The Exorcist, 1973.
Directed by William Friedkin.
Starring Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty Winn, Jack MacGowran, Jason Miller, and Linda Blair.
SYNOPSIS:
The Exorcist celebrates its 50th anniversary with a head-turning (I know, I’m so funny) 4K UltraHD edition containing both the original 1973 theatrical cut and the extended director’s edition from many years later. Your mileage may vary on William Friedkin’s color timing choices, as well as how you feel about the bulk of the extras being relegated to online-only.
I’ve never been a big horror movie guy, but I appreciate the classics such as The Shining and, of course, The Exorcist. I hadn’t revisited The Exorcist in many years before I received this 4K Ultra HD edition for a review; I wasn’t even familiar with the extended cut that was first issued during the DVD days.
After spending some time with this film again, I’m still not much of a horror movie guy, but I can still appreciate it. The extended version is a curious creature, with its CGI-enhanced restorations, such as the infamous “spider walk” down the stairs, and a revised ending that adds a bit of hopefulness.
Both the extended and theatrical cuts are included here, along with a digital code that redeems both of them for online viewing. My understanding is that both versions were restored for this release, and how you feel about the way they look now probably has a lot to do with how you’ve felt about Friedkin’s other films on high-def and ultra high-def discs in recent years.
The TL;DR is that Friedkin oversaw some restorations of his movies in recent years that didn’t always meet fans’ approval because of the way the color timing was changed. The fine details, amount of grain, and so forth seem to be mostly fine with his films, including The Exorcist, but the color timing has been a thing.
For the record, I’m well aware that color timing is an important part of the post-production process on any movie. However, I don’t have really strong preferences about the way it should be handled for various classic films; I tend to defer to whatever the director wanted, since it’s their vision. As always, of course, your mileage may vary.
The other elephant in the room that should be addressed here is the way Warner Bros. approached the bonus features. Aside from an introduction and three commentary tracks, all other extras have been relegated to the digital editions, specifically the extended cut.
I can understand why the studio is moving in that direction, but I’m in agreement with other folks that it’s a shame to lose anything from previous physical disc releases. Given the fact that Warner Bros. in particular hasn’t been afraid to excise online content, I’m a bit leery about their willingness to maintain digital extras. Yes, they don’t own Movies Anywhere, but still — it’s their attitude toward such things that gives me pause.
So how to address online-only extras? Since they’re part of the package, in a sense, I’ll write about them whenever I’m aware of their existence. (Sometimes the extras don’t show up online until the street date, and I’m often done with my review by then. In addition, the studio’s press release may not indicate such, although in the case of The Exorcist, it did.)
Starting with the discs, the first extra is a short, two-minute introduction by Friedkin to the theatrical version of the film. The director, who died just last month, was always happy to offer his thoughts on his work, and he does so here, as well as in an accompanying commentary track.
Friedkin and screenwriter William Peter Blatty, who adapted his own novel for the movie, both have a lot to say about the movie’s thematic underpinnings in their solo commentary tracks. After listening to both discussions, I can understand why The Exorcist endures, as well as why a non-horror guy like me can still appreciate it. I haven’t seen the numerous sequels, but I imagine they probably lean more toward the kind of stuff that made the original infamous, as opposed to the thought-provoking bits.
Friedkin also shares his thoughts on the extended cut of the film, explaining how and why he made certain decisions. I’ve read that this version was more of a concession to what Blatty originally wanted in the film, although I imagine Friedkin would have just said “No” to the project if he felt strongly enough about it. Both men are now gone, so I suppose fans of the film can continue the debate.
As far as the online extras go, here’s what you’ll find that’s not also on one of the discs:
• Behind Comprehension: William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist (27 minutes): The writer gets the focus here as he talks about writing the novel as well as adapting it for the screen. I’ll admit I like the idea of holing myself up somewhere for several months to write a novel, although my wife and kids might not go along with that.
• Talk of the Devil (19 minutes): Blatty based his novel on an actual news story, and the priest involved in it, Father Eugene Gallagher, discusses that real-life exorcism here.
• Raising Hell: Filming The Exorcist (30 minutes): This featurette digs into various aspects of the movie, including some behind-the-scenes footage and effects tests that I believe were newly shown on a 2010 Blu-ray release.
• The Exorcist Locations: Georgetown Then and Now (8 minutes): The college campus gets quite a bit of time during Blatty’s solo interview, and here we return to it to compare its locations in 1973 versus 2010, when this was shot.
• Faces of Evil: The Different Versions of The Exorcist (9 minutes): There are actually more versions of the movie than I’ve mentioned here, including a work print, and they’re all discussed here.
• Interview Gallery (9 minutes): Extra footage with Friedkin and Blatty, broken into three segments. (Why not just string them together with title cards breaking them up?)
• The Fear of God: 25 Years From The Exorcist (77 minutes): Created for TV in 1998, this is an extensive making-of that looked back at what was then the movie’s 25th anniversary (we’ve now reached its 50th; yikes).
TV spots, sketches, and storyboards round out the extras.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Brad Cook
Originally published October 21, 2023. Updated April 22, 2024.
