[ManInKhakiExorcist]

Justy, are you joking? “MERRRINNNN!” is heard there? :S

That’s pretty cool!

I might say, though, that it might be even cooler if it was the voice of CHECHE instead (a new fan edit is in order, yes?). 🙂 Yeah, just take the like where Cheche says, “Run, Merrin, Run…” and distort the “Merrin” just enough to capture the tone that this one does.

Just doing crazy talk. 😛

M.I.K.E.

[Justin]

I think you’re obsessed with Dominion. 😛

[ManInKhakiExorcist]

Huh? Who? Me? ME…?! NEVER!!!!! 😛

[Greg]

It’s better than being obsessed with Exorcist II or ETB. 😛

I met this lady not too long ago who saw Exorcist II in the theatre, and she couldn’t stop laughing at my satirical comments of it and my review I sent to her for laughs. It was classic entertainment. 😀

[granville1]

That’s how I felt about EII, Greg. What a howler of a bad movie, it took Blatty’s great material and stomped all over it.

[SLASHerMan]

The Exorcist II is an excellent film.

….nah, seriously:
I have the 25th Anniversary version, but I haven’t watched it much (only for the commentary). These days (after getting the longer F.O.G) there’s no real point in seeing it. If I could, I’d probably see the original film as released back then – but I still think VYNS is the definitive Exorcist film and experience for me. 🙂
Which is why it’s also my favourite film.

[Jason Stringer]

TVYNS is the best of the original exorcist. It scared the shit out of me when I saw it in the theater. I actually screamed when she did the spider walk down the stairs and got right in the camera and spit up blood and made that growling noise. My favorites of all the exorcist films are the first one, of course, and Legion, which was not given enough credit. I read the novel twice but the movie is so much better. I would also love to meet Linda Blair. She seems like she is very sweet and someone I would be friends with. I would also like to shake hands with the man that had me so scared with the awesome makeup job he did on her, Dick Smith. He is the shit.

[Tyler Durden]

O.k….i have now seen both the original and TVYNS and to tell you the truth…i can’t decide…I’ll do some more thinking about it and then make my decision.

[Greg]

When you get to this point where you have to decide which you prefer given that you are comparing two truly magnificent pieces of cinema, it really does become a question of taste. I know die hard Exorcist fans prefer the original cut that was nominated for Best Picture, but there are also others who prefer the version that is closer to the book in terms of feeling it to be more than just a movie. A good friend of mine, for example, prefers TVYNS since he believes Friedkin and Blatty have always gone for the main objective of documentary realism; then the newer, more realistic sound effects and additional material on the people make it the more realistic. So therefore, it really becomes here a taste issue. A friend of mine was trying to deduce what where the best Kubrick films, and my reply was that most of them are classics, so it becomes difficult and maybe unmerited to compare a measure of achievement when all have achieved so much. Therefore again, it just becomes what is your personal favorite. Now if it were comparing something like Exorcist to Exorcist II then it would be a question over what exactly is better in terms of achievement; no question what is of course. 😛

[granville1]

Yeah, Greg, in ref to E2, I was never sure what “terms of achievement” it was aiming for. It didn’t scare me, it made me laugh inappropriately, it ruined Blatty’s ideas and characters. It did have about sixty seconds of interesting stuff from Merrin (“does goodness draw evil to itself?”) and the color and photography were top notch. But it didn’t have a message beyond “Regan’s possession was not unique, Pazuzu is trying to destroy these New Holy Kids thru possession…”

[Father Fletcher]

I prefer the original 73 version of The Exorcist. Though it is interesting how viewing TVYNS is like watching an entirely different film.

For me TVYNS is trying too hard to appeal to modern audiences/attempts to spell everything out for you, which I think is a shame.

My one pet hate with TVYNS is the appearence of the demon face on pots and pans in the kitchen when Chris McNeil returns home at one point.

For atmospherics you can’t beat the 73 version. TVYNS also includes a vast amount of instrumental score (if I recall rightly) – which for me only adds to the attempt to dumb down the film and spell out when the fright is coming.

However it was great to see TYNS at the cinema (as I was too young to see the original 98′ re-release). I’m also surprised that a lot of you say the 73 version is hard to come by as it is still widely availble in the uk.

Though the Region 1 25th Anniversary is superior as it has the longer cut of the FEAR OF GOD DOC. However it would seem the only way to see the *COMPLETE* doc is if you own a recording from when it originally aired on BBC 2 in 1998.

Also Freidkin’s commentary on the 25th anniversary is far better than the one featured on TVYNS. On TVYNS he literally spells out what you’re seeing on screen as it happens – though I suppose you can’t blame the guy, what else can he say that he hasn’t already said on the 25th anniversary.

In my opinion the 73 version is better because there is far less spelled out for you plus there is no (or not quite so much)instrumental music which only adds to making TVUNS a more conventional horror. Something that I admired about the 73 version – because it wasn’t conventional – it was a rough around the edges documentary-esque psychological thriller.

[granville1]

Fr. Fletcher

Good commentary. One thing I liked about TVYNS was the addition of Karras listening to audiotapes of the pre-possession Regan in the language lab.

First, it shows the huge contrast between the possessed Regan and her normal persona, and it shows Karras deeply involved in absorbing this dichotomy.

Second, it forms a perfect bridge to the next scene where Karras is celebrating Mass. It is obvious from his inflection and his eyes that the Regan tapes have put the hook into his crisis of faith. He almost looks with a dawning wonder at the Eucharistic elements. The tapes have put a new hope into his soul: perhaps the colossal difference between normal Regan and possessed Regan means that the possession is genuine. This intuition gives an entirely new connotation to the Mass’s words as Karras says them, “This is the cup of my blood, the new covenant… THE MYSTERY OF FAITH”. Faith stirs in Karras because of the tapes – something that is not obvious in the original film.

[Father Fletcher]

Hey granville1

Thanks for the response. I had forgotten about the scene where Karras is in the language lab. I have to admit any chance to see more of the superb Jason Miller should not be overlooked or grumbled at.

I don’t loathe TVYNS (& I realise you didn’t say that) but for impact I prefer the original. The ambigious ending still sends the shrivers down my spine. lol

Does anyone remember TVYNS being called THE DIRECTOR’S CUT?! When I saw it at the cinema it had DIRECTOR’S CUT beneath the title – though this is absent on the DVD. I have a poster too for TVYNS with DIRECTOR’S CUT on it.

I always thought that was a bit odd as Friedkin states on the FEAR OF GOD that the 73 version IS the film as he intended.

I also seem to remember reading on The Internet Movie Database that Friedkin took Warner Bros. to court (?!) over TVYNS being called THE DIRECTOR’S CUT. Can anyone elaborate on this? I would love to know the answer.

Thanks Father Fletcher

[granville1]

Thanks for your comments, St. Michael and Fr. Fletcher. Sorry Fr. I can’t answer your director’s cut question. Maybe the marketers equated the insertion of the unused footage as something Friedkin wanted and especially liked. History of course says differently – Friedkin had left that stuff out because he didn’t like it and/or because he thought these scenes were “show-stoppers” in the bad sense of the term.

[St. Michael]

…. THE MYSTERY OF FAITH”. Faith stirs in Karras because of the tapes –

Hey granville1, good job by you. I didn’t see that.

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