[Father Merrin]

Last week I won tickets to see the Simon Mayo & Mark Kermode Radio Show with Robert Redford, which I went to today

It was a pretty great day and I even got my 15 Seconds of fame when I contributed to the weekly Top 10 on Wittertainment for the Pirates review

You can download the podcast here http://www.bbc.co.uk/podcasts/series/kermode my bit starts at 13 min 27 Secs

Oh, I also handed Mark Kermode a copy the Legion Fanedit after the show and he was delighted to receive it. So the great man himself now owns a copy of the edit!

[Father Merrin]

I agree. At least The Exorcism of Emily Rose had the decency to change the name and just losely base it on the tragic case. Like you said Michel's case was medical and the makers of this film either chosed to ignore that fact or just didn't care enough to find out properly. Either way it's shameful.

[Father Merrin]

cxx said:

You know, moments after posting my review the other day I did think just that to myself! I re-watched the scene and had a big 'ahaaa' moment. Thanks for clearing it up too, though I think most people will get it!

Having done a few fanedits myself I was very impressed with how spicediver handled that scene. When you're dealing with limited footage you do have to think outside of the box sometimes to make a scene work and I think spicediver's alterations of the nurse and exorcism scene were perfect examples of that.
 

 spicediver said:
 

***WARNING: SPPOILERS***            

Father Merrin and Cxx,     

Thanks for the reviews guys and I'm really glad you enjoyed it.  

It seems a common thread on what *didn't* work is my adding dream footage to Dourif's “I have dreams of a rose…” line of dialogue while in his cell. I now think you and others are correct: its unnecessary and possibly detracts from the scene. In fact, I'm going to restore that scene to its original state and replace the current edit.

That's very big of you to go back and alter your edit based on the comments of others. Seriously man you wouldn't believe how touchy or offended some editors get when it comes to comments made about their edits. So you've gone up even further in estimations as editor, not because you're going back and changing you edit but because you've taken our comments in the positive and constructive way that they were intended 🙂

Plus this means I'm now gonna own both the new and now rare “Dreams of a Rose” version of your Legion edit! It's the smiles that keep us going. Don't you think?

[Father Merrin]

This outstanding edit brings to life the film that should of been.
This edit removes all unnecessary scenes and as a result the film flows
better and actually now makes much more sense.

Added footage involving the priest in the church put a massive smile
on my face and gave the scene the extra shock it needed. The added
footage where Kinderman first meets Gemini/Karras makes that scene
finally work.

The only added footage I wasn’t 100% convinced by is the scene at the
end where the Gemini says “I have dreams of a rose…” and it fades in
& out of some dream footage. For me it had the effect of making the
scene feel like 2 separate scenes. But William Pete Blatty was also very
keen on this type of editing, so it is actually in keeping of the style
of the movie.

All the removal of Exorcist/possession subplots did nothing but
enchance the film and how Spicediver handled the Nurse Possession at the
end which simple and brilliant.

Finally and most importantly, the ending. Having seen some previous
attempts to correct the ending on youtube I was quite apprehensive.
Those cursed bug eyes seem to be a problem no-one could solve. Well…
Spicediver has succeeded where everybody else has failed! The ending not
only works it is also haunting in a way I think Mark Kermode described
when he saw the original Legion.

The big bonus for me is that this film from start to fininsh actually
felt different from the Exorcist III. I can’t explain why but
Spicediver’s version has a different air to it and as as result it’s
like watching a whole new movie. Instead of watching the same movies
with corrections, like most edits are.

As an Exorcist fan Spicediver’s edit of The Exorcist is in all
likelyhood the closet I’m ever going to get to seeing Legion. Whether it
will appeal to anyone outside the Exorcist or Horror community I don’t
know, but this is a fine piece of work that should be scene by all edit
fans.

[Father Merrin]

 hammer horror said:

here

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v…..ata_player

---

Cheers hh.
 

What struck me was how amazing Jason Miller was. I mean seeing his performance in context of the movie I thought it was great but now seeing his performance in context of having to perform opposite Linda's voice I think what he did was brilliant. He must of been told that they were going to do an overdub of Linda's voice and based his performance on that premise. Because it didn't feel like he was responding to that little girl but something truley unnerving.

