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THE EXORCIST: THE VERSION YOU'VE NEVER SEEN |
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This month's featured film: |
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Starring: Ellen Burstyn , Linda Blair , Max von Sydow , Jason Miller, Lee J Cobb
and Kitty Winn Directed by William Friedkin . Produced by William Peter Blatty . Written by William Peter Blatty, from his novel Distributor: Warner Brothers Running time: 2 hrs. 01 min. Rated R for strong language and disturbing images. (Originally released January 1, 1973) |
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What it's about: |
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IA rerelease of the 1973 horror classic, featuring previously deleted scenes, a remixed,
revamped soundtrack, and lots of new little touches here and there, the
film tells the story of a posessed teenage girl and the priests who do battle
with a demon for her soul. |
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The Review By Shadow |
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.In the wake of such questionable revivals as the rerelease of "The Godfather", "Gone
with the Wind", and the pointless, shot-for-shot remake of Alfred Hitchcock's
"Psycho", it is perhaps inevitable that eventually we would be treated to a
second cinematic showing of what may be the greatest horror movie of all time.
When The Exorcist, based on the novel by William Peter Blatty, was first shown in theaters, audiences
reacted by running screaming into the lobby, fainting, and occasinally heaving
their lunch onto the hapless moviegoers in front of them. Whether any film
made today can measure up to such standards of shock value is debatable, but one
thing is clear; no horror movie before or since has had such a deeply visceral
effect on its viewers. The Exorcist was, is, and probably always will be the Alpha and Omega of cinema horror, a movie
that is terrifying as it is intriguing, repulsive as it is majestic, and ultimately
numbing as it is engrossing. |
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For those who have been locked in a closet since 1973 (or for younger viewers who
somehow have managed to avoid seeing the original cut of The Exorcist, either on cable or on video), the movie tells the story of a little girl named
Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) who becomes posessed by an ancient demon and is transformed
into a nightmarish manifestation of the evil within her body. As her mental,
emotional and physical state metamorphoses, her mother, actress Chris MacNeil
(Ellen Burstyn) exhausts all medical and psychiatric solutions to the girl's
bizarre transformation, finally turning to exorcism as the last hope for her
own sanity, and her daughter's life. A young Jesuit priest, Damien Karras (Jason
Miller), full of doubts about both the validity of his faith and his own self-worth
in light of his inability to help provide for his ailing mother, becomes
embroiled in the demonic phenomena when Regan's mother turns to him for help.
But it is not until Damien brings his request for assistance to the church -
and the elderly priest, Father Lancaster Merrin (Max Von Sydow) is called in to
face an enemy he has fought once before - that the real horror begins. |
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Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) and Father Dyer in a scene
from "The Exorcist", now in rerelease in selected theaters nationwide. |
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Since The Exorcist has been around for quite some time, I won't get into a lengthy discussion or review
of the film as it has stood for the last 27 years; suffice to say that the
performances by all the actors are solid and powerful (particularly in scenes between
Regan and her mother during the first third of the film, which flow so naturally
that they almost have the flavor of improv); the plot is simple yet engrossing,
due partially to the fact that there is ultimately little rhyme or reason
behind the possession (a beautiful concession to what is probably the true
nature of evil, i.e. chaos); the special effects are still top notch and completely
effective (no small feat in this post-Star Wars/Matrix/Jurassic Park era); and, most of all, the entire story is done with complete and utter seriousness
by director Friedkin. Not once do we ever sense the film pandering to its
subject matter; never do we get the impression that we're being lied to. The Exorcist stands up today as possibly the most frightening movie ever made, and it is in good
part due to Friedkin's oft-stated intent to make not a great horror movie,
but a great movie. |
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Father Merrin (Max Von Sydow in aging makeup) in a scene from "The Exorcist" |
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Okay, enough gushing. (Speaking of gushing, it must be said that the pea soup used
in the sequences where the posessed Regan hurls vomit rather than invectives
at her preistly adversaries has never looked greener.) What everyone wants to know
is, what is this new, souped up, special edition like? The most noticeable diffirence, right off the bat, is in the sound. The original mono mix (stereo sound was not a staple of cinema when the film was originally made) has been cleaned up and remixed into surround sound, while being enhanced with more strange noises, subliminal growlings, and chilling little whispers. It is rather effective, if a little anachronistic when watching a film whose graininess at times served as a reminder of the age of the movie). There are also lots of little moments in the movie itself which have been enhanced (including several subliminal flashes of demonic faces where they never appeared before in the film - in Chris MacNeil's kitchen, on Regan's bedroom door, and so forth...although I must admit it seemed a bit overdone), and in at least one scene, Regan's face is subtly transformed for a split second, no doubt using computer enhancement. Some