THE EXORCIST: One Night Only screening feedback from fans

For one very special evening on September 30th, 2010, The Exorcist was officially shown on cinema screens across the U.S. Warner Brothers released the horror masterpiece to selected theaters with the promise viewers would see the Extended Director’s Cut (formally known, and previously released in 2000, as The Version You’ve Never Seen) followed by a behind-the -scenes featurette. This turned out to be snippets for the forthcoming Blu-ray documentary Raising Hell: Filming The Exorcist.

Here are some testimonials from captainhowdy.com readers who attended the one-night-only special screening:

The Audience

As happened in 2000 when I saw The Version You’ve Never Seen, the audience was completely silent throughout most of the film. The crucifixion scene did get some gasps from the audience, but the one scene that made people scream (and in 2000 as well) was when the phone rang while Father Karras was listening to the Devil groans on the tape recorder.  –Chip Landry

There were a few moments where people laughed (Burke being helped out of the party and Kinderman asking Chris for an autograph come to mind). I also heard a few “Oh my God”s during the crucifix scene.  –Amber B

The Film Itself

The movie’s overall look was amazing. I forgot that I was watching a 40 year old movie instead of a newly filmed period piece about the early 70s. This is gonna be killer on my 61 inch tv because it looked amazing on the big screen.  –Ghetto Exorcist

The film looked more pristine than I have ever seen it look. The possession scenes really popped off the screen, and in general the print was just very clean. It should be noted that the superimposed Pazuzu over Regan’s bedroom door in the VYNS was noticeably ABSENT from this print, which I couldn’t be happier about. The one over the stove was still there, though.  –Amber B

The print looked great and the sound mix was even better, very effective. –Chip Landry

The sound was phenomenal! I felt I like I was being assaulted by the soundtrack. It kept me uneasy throughout the entire film, which was a definite plus!–Greg

Color and sound are indescribably perfect. Roizman’s changes in tonal values along with corrected brightness and contrast levels made the entire cast look more realistic in terms of Dick Smith’s makeup on Regan, Chris, Father Karras, and Father Merrin. In fact, there are scenes with Chris where she has red and puffy eyes ¦ something I’ve never noticed in any of the other versions. Regan’s eyes are more piercing than ever and Fr. Merrin’s pallor is truer to a corpse as he lies dead on the floor after Pazuzu kills him. The sound is incredible in theaters, particularly the noises in the attic that seem to move from one side of the theater to another. The jet plane noise used to transition from Northern Iraq to Washington, DC is magnificent.–Father Bowdern

Behind-The-Scenes Documentary

The bonus footage was split into two parts: about 10 minutes worth before the movie started and then the rest after the feature. The “pre-show” portion focused on Blatty’s inspiration in writing the novel and Friedkin’s decision to accept the job of directing the movie. Test screenings were shown over the dialogue, as well as outtakes from the deleted tour of Washington sequence. –Amber B

When Linda Blair is talking about the film, she mentions that she received a standing ovation from the audience at the New York premiere. When Blair teared up about that recollection it was genuine and heart touching. There are new scenes on the makeup transformation completed by Dick Smith on Regan and Father Merrin. That was a true pleasure to see after all these years. –Father Bowdern

A rundown of what was shown in the post-film documentary:

• To make the records, toys, etc. fly into Regan’s window at the beginning of the crucifix masturbation scene, special effects men employed an air cannon and a simple v-shaped wood shoot.
• Blair definitely performed the entire crucifix scene, albeit Dietz did the actual ‘crotch stabbing quick take’ at another time.
• We get to see three assistants working behind the bed to make it shake, rise, and thump. It is very low tech as expected and exactly as described by Blair in the FOG documentary in 2000. One of the original shoots included Blair and Burstyn climbing off the shaking bed.
• The arteriogram behind-the-scenes blows the entire illusion and may not be what you expected; again very low tech, but effective.
• Blair claims that she actually wore the vomit apparatus too and when she wore it she had to do so correctly or œit would backfire into my mouth. Roizman concurs with her statement. You will see both Dietz and Blair vomiting from the apparatus although it is difficult to tell the two apart because of the filming angle that Roizman’s BTS crew had to do along with the identical makeup on both. Additionally, you will see the canister, pumps, and several of the crew working on the setup and deployment of the vomit. There was a small comment by Roizmen about how ineffective and messy the scene became on film. Inasmuch, Friedkin had no interest in using the vomit apparatus performance by Blair or Dietz, thus the painted in vomit and the quick shot of Dietz with the vomit apparatus.
• There is a very small feature of the 360-degree head-turning dummy making its 180-degree head turn at the ending of the crucifix masturbation scene.
• Not a single film cell of the spider-walk was shown. Bummer. (I can confirm behind-the-scenes footage of the spiderwalk appears on the Blu-ray documentary Raising Hell).
• There is slightly more contact lens information including information you may have already known. Blair talks about having to use numbing eye drops and the most comfortable lenses are the white contacts that she actually inserts herself (where was the ophthalmologist?).

Thanks to Father Bowdern in the Discussion Forums for this rundown)

Final Thoughts

I had a real blast seeing the movie on the big screen for the first time, as I missed it ten years ago when it was re-released. The movie truly has never looked or sounded better, and I can’t wait for the blu-ray to come out! –Amber B

It was definitley a great experience to see it on the big screen! I thought I got goosebumps at home… Some parts in there were just intense. I really hope I get to see it on the big screen again at least once more in my life. —DamienKarras

This movie stands out still as one of my favorites of all time..and never loses it’s ‘awesomeness’. I type this next to my 24×36 Exorcist 2000 release poster with my Regan Spider walk figure on my desk. I was just really really happy I got to see it on the big screen, looking forward to the blu-ray extras. –PossessedReGan

The Exorcist blu-ray and Extended Director’s Cut DVD are released October 5, 2010!