New EXORCIST III DVD on the horizon (1 Viewer)

[Will K]

On the heels of the forthcoming Exorcist prequel(s) and the popularity of revised/restored cuts of films on DVD, it appears William Peter Blatty's much re-edited sequel may finally be restored to his original vision.

http://www.captainhowdy.com

In a nutshell for the uninitiated, Blatty's original version wasn't devilish enough for the studio. A new, more demonic ending was shot and other narrative alterations were made.

 

[Richard Smith]

Excellent news! I've always liked Exorcist III despite the tacked on exorcism. About ten years ago I remember reading a Fangoria article about the original cut and it sounded much better. Now if only Morgan Creek would get Clive Barker involved in a director's cut of Nightbreed.

 

[Felix Martinez]

Looking forward to this! If the theatrical cut won't be included, then I'll be sure to hold onto the existing DVD, which looks great.

I hope the soundtrack will be re-mixed (yet again). Whoever did the 5.1 for the existing DVD mucked up the aggressive, immersive surround track. One listen to the OOP laserdisc's PCM ProLogic track and you'll be shocked at how puny the 5.1 DVD re-mix sounds.

With all this work going into E3 and the E Prequel(s), I'm surprised there hasn't been any word on a re-release of the original Exorcist. It would be great to have a nice set with both versions of the film, plus the excellent docu on the now hard to find (OOP?) E:SE DVD.

Cheers,

 

[Will K]

You got that right. The original laserdisc had a great mix, full of the subtle rumblings and the more nerve-shattering, stinging moments of the sound design. The DVD was definitely disappointing in this area.

 

[Brian Kidd]

Yay! I really liked this film when I saw it in theaters; even in its flawed state. Truly an underrated gem of a horror film. George C. Scott is quite memorable as Lt. Kinderman.

 

[Dome Vongvises]

Damn. Oh well.....

I think the Joker statue still scares the shit out of me.

 

[Mike_Richardson]

Amen! I still have my LD for that very reason. That 5.1 track is bass heavy but has virtually no surround info by comparison with the LD, missing all of the layers of that mix.

 

[Felix Martinez]

You know, when the E3 dvd came out several years ago, I was so ticked off with the 5.1 re-mix that I took out my LD and synced them up so the audio was playing off the LD and the video was the markedly improved 16:9 transfer on the dvd. It played wonderfully until a certain scene well into the film - don't remember now - where it appeared the LD had an extra couple of frames and everything got all out of sync. The scene definitely was a slightly different length - I double checked this several times. I believe it's the bookstore scene...

Anyway, I've always had the desire to extract the uncompressed PCM track of the LD, edit together the audio files (one for each side of the LD), and sync them up with the mpeg-2 video to author my own DVD for my edification. Alas, my LD has bit the dust recently, so this project is on indefinite hold

Cheers,

 

[Jim Barg]

Hm. Interesting... bought E3 for $6 when I got the 25th Anniversary DVD (which I still see around in local stores, so I don't think it's OOP). Haven't watched it yet, might not if Blatty's version is coming out...

 

[Justin_S]

This is some of the best DVD news I've heard in a good while! The Exorcist III is my favorite of the series. Yep, I even prefer it to the original. Extremely pleased to hear its getting the SE treatment that it so richly deserves!

 

[Tony Scello]

I also believe that this is fantastic news. It will be great to see what Blatty originally intended with this movie while he's still around. Hopefully, we will get a director's commentary and some other features. I think Exorcist III is a fine psychological thriller/horror film as it is but would be eager to pick up the EIII: Director's Cut or Legion or whatever he decides to call his original version.

 

[Will K]

I'm sure Blatty will provide a commentary. Perhaps they should enlist Brad Dourif as well. It's a shame many of the cast members have passed away: George C. Scott, Ed Flanders, Jason Miller, Lee Richardson, Viveca Lindfors, Barbara Baxley.

 

[Bryan Tuck]

I've always thought Exorcist III had a pretty good story, but it seemed to have really awkward and choppy direction, sort of like Blatty wasn't sure how to stage certain things. It could be that it was due to the studio tinkering, so I'd certainly be interested in a director's cut.

III was certainly better than II, but I still prefer the first film (the original version of it.)

 

[Felix Martinez]

This is one of the reasons I love this film. On first viewing, I felt the same way you did, but on subsequent viewings, the idiosyncratic style of Blatty's direction became apparant - it's definitely by design. Whether some viewers like it or not is another matter, but I simply adore Blatty's unconventional approach.

I believe the final act is what was tinkered with by the studio, but others here may have better info on this.

Cheers,

 

[Aaron Silverman]

Wow, I had no idea there was an "original vision" type cut of this vastly underappreciated film.

Looking forward to it!

 

[Will K]

What's scary is at one time the producers considered removing Brad Dourif's entire performance because test audiences were confused by the two faces of Patient X. I didn't think it was that hard to comprehend!

 

[Mark Zimmer]

Dourif is terrific, but even before I knew about the studio tampering I was wondering what the hell Nicol Williamson had to do with anything. I loved the book, which I find creepier than the original, and am really looking forward to the proper Legion.

 

[Ted Ross]

I remember the one scene with the lady with the giant scissors coming out of the room behind the nurse-man!! that scared the crap out of me in theater.

 

[David_Blackwell]

I have been waiting and hoping for the original cut of E3 to see the light of day.

 

[Jordan_E]

Man, I have that LD and haven't even thought of spinning it again! Thanks for the heads up! A good reason to hook up the LD player again after the nth setup change!