Warner marks the studio’s 100th and the movie’s 50th anniversaries with the UHD release of The Exorcist.
The Production: 4.5/5
Long considered to be the scariest movie ever made, The Exorcist began making its mark on pop culture almost immediately upon its release on December 26, 1973, with one of the first spoofs of the film appearing in the skit As the Stomach Turns on The Carol Burnett Show on CBS in early 1974. Other references over the years include The Goodbye Girl, Stay Tuned, Oh, God!, Ghostbusters (1984 and 2016), Pinky and the Brain, The Simpsons, Family Guy and even Toy Story. Linda Blair also poked fun (unsuccessfully) in the film Repossessed with Leslie Nielsen.
What has made this film timeless is its story of evil preying on an innocent child played by Linda Blair, the toll it takes on her actress mother (Ellen Burstyn) and her rented household, and the crisis of faith of priest Father Karras (Jason Miller). Warner has included both cuts of the film, the 1973 theatrical cut (unfortunately with the same blue and black WB Time Warner logo seen on the Extended Cut rather than the original “red worm” logo) and the 2000 Extended Cut (released theatrically as The Version You’ve Never Seen), and although the extended cut has some digitally enhanced effects, the more simple practical make-up and editing effects still hold up today.
Video: 5/5
3D Rating: NA
That’s right, I’m handing out a big 5 out of 5 stars for the video here, as this film has never looked better in my opinion. I was seven years old when the movie was first released, and my first viewing if the film was the CBS television premiere in the early 1980s on a 19-inch RCA color television. I have no idea what the original color grading was during its first run in theaters, but I can say that in the mid 1980s until the eventual transition to digital, the color timing of 35mm film prints often varied greatly from print to print and theater to theater, plus, seriously, who remembers exactly how a film looked from fifty years ago? Often, I’ve had trouble remembering what aspect ratio a film was in from 40 years ago, and have quite often been wrong in that respect. Yes, director William Friedkin had a reputation of altering color grading choices when supervising 2K and 4K digital transfers of his films, and it is highly likely he did so here. As a director, that is his choice, and to be honest, I would much rather have those changes made by the director than some unknown person with no connection to the film whatsoever.
So, how does The Exorcist look in 2160p with HDR10 high dynamic range? Outstanding! Both versions have been graded similarly, with bold and vivid colors where intended while some scenes are more muted. Detail is exceptional, revealing fabric textures, beard stubble (on Father Karras), and decomposing flesh on Regan. Film grain is natural and never bothersome, although there are a few shots with heavier grain that were either manipulated optically or were stock footage. Contrast is also exceptional, providing deep blacks with strong shadow detail. Each version has been provided its own BD100 disc and exhibits healthy bitrates often falling in the 90+ Mbps range.
Audio: 5/5
The default track for both versions of the film is a newly created and highly immersive Dolby Atmos track that is never overly gimmicky but will also bring the house down in its frightness factor. This is a wonderful use of special audio that respects its mono origins during its more dramatic and dialogue-driven scenes, but then cranks up the additional speakers when needed to really scare the pants off you. LFE is strong, lending nice emphasis to the crashes, banging bedposts, etc. The theatrical cut includes the original mono mix in DTS-HD MA 2.0.
Special Features: 2/5
Warner has started a trend this year to release many of its new to 4K catalog titles with only new 4K discs and ditching the Blu-ray altogether. This has meant that a lot of special features (other than archival audio commentaries) have been missing, although many have been made available on some digital retailers when redeeming the included Movies Anywhere code. That is the case once again here with The Exorcist.
Extended Cut
Audio Commentary with Director William Friedkin: Friedkin tends to ramble extensively in this commentary recorded for the 2001 DVD release of the Extended Cut, although he does chime in from time to time to discuss some of the changes that he made for this cut.
Theatrical Cut
Introduction by William Friedkin (upscaled 1080p; 2:09): Originally recorded for the initial DVD release of The Exorcist, Friedkin discusses the lasting legacy and impact the film has. Although the original 4:3 aspect ratio was maintained, someone at Warner upscaled a 480i 30fps video file to 1080p 24fps, resulting in a rather choppy-looking presentation, especially when it cuts to footage from the movie (which had been converted from 24 frames to 30 and back to 24, resulting in noticeable dropped frames).
Audio Commentary with Director William Friedkin: Of the two Friedkin commentaries in this set, this is the one to really take time to listen to. He seems much more prepared and engaged in this track, which I believe may have been recorded for the initial (or subsequent) DVD release of the theatrical cut.
Audio Commentary with William Peter Blatty with Sound Effects Tests: This is both a non-scene specific audio essay by author Blatty on both the book and movie (he wrote both) with some sound effects tests thrown in.
Digital Copy: A single Movies Anywhere code is included that can be used to redeem 4K digital copies of both versions along with special features (at the time of this review, only Apple TV and Movies Anywhere were the only retailers including the special features).
The Extended Cut includes the following archival special features: Beyond Comprehension: William Peter Blatty’s “The Exorcist” (27:45); Talk of the Devil (19:46); Raising Hell: Filming “The Exorcist” (30:02); “The Exorcist” Locations: Georgetown Then and Now (8:30); Faces of Evil: The Different Versions of “The Exorcist” (9:52); Radio Spots – The Devil Himself (1:01) and Our Deepest Fears (0:32); TV Spots – Most Electrifying (0:17), Scariest Ever (0:25), Returns (0:21) and Never Seen (0:20); and Trailers – The Version You’ve Never Seen (1:36) and Our Deepest Fears (1:35).
The Theatrical Cut includes the following archival special features: Introduction by William Friedkin (this time correctly encoded; 2:09); The Fear of God: 25 Years of “The Exorcist” (67:16); Original Ending (1:42); William Peter Blatty Interviews (Friedkin interviews Blatty) – The Original Cut (0:55), Stairway to Heaven (5:37) and The Final Reckoning (2:28); Sketches & Storyboards (2:45); TV Spots – Beyond Comprehension (0:32), You Too Can See “The Exorcist” (0:32), Between Science & Superstition (1:01), The Movie You’ve Been Waiting For (1:01), Nobody Expected It (0:31) and Life Had Been Good (0:31); and Trailers – Nobody Expected It (1:40), Beyond Comprehension (0:29) and Flash Image (1:39).
For those wondering what formats the digital retailers are offering (as of September 19, 2023):
Apple TV: Dolby Vision and Dolby Atoms on both versions, special features only accessible on Apple TV devices.
Vudu: Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos on both versions, no special features.
Movies Anywhere: Dolby Vision and Dolby Digital 5.1 on both versions plus special features
Prime Video: HD and Dolby Digital 5.1 on both versions, special features included on Extended Cut (after the conclusion of the movie in the same video file).
Overall: 4.5/5
The Exorcist still holds up as one of the most frightening and disturbing films of all time, even after 50 years since its original release. Video and Audio presentation on UHD disc is exceptional on both versions.
Todd Erwin has been a reviewer at Home Theater Forum since 2008. His love of movies began as a young child, first showing Super 8 movies in his backyard during the summer to friends and neighbors at age 10. He also received his first movie camera that year, a hand-crank Wollensak 8mm with three fixed lenses. In 1980, he graduated to "talkies" with his award-winning short The Ape-Man, followed by the cult favorite The Adventures of Terrific Man two years later. Other films include Myth or Fact: The Talbert Terror and Warren's Revenge (which is currently being restored). In addition to movie reviews, Todd has written many articles for Home Theater Forum centering mostly on streaming as well as an occasional hardware review, is the host of his own video podcast Streaming News & Views on YouTube and is a frequent guest on the Home Theater United podcast.
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