of these small touches seem to have escaped the notice of most reviewers, but myself and the rowdy, mostly twenty-something audience I viewed the movie with cheered every one with nervous glee. I suppose the main reasons to see this new 'special edition' of the film in a movie theater are 1) to experience a true classic on the big screen and 2) to see the added scenes which were cut out of the original version before its release. Of these, there are primarily four. The first is a sequence early on showing Regan undergoing medical testing (which I thought actually improved the pacing of the story, in that it added to the buildup of tension). Another added scene, of Father Merrin and Father Karras discussing the nature of evil in general and Regan's posession in particular, is interesting but probably not strong enough to warrant its inclusion, although at least one friend of mine who viewed the new version stated that it was preferable to not having any inkling at all as to why the demon chose to posess Regan in the first place. The two other added scenes, however, are of greater consequence, for reasons of pacing, mood, and impact on the film. One is the new ending, which wraps things up on a slightly more cheerful note than the original. The other scene of course, is the infamous "spider-walk" scene. This sequence (which, for all the hoopla surrounding it, takes up barely 5 seconds of screen time), comes in the new version at the point where Chris MacNeil has just learned of the death of her friend and director, Burke Dennings. The original film cut away as Ellen Burstyn is leaning against the wall of the foyer, composing herself after the shock of the news she's received. The restored footage begins here; we have a closeup of Burstyn's tear-stained face, and then we hear a strange thumping sound coming from offscreen (probably the spookiest part, if you knew what was coming). Burstyn slowly turns to look in the direction of the sound, and whispers "Oh my god...". The camera then shows the tall staircase leading up to the second floor, where we see that the thumping sound is Regan, skittering rapidly down the staircase backwards, her body doubled over, her legs and arms moving in a bizarre, crab-like fashion. The scene ends with a close up of Regan's upside-down mouth, stretched into a leer and dripping with blood (from where, we never find out), and then it cuts to a merciful blackout (quite diffirent from some 'reviewers' have stated, in that Regan does not crab-walk her way over to housekeeper Sharon and lick the girl's ankles like some bizarre spider-dog...although it seems that the scene may have originally ended that way (see the documentary included on the DVD Special Edition and the many production photos which seem to show Regan on the floor with her tounge sticking out.) |
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Hey babe, take a walk on the wild side; the famous "spider walk" scene from "The
Exorcist" now restored to the film for its re-release in theaters across the country. |
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For what it is, the scene is masterfully done, and disturbingly bizarre. However,
the logic of cutting this moment from the original picture is evident, for the
next scene (Regan's hypnotism) becomes almost anti-climactic after the surrealistic
(and gruesome) power of the spider-walk bit. Futhermore, Ellen Burstyn's reaction just prior to Regan doing her headlong,
upside-down descent of the staircase is the one and only bit of acting in the
entire film I'm not able to swallow; she knots her fist up and shoves it into her
mouth, throwing her other hand across her forehead, and gives what has to be
one of the weakest cries of anguish in any dramatic scene in any movie. It's particularly
weak when compared to the rest of Burstyn's performance, and doubly
so in such a fine movie as this. Apparently, Friedkin never even shot a view of the other actresses' reactions to
Regan's down-the-stairs stunt; perhaps he was having second thoughts even before
he finished filming the scene. Still, as a curiosity and an eerie (if short) segement of the movie, it's worth seeing,
provided one can take it in context. The one scene this re-released version could have done without is the altered ending. In the original cut of the film, we see Father Dyer gaze at the long stairwell and the now boarded-up window where Father Damien tumbled to his death in the intense climax. He turns to walk away, the theme music swells, and we fade to black. Not so in this new version. Lt. Kinderman approaches him in the street, exhanges a few words about the bizarre happenings, and then begins to talk about his free passes to the cinema again. They walk across the street, Kinderman prattling on about film, and then we go to black, and end credits. It's not a horrible scene in and of itself, but it completely annihilates the enigmatic, poingant feel of the original conclusion, which left us as viewers knowing exactly how Father Dyer must be feeling as he ponders on his freind's death. The sense of disquiet, the questioning, is diluted. Then again, writer William Peter Blatty seems to have wanted it that way. Still, all in all, the film is so powerful that nagging flaws like this are overcome. Viewing it in a movie theater today only reinforces the genius of Friedkin's vision and Blatty's concept. The aforementioned crowd in the cinema where I watched the movie - most of whom were not even born when The Exorcist first hit the theaters - started out the evening rowdy, boisterous, and obviously itching for the expected cheap gross-outs, blood and guts, and other mindless extremes which have become standard fare in the movies in the days since this intelligent, serious and deeply disturbing film was released. By the time the film ended, however, the audience was stunned and silent. Oh, they got their blood, their gross-outs, and their extremes. But they also got a hell of a lot more. Not bad for a movie that's 27 years old. Long live The Exorcist. |
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