu.

The word Pazuzu is heard only a couple of times in The Exorcist, and those mentions are linked to brief cutaways of a white-faced figure. Pazuzu is never formally detailed or fully shown, yet this ends up being one of the bigger mysteries that people want to sink their teeth into after watching The Exorcist.

With answers to any question imaginable nowadays at our fingertips, Pazuzu is depicted in the Mesopotamian religion as being king of the demons of the wind and is said to be made up on both human and animal parts - often with the head of a lion, the claws of an eagle, a scorpion's tale and a snake's, err, penis.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks/Saints, Jamie Hayter, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is co-host of the Fearless in Devotion podcast, which won the Club Podcast of the Year gong at the 2024 FSA Awards.