[TheTunnel]

I know there’s been quite a bit of discussion about this, and i know that our dear Father Bowdern has made it clear that he prefers the 1973 original version to the longer one.

There are just a couple likes and dislikes I wanted to add about the 11 minute longer version:

I really think that the “Nervous Disorder” material is excellent, and that takes up at least half of the “new footage”. Barton Heyman (am I spelling that correctly?) is a fantastic character actor.

I think the “Spider-Walk” scene is ridiculous and they should have just stayed with the orginal fade out.

One other thing is the added music. As a trained film composer, I feel it is absolutely unnecessary to add the bassy drone-like synthesizer during the scene where Regan’s mom is trying to reach her Dad in Rome…We see a shot of Regan looking down and depressed that her father didn’t bother to call her on her birthday, but this new synth music crap that has been added to the scene implies something evil is going on AT THAT TIME…Maybe Friedkin thought it was a form of foreshadowing what was to come, but I think if you compare the scene with and without this added music, you’ll find that it is completely out of place at that stage in the movie…

Does anybody else have any specific scenes that come to mind that they like or dislike about the longer version?…I’m not really asking which VERSION you prefer…Just wondering about subtle differences that you find BENEFIT the original, or stuff you think should have been left out (such as the CONSTANT additional images of Pazuzu that were put in, etc.)…

Barry

[Ceru]

Good point about that music put in during the ‘calling the hotel in Rome’ scene. The music adds a creeping “Uh-oh” kind of suspense. BUT without any music, it’s just Chris’s voice ranting away on the phone, which is pretty tense.
The line “I’ve been on this line for 20 effing minutes”, I think someone on this board previously said why they thought that line was cut?

As for subtlety, there’s all that new foley work, including the miscellaneous voices in the background. It does create a fuller, more expanded, off-camera atmosphere, even if some of it is clearer and sharper than the original sound.
The dialog in the bar scene: a guy says “Yeah, I’ll be right back” and some woman says, I shit you not: “This is my favorite part, whoo! Whoo!!” She’s referring to the Ramblin’ Man song, which by the way, got blasted to 11. Friedkin always said he wanted sharp contrasts in light and sound between scenes.
The sound effects in Iraq get a boost too. Those pick-axes? More like slegehammers. The constant “ding-ding-ding, ding-ding-ding”? You’ll hear it again when Merrin receives the telegram.
Regan’s projectile vomit attack on Karras, the original sound is a low roar, the new sound is a badly dubbed “Blecch!”
The sounds of women weeping and sobbing when Karras sees ghostly Mother Karras sitting up in bed. Very creepy, and a reminder of the asylum.

Critics can talk all they want about the new “God is in His heaven, all is right with the world” ending with Dyer and Kinderman, but the echoey chanting heard when it shows the boarded-up window is, I think, a very effective, almost poignant bookend of sound, as you hear it with the title card at the start of the film.

[TheTunnel]

All good points Ceru…Thanks!!

Barry

[epicwin123]

Good points Ceru. I should listen harder next time I watch the movies. I think the one scene where Karras is litening to the recording of Regan’s voice, you don’t know why he is doing it in the movie. I didn’t know until after I read the book.

[Ananta]

One other thing is the added music. As a trained film composer, I feel it is absolutely unnecessary to add the bassy drone-like synthesizer during the scene where Regan’s mom is trying to reach her Dad in Rome…We see a shot of Regan looking down and depressed that her father didn’t bother to call her on her birthday, but this new synth music crap that has been added to the scene implies something evil is going on AT THAT TIME…

I totally agree with you on this one.
However I must kinda admit that the “the bassy drone-like synthesizer” thing is quite effective when Chris went to Regan’s bedroom (just after Burke has been thrown out of the window…) I enjoyed that part the first time I heard it at the theater. On the other hand, I’ll never get used to the new overloaded Pazzuzu flashes …

[fatherbowdern]

The_Tunnel said:

I know there’s been quite a bit of discussion about this, and i know that our dear Father Bowdern has made it clear that he prefers the 1973 original version to the longer one.
Barry

Yes, tis true, Barry. Yes, tis true, Ceru that I brought up the cutting of the line about, “I’ve been on this fucking line for twenty minutes.” I have no idea why it was cut and it doesn’t make sense. Perhaps someone in the editing process laughed at someone being on hold for 20 minutes as if that is an abnormal lengthy timeframe by today’s standards. Perhaps someone in the editing process thought that Chris’s language was responsible for Regan’s response to Dr. Klein, “Well, specifically, Mrs. MacNeil, she advised me to keep my fingers away from her goddam c*nt.” Go figure.

