Director’s cut of the 1970s horror. Actress Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) has every reason to be content, having just completed a film with director Burke Dennings (Jack MacGowran). However, she becomes disturbed by the changes taking place in her 12-year-old daughter, Regan (Linda Blair).
At first sullen and withdrawn, Regan becomes aggressive and blasphemous, and ugly welts appear on her face and body. No medical cure is forthcoming, and after Burke is killed by being thrown from Regan’s window, Chris turns to local Jesuit priest Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller) for help. Karras then calls in exorcist Father Lankester Merrin (Max von Sydow), who confirms that Regan is possessed by the devil.
William Peter Blatty’s screenplay, based on his own novel inspired by actual events, won an Oscar, and the film was deemed so powerful that it was refused a BBFC certificate for fifteen years.
TWO–DISC SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
Theatrical Cut Disc
Introduction by William Friedkin (SD, 2 min.) – William Friedkin really needs to learn when to shut up and just let an audience watch his movies. Instead, he has insisted that the beginning of ‘The Exorcist’ be prefaced by this video introduction in which he describes his effort to make a “realistic film about inexplicable events.”
Commentary by William Friedkin
Commentary by William Peter Blatty with Sound Effects Tests –
The Fear of God: 25 Years of The Exorcist (SD, 77 min.) –
Interview Gallery with William Friedkin and William Peter Blatty (SD, 9 min.) – These are extensions to the interviews filmed for the ‘Fear of God’ documentary. Friedkin and Blatty bicker some more about the footage that Friedkin cut from the movie. Both men argue eloquently for their respective views on the matter, especially Friedkin, who makes excellent points about the danger of revisionism in art. Unfortunately, this only makes it even more perplexing that, just a few years later, he would turn completely around on the issue and insist on making major changes to his older movies such as this one and ‘The French Connection’.
Original Ending (SD, 2 min.) – Raw footage from the (originally) unused ending. Much of this was reinstated into the “Version You’ve Never Seen,”
Sketches & Storyboards (SD, 3 min.) – A silent montage of production art.
Theatrical Trailers & TV Spots (SD, 7 min.) – Three vintage trailers (one very psychedelic) and five television ads. A couple of the commercials are intensely cheesy, but two of them are surprisingly effective.
Director’s Cut Disc
Commentary by William Friedkin –
Raising Hell: Filming The Exorcist (HD, 30 min.) –
Exorcist Locations: Georgetown Then and Now (HD, 9 min.) – A look at the settings used in the film, why they were important to the mood and style of the story, and how they’ve changed or not over the last three decades. Despite the title, this featurette also discusses the locations in Iraq and the studio work shot in New York.
Faces of Evil: The Different Versions of The Exorcist (HD, 10 min.) – Friedkin explains why he cut some of the footage that didn’t make the theatrical version of the movie. While his explanations seem perfectly sound, unfortunately these omissions made William Peter Blatty very upset. As the director describes it, he put together the longer version of the movie as a “favor to Bill.” He claims that he has since come around to seeing things Blatty’s way, and now also prefers the longer version. From an outside perspective, he was clearly right the first time around and should have left well enough alone.
Theatrical Trailers, TV Spots & Radio Spots (SD, 7 min.) – Two trailers, three television commercials, and two radio ads for the 2000 “Version You’ve Never Seen” theatrical re-release.