Just when you thought you couldn't appreciate this movie any more something like this comes along and shows another layer to the making of this film.

Thank you for finding this clip 🙂

---

[Father Merrin]

I saw the 2nd over halloween & it bored the pants of me. Not sure what was different but it just didn't get under my skin like the first one.

[Father Merrin]

Ok this sucks.

Clearly this is one of the most interesinting discussions for a while and I can't join in cause the video is down lol

Can some good kind person re-upload it please, I'm dying to see it 🙂

[Father Merrin]

I saw this flick last night and what a disappointment. Not because the film was bad, for 90% of it it was really good. But the last 10mins completely destroy the film. What is it with hollywood directors that they’ve got to make dumb arse endings?

A short review, but pretty much sums up how I felt.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/markkermode/2010/08/exorcism_schism.html

[Father Merrin]

But I wouldn’t consider Rosemary’s Baby , The Omen, The Sixth Sense or The Others to be possession/exorcism films. They’re either ghost stories or films with the devil in them but I would say they were strictly possession/exorcism films.

I suppose that’s the problem with this genre, if you stray to close to The Exorcist it’s boring, stray too far & it won’t even be part of the genre.

[Father Merrin]

Both versions are remastered. Does that mean the original version in the blueray set has that cold “blue” tint to it? I prefered the original how it was… ummm… originally lol.

[Father Merrin]

I agree with your post, but in fairness with the demonic possession genre Directors are in a no win situation on a varitety of levels.

1, The Exorcist nailed th genre first time so it’s unlikely for a new film to top it.
2, If a new film follows the tranditional exorcist themese it gets criticised for being unoriginal. (for eg The Exorcism of Emily Rose)
3, If a new film doesn’t follow the tranditioanal exorcist themese it gets criticised for not following the rules of demonic possession. (for eg REC 2)

I’m not too worried about the camera style as The Exorcist has a Documentary feel to it. As long as the camera doesn’t shake around I don’t see too much of a problem.

I think if you want to watch a truely great realistic Exorcist film watch the German “Requiem”. It’s not a horror film but hey watch The Exorcist if you want scares.

Personally I’m looking forward to The Vatican Tapes, but if they can’t get that right I think it’ll be another 10 years or so before we can expect a worthy exorcism film

[Father Merrin]

I’ve been watching a lot of movies recently, including all 8 Hellraiser films.

I had only seen the first 2 previously so was interested to see how they have aged & whether the sequals are any good as everything I’ve read about them was negative.

So here’s my summary of the franchise.

Hellraiser
The first film starts of slowly but very sublty builds the tension up to the climax of the film. The story is very good & there’s a creepy atmosphere of otherness throughout the film. I think it all works very well & the use of Pin Head & friends is excellent, neither over or under used. The only weak link is the protagonist Ashley Laurence as her acting is weak & up agaisn’t strong performances from the rest of the cast it’s even more obvious.

But I would consider this a horror classic so 9/10

Hellbound
A direct sequal to the first film. This follows the familiar route of most sequals of upping the ante, which considering the slow pace of the first makes a nice change. There are some minor weakness’s in the plot but nothing to bring the movie down. Overall it works well & I also enjoyed expansion of the Hellraiser world.

Weaker than the first but still enjoyable & has the most shocking scene of the 8 films (or any other film for that matter) so 8/10

Hell on Earth
O dear. The thing about characters like Pin Head, Freddy & Hannibal Lecter is the less you see of them the scarier they are. Sadly no-one told the writer for this film as Pin Head is in it a hell of a lot. Where he was restricted to a few brief scenes in the first film so he could say cool things like “I will tear your soul apart” in the 3rd film the extra screen time results in him doing pretentious gibberish nonsense monologues & as a result you end up thinkin Pin Head is a bit of a prat. Which ruins the rest of film.

