THE EXORCIST: THE VERSION YOU HAVEN'T SEEN YET isn't helped by 11
minutes of extra footage added for this pre-DVD theatrical release.
For starters, there's an unnecessary (if brief) coda pairing Father
Dwyer with Detective Kinderman. (Latter to former: "Do you like
films?") Another non-essential has Fathers Karras and Merrin swap-
theological mumbo-jumbo during the exorcism. (Something about re-
jecting the possibility of God's love.) The gravest offender-- and
most obvious of added footage-- is a pre-Regan-pees-on-the-carpet
doctor's office visit, where the cherubic lass is prescribed a drug
called... Ritalin. (Accompanied by audience chuckling, of course.)
The new scene is a head-scratcher, though, 'cause little Linda has-
n't been acting creepy-enough to *warrant* such a visit. In fact,
those familiar with the film may wonder, as I did, if the sequence
was added *out* of sequence!
Worst about the four-minute-plus bit is that it drags. Or, rather,
*adds* drag. As if the filmmakers are trying to kill time. Mind
you, when viewed in a Y2K, post-MTV, post-Jerry Bruckheimer con-
text, the movie *itself* seems sorta slow. The takes are long, the
dialogue is extensive, and there's at least double-dozen different
shots of characters ascending or descending staircases. (Please re-
frain from MST3K outbursts during said stair-climbing. Thank you.)
The big-screen presentation also reveals other flaws, such as actor
Jack MacGowran's overdone, Foster Brooks-style drunkenness. Or the
cheesy melodrama of Karras' mother's scenes. Or, most problematic,
actor Jason Miller's relentlessly long-faced performance. Seen on
video, he's fine; viewed on a big screen and the actor becomes more
monotone. More hound-dog than human and certainly less three-dim-
ensional than the film requires. Oh, and Max Von Sydow's make-up
gets worse as it goes.
On the upside, the sound recording is absolutely incredible. (Ef-
fects, that is. Non-demonic dialogue is rather hard to hear.) The
print, presumably restored, looks good, too. And director William
Friedkin is still damn effective at disturbing the Hell of an audi-
ence. Go ahead and pick your poison, be it startling sounds (love
that telephone!), desecrated icons, profane little girls ("your mo-
ther hocks socks to sell"), or stomach-churning medical procedures,
like that clanging, churning, pre-MRI x-ray machine. Yucko. Plus
*the* creepy prologue of all creepy prologues. Nope, still don't
understand all that Iraq business, but the assorted Arabic shapes,
sounds, and textures are fabulous for leaving Western viewers dis-
concerted. Bravo! With Ellen Burstyn, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty Winn,
Reverend William O'Malley, Barton Heyman, and as the voice of Pa-
zuzu, Mercedes McCambridge. Followed by two sequels, John Boor-
man's EXORCIST II: THE HERETIC in 1977 and "Exorcist" author and
screenplay writer William Peter Blatty's THE EXORCIST III in 1990,
who adapted his novel "Legion" which *itself* was adapted from his
unused screenplay to the EXORCIST II! The book is better. (Grade:
"R"/135 min.)
Grade: B
Copyright 2000 by Michael J. Legeros
Movie Hell is a trademark of Michael J. Legeros
Originally posted to triangle.movies as MOVIE
HELL: Aerobic Exorcize