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Director: William Friedkin
Screenplay: William Peter Blatty
Cast: Ellen Burstyn as Chris
MacNeil; Max von Sydow as Father Lankester Merrin; Jason Miller as Father
Damien Karras; Linda Blair as Regan MacNeil; Mercedes McCambridge as the Voice
of the Demon; Lee J. Cobb as Lieutenant William F. Kinderman
A Night of a Thousand Horror (Movies) #Bonus 1
Concluding my travels through the
Exorcist franchise, the following
will be briefer than the others. The director's cut of The Exorcist was a special case, like Francis Ford Coppola's 2001 "Redux" of Apocalypse Now, of an extended cut of a
culturally important film getting a theatrical release decades later from the
original version and having success. There was also something symbolic with
this version's theatrical release, whether it had been released in British
cinemas or not, knowing that in 1999 the original version was unbanned from
video finally in the United Kingdom. One of the many embarrassing moments of
the James Ferman headed British Board of Film Classification, it
feels almost symbolic, like when another of Ferman's
personal targets The Texas Chain Saw Massacre
(1974) was also unbanned soon after his retirement, of a new age we still
live in now that, for all the moments that still raise eyebrows, the BBFC
became more clearheaded from censorship bans and illogical cuts for the better.
At least a victory lap for the better.
I was however too young to see
this version until now. My experience with The
Exorcist has always been the original theatrical version, both in the story
of my uncle on my mother's side seeing it back in the early seventies and
finding the shocked reactions to the film (and the film itself) funny rather
than scary, and my own viewing of the 1973 theatrical release. The director's
cut has not really replaced the theatrical version in the slightest; unlike the
many butchered original releases of films buried by the superior director's
cuts, the one for The Exorcist is
more subtle in its inclusions and not that significant to outright obscure the
original from existence. In fact baring one major moment which became part of
popular culture cut off by itself, I find the director's cut of this more of a
new perspective of the original for a change of pace.
It's a version with a slightly
different pace, slower but never feeling like b-roll has been pointlessly
stuffed in. The inclusions are mostly new dialogue scenes which, admittedly,
are not of worth in exposition as the theatrical version was exceptional enough
trimming them out and still conveying information, but are worthy instead of
re-inclusion as to adding new details on these richly woven characters of William Peter Blatty's script. Max von Sydow, though its only a few more lines, gets more screen
time and with a cast like Ellen Burstyn,
Jason Miller and George C. Scott, even pointless additional exposition still works
as character building instead. One of the only major differences in tone is the
"happier" ending sequence with Scott,
which Blatty wanted in the film to
affirm that the story did end with a victory for good in spite of the finale
tragedy. Either way, both the theatrical and director's cut versions have
memorable ending shots, so you have two good ones instead of just one. There's
little need to say ones better as the other, as the first is a potent image of
stairs with no dialogue, the other a sweet end to a melancholic finale with
loved characters.
The scene which is also distinct
and the one the film is still remembered for is the "spider walk"
sequence, which split off into being part of pop culture lexicon of something
the demonically possessed act in horror films. Even wrestling fans have seen
the influence of this scene on their entertainment if you google "Bray Wyatt". It's however a
terrible scene in context of the film and actually comparable to Renny Harlin's terrible 2004 prequel in
terms of being a crass jump scare I'd expect from that film. It's not only at
the end of a major plot event which lessens its impact, but the type of scare
is out of place as well for both the tone and the context in the narrative,
having yet to progress to the more extreme supernatural incidents which are far
more fittingly depicted through the infamous crucifix masturbation sequence. The
irony that it's this small moment, originally cut out of the film for tone,
that's remember is actually sad as, when the rest of this version of the movie
is still excellent, it's stands out badly.
Baring this, the director's cut
is actually a nice tribute to what qualities The Exorcist in either version has, appreciating it more now than
before seeing these films in order. It also emphasises how well the franchise has
been in spite of two sequels, only one of them legitimately bad in Renny Harlin's whilst even Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) has a
compelling weirdness to it. Most of the films on this viewing of the director's
cut actually fit within the world of the original, enough within dialogue and
moments in both the original theatrical cut and this version that evoke the
potential for all the films that would come after. Particularly how even
exposition dialogue has a distinct personal style to them evokes how good William Peter Blatty would be in his
directed script for The Exorcist III
(1990). The greater testament, as this can qualify as an epilogue for
viewing all the films, is knowing that barring Harlin's all the films, even John
Boorman's, have this air of higher quality than a lot of horror franchises.
Fittingly for an original film that was directed as much as a drama as it was a
horror film, most of the sequels would share the same care with its themes, the
respect future creators had far better than other franchises with greater
results1.
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1 For anyone curious,
I'll gladly watch The Exorcist TV series from 2016 if it was easier to acquire,
(and baring in mind a second series is also on the way as of 2017). Blind buys
for a digital download only show is a bit of a risk unless it's something
immensely special for myself. When it is easier to see, I'll add a new chapter
later on after completing this franchise touching on it.
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