Yet, it is another reason why I truly dislike TVYNS/Director’s Cut. Just by initiating this new post, we can already see that individuals like and dislike certain elements between the two versions. IMHO, Friedkin did a superb job of editing the appropriate scenes to meet the running-time constraints enforced by WB. Preschooler splashes of Pazuzu on the stove vent, Regan’s bedroom wall, and morphing Regan’s and Pazuzu’s face during the hypnosis scene was a part of the process of updating the film … and doing so very ineffectively. The new ending is insipid and does not add any value whatsoever; it only takes away from a perfect ending that was already poignant and left some doubt in the minds of the viewers.

I have had a lot of badgering about the spider-walk scene and the blood gushing from Regan’s mouth by the use of CGI. Despite the fact that I do not enjoy TVYNS/Director’s Cut, I will be attending the September 30, 2010, one-day-only release for the excitement of seeing it on the big screen again with its new enhancements, particularly by Roizman. However, I am more enticed by the new documentaries that could potentially dispel the CGI rumor and, quite honestly, I hope that I see something that proves the filming of the bloody version spider-walk scene back in 1973. (Of course, if there is nothing about it, everyone can continue to just draw their own conclusions until the end of time.)

Father Bowdern

[Ceru]

Thank you for the explanation on the possible reasons for that “20 minutes” line getting cut, Father. Very plausible, if I may say so.

Okay, the spider-walk scene. I’m assuming the “Regan comin’ atcha” shot was an outtake, along with the side shot of the spider-walk itself. Along with the footage of Regan snaking her tongue out and crawling on all fours after Sharon.
There’s a quick “pat-pat-pat” of ‘footsteps approaching’ sound effect during Chris’s reaction shot. (Excellent ‘terrified’ acting by Ellen Burstyn, by the way.)
The mouth gushing blood: CGI? It looks very convincing, even practical, it drips onto her nose. It aaaalmost had me thinking they constructed an entirely new staircase set in 2000, looking exactly like the 1973 set, with the same photography, and a new contortionist actress with red corn syrup in her mouth, just for that one shot.
But that can’t possibly be the case. Can it?

Which brings me to another scene. Don’t know if it’s been previously brought up here.
The medallion scene at the film’s end, specifically that one shot where Dyer hands it *back* to Chris. That really was filmed in 1973, right? Not recreated in 2000 to complete that scene.
The line “Why don’t you keep it” sounds like it was spoken by another actor, maybe one of the new foley artists for TVYNS.

[fatherbowdern]

Ceru,

You have an excellent point about the bloody spider-walk filming taking place in 2000. However, look at the faces in both screenshots. Linda Hager, the contortionist who did the actual spider-walk, appears to be in both the original and bloody versions. So, why not go with the flow and see it for what it is instead of CGI? Read on.

Well, the original version first surfaced in Mark Kermode’s FOG. It is the one and only piece he found in the WB vaults and spliced it together with his editor pal. On that note, I am very surprised that Kermode, who had full access to the cutting-room-floor scraps, did not snatch up the most controversial version of the spider-walk with the blood. He certainly would have had an even more intriguing part of the documentary by doing a comparative contrast of the two spider-walk scenes. As Kermode said, he was not limited to using certain scenes and scoured through all of them. In fact, he even found the lost sightseeing tour of Washington that Chris and Regan go on. Additionally, studios simply do not store excess-filmed pieces in different locations. They are stored securely in one area of the warehouse and I am certain Kermode would have loved to find the bloody version of the spider-walk.

I realize that filming many different versions of the spider-walk is plausible, including a version with the blood. However, I am inclined to believe that CGI was implored and very effectively. Some people on here agree and disagree about this hypothesis (not theory), and it is just that … a hypothesis. I also agree with your hypothesis that blood running down Hager’s nose looks convincing. However, we should not forget other films like Titanic, Forest Gump, Spiderman, and Jurassic Park, etc. that created more-than-realistic CGI effects.

Regarding the screenshots: In the original spider-walk (Kermode version), that screen shot was frozen at the LAST frame when we see Hager descending the steps before cutting back to the side view of Hager flipping on her side for Blair to take over rest of the scene with the snake-like tongue. In the bloody spider-walk screenshot, that is the FIRST frame when we see Hager with blood pouring from her mouth. The bloody version of the spider-walk, IMO, is more effective than the original with the laughable snake-tongue sequence.

In time … well, actually September 30, 2010 should be a proven point of the spider-walk with blood and a resolution of the myth, if it is a part of the documentaries. Again, if nothing exists, we will have to live with the urban legend and settle it with our beliefs.

The medallion scene is the actual entire scene. Notice that the one shot never breaks between the Chris and Dyer hand exchanges. I do believe the voice heard it that of Father Dyer.

I like your thinking, Ceru!

Father Bowdern

[fatherbowdern]

Including the images here because I don’t enjoy the inline syncing in posts:

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