Women in Horror: Top 30 Female Horror Movie Characters

Regan MacNeil – Courtesy of Warner Bros

16. Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair, The Exorcist)

Twelve year old girl Regan MacNeil should have been enjoying a pleasant life. But if you’ve seen The Exorcist, you know that this isn’t what happens to her. After fooling around with a Ouija board, Regan starts exhibiting some very bizarre behaviors. Her mother, actress Chris MacNeil, grows frustrated as her efforts to help only see the strange behavior get worse.

Although she is an atheist, Chris comes to realize her daughter is possessed by demonic forces. An exorcism is organized to try and draw the demons out of her by some local priests. It’s an arduous process, as the possessed Regan doesn’t want to make this easy. This includes distracting the exorcising priests by doing things like stabbing herself in the genitals with a cross and projectile vomiting green liquid.

Linda Blair’s performance as Regan MacNeil is truly chilling. She says and does some pretty horrifying things, which have been haunting horror movie fans for decades. Blair reprises the role in the first sequel, Exorcist II: The Heretic. It is unfortunately nowhere nearly as great as the original film, but that doesn’t take away from how scary Regan is in the first movie.