Tom Joad here, let me explain a something quickly for you about this release. THE EXORCIST opens tonight (FRIDAY) in Austin, TX, Athens, GA and Ann Arbor, MI. You see, Warner Brothers is dragging their feet on this release. They are waiting to make definite plans for the re-release until after the opening weekend's grosses come in. If you're coming back from Spring Break,don't hesitate to give yourselves one more treat before kicking back into the daily grind on Monday. Help this film get the wide release it justly deserves!!!
Since my childhood, there have been three films that have given me nightmares: ALIEN, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE & THE EXORCIST. Through the years, these are the three I go back to again and again. These are the three I pirated copies for myself on VHS before inevitably buying the originals. These are the three I've upgraded in increments, as newer versions of each have been re-released, this trend continuing through laserdisc, and now DVD. Each of these have topped my list of favorites at various intervals, but tonight THE EXORCIST took the top spot for all time.
You see tonight was the world premiere of THE EXORCIST at the Paramount Theatre in Austin. The print, complete with a soundtrack that has been mastered with such digital precision that I sat in the darkened third row and watched a movie I've seen more times than I can count, for the very first time. Scratch that - tonight I EXPERIENCED this movie for the very first time.
From the opening credits, the score was already creeping from speaker to speaker, surrounding me, completely enveloping me in the world of Chris and Regan MacNeil. William Friedkin's masterful interpretation of William Peter Blatty's brilliant novel has never been as realized as it was tonight. There is a scene near the beginning, where Father Merrin is walking through a corridor after finding Pazuzu. On all previous versions, it's very difficult to distinguish what's going on the corridor surrounding him, but tonight there were so many Iraqi workers processing artifacts from the dig that I didn't have time to process all of them. The scene was transformed into a fantastic flurry of activity that plays much better than previous versions. This film is also full of new, very effective subliminal images that are on the screen but for a few frames. Pazuzu's images appear on walls and... you've just got to see it for yourself. Some of them are VERY SUBTLE - I'm going back on Friday to look for a couple of images Mr. Blatty mentioned to me that I didn't quite catch. I haven't even mentioned any of the 12 minutes that have been added.
But before I do, I need to state another reason why this movie affected me so much. Why it is the king of re-mastered, re-releases.
Deep down, we're all movie geeks - each and every one of us. Even those of you who wouldn't consider yourselves such. Be honest, if you have ever looked at a cover box at your local video store that had anything written on it's sleeve about EXTRA FOOTAGE, DIRECTOR'S CUT, or UNRATED VERSION, and gotten excited - even in the least - consider yourself a movie geek. And who among us hasn't ogled at the STAR WARS: SPECIAL EDITIONS, giggled with glee at the AUSTIN POWERS extras or a raised their eyebrows at a copy of the director's cut of BASIC INSTINCT? You know the answer. Being the ultra film geek that I am, I take extra special glee in such things. I don't believe I'll get too many arguments against the fact that the tweaked SPECIAL EDITIONS ruined some of the classic moments of the original series: Greedo shooting first? No three film buildup to the awesome and fear-instilling Jabba? Good God girl… no one gets it right, not one re-mastered film has honestly IMPROVED upon it's original version without slowing the pacing or throwing in at least one directorial decision that SHOULD'VE been left on the cutting room floor. Until now. It's taken more than a decade of re-releases and director's cuts for someone to finally get it right. I cannot thank William Peter Blatty enough for campaigning this film's true potential for over ten years and ultimately championing the true vision of the scariest and most disturbing film ever committed to celluloid, to a nation-wide, big-screen re-release. That's right - this isn't just a one time screening of a re-mastered print before it's quickly dumped onto video, THE EXORCIST is coming to a theatre near you! Let me see a show of hands: How many of you have ever seen THE EXORCIST on the big screen? Tonight I was among a unanimous audience who agrees that you've NEVER seen it like this. But you will, you've got to. You owe it to yourself to gauge how truly poor our choices for true horror films has become. Buy your ticket, take your seat and prepare to be overwhelmed with how powerful this film really is. See for yourself - prove me wrong. I declare this the grandfather of all horror films. I challenge you to re-experience THE EXORCIST on the big-screen for yourself, and then try to convince me there has been a more horrific, unsettling film made in the last twenty-five years.
The infamous Spider-Walking scene that I have been looking at stills of and been trying to visualize for more than six years, was finally brought to life and it dropped my jaw to the floor. I knew the scene had been reinserted into the film, but I didn't know when to watch for it. The sequence was so incredibly creepy, fantastic and awe-inspiring, I found myself the epitome of the VCR generation as I have never wished for the ability to rewind a film on the big-screen more in my life. The chills I got from that scene alone guarantee that I'll see this at least two more times, HOW DID THIS FOOTAGE GET LEFT OUT THE FIRST TIME AROUND?!?!?! Regan scurries down the stairs of her home, bent over backwards and spider-like on all fours… absolutely amazing stuff - and the cut scene with the doctor Regan is initially taken to! Office scenes between Chris and the doctor which are referred to in the original version but never seen, fill continuity holes and tie up 26 years of loose-strings. The demon's thunderous roar of "MERRRIN!!!!!" when the exorcist arrives at the house is so forceful in digital surround that I literally shook.
Seeing this film with an audience was revelatory. Seeing scenes that I'd previously watched in muted terror, became scenes littered with nervous laughter from the crowd. As we all knew what was coming, the anticipatory laughter during the scenes of the doctor prescribing Ritilin for little, "hyper-active" Regan are instantly classic. Don't take my word for it. See for yourself. And as Mr. Blatty told us before the film started, "Good luck."
*** MY INTERVIEW WITH WILLIAM PETER BLATTY WILL BE POSTED TOMORROW ***
Until mañana my friends,