The weakest film of the 8. Even though the story isn’t too bad Pin Head’s over exposure undermines everything so 3/10

Bloodline
or “Hellraiser in Space” 😆 . This film isn’t half as bad as it should be & the fact it starts in a space ship is misleading. The story starts in space but then goes back a few hundred years showing you the beginnings of the puzzle box & then the story travels forwards showing you the individual stories of the decedants of the man of originally made the box. The film isn’t is great but it’s acceptable & you can see they’ve made an effort with the plot unlike the 3rd film.

Better than it should be but pretty forgettable to be honest so 4/10

Inferno
This is the film where the franchise went into “Straight to video” territory. As well as moving from cinema to straight to video this is where the series goes from horror to psychological thriller. Gone are the back stories about the Puzzle Box & Pin Head, in now are stand alone David Lynch type stories. The problem with that is even though I don’t think this film is bad it satify either the horror fan or thriller fan as it’s not attempting to be scary & the thriller aspects has been done so much better in much better films.

An interesting new direction but not a satisfying film 5/10

Hellseeker
This film could be considered to be the true 3rd sequal to the first Hellraiser film as it involves Ashley Laurence again. Fortunately even though it’s about her she’s barely in it lol. Even though the set up is different it’s basically the same thing as Inferno. An average psychological thriller with a twist you can see a mile off, but again it’s not what I would consider a bad film.

Again an average film that wouldn’t satify either the horror or thriller fan so 5/10

Deader
Yet again another psychological thriller but this time the story is a little bit more intriguing. The same themes from the previous 2 films are once again explored but with the main protagonist being a journalist investigating a group of people who seem to beable to bring themselves back to life it does at least have an extra element that Inferno & Hellseeker lacked.

The strongest of the 3 psychological thrillers so 6/10

Hellworld
This film gets absolutely slated on the net & I’m not sure why. This film takes a welcome move away from the psychological thrillers & moves in to the self referential genre of the Scream movies. The story is also completely different from the early cinematic films which is no bad thing either & the plot actually stands up pretty well. So I don’t think this film deserves to be treated as harsly as it has been. From start to finish it’s probably no better or worse than Scream 2 or 3 just on a smaller budget.

The most accessible of the sequals since Hellbound so 6/10

So that’s my short summary of the Hellraiser Franchise.

If you wanted to do a sit in one night & watch the films that are directly connected to each other then watch Hellraiser, Hellbound & Hellseeker.

I was trying to figure out why the Hellraiser Franchise has done so poorly. I think it’s because the franchise’s strength is also it’s weakness. The great thing about The Hellraiser Franchise is that every single film works as a stand alone film, hell each film about from part 2 feels & looks different from the last. Which is great if you just want to throw on a film without having to know the back story.

The problem is when you’re dealing with a franchise the films need to be connected. Saw, Elm Street, Friday 13th & Scream are examples where each sequals pretty much takes off where the previous film ended. The Hellraiser films don’t do that & as a result it’s kinda hard to get people to keep coming back to them because they’re not revisiting the same world each time but having to get to know a new world with each film.

I think it’s a great shame because there is so much potential with the Hellraiser films. I mean the Saw films showed there was a market for voilent horror films which is a genre the Hellraiser films could of easily have entered into & done very well in.

I think there’s talk of Clive Barker remaking the original. I’m usually agaisn’t remaking classics but as this franchise has been wasted I think a reboot in the right hands could produce some very interesting films.

[Father Merrin]

Happy New Year 🙂

Personally I think the last 10 years was pants, felt like the whole world was devolving.

We had Terrorism, Illegal Wars, The Failure of Politics, Global Warming, Celebrity Culture, it’s like everyone just took leave of their senses. Good thing I suppose is when you hit rock bottom the only way is up, so it’s not all bad.

So I’m glad to see the back of the noughties & I’m gonna temporarily put my sceptism aside for a minute & look forward to this new decade. 🙂

[Father Merrin]

Well I saw the Screener Version, with the ending everyone hates… & I actually prefered it to the Theatre Version.

I found the Theatre Version pushed the limits of realism a little too far.

I didn't find the film as scary as The Exorcist, but it's builds very slowly & gets very tense & creepy by the end.

People with an active imagination I think will like it.

[Father Merrin]

Hey Cap.

I love the new look.

Congratulations on an excellent re-design:)

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