Any "Exorcist" fans here?

[EyeAmEye]

I finally saw the trailer for "Exorcist: The Beginning", which comes out on Aug. 20th. Funny how the best parts of the trailer are clips from the original.
This movie has been on/off again since 1997, seen an entire script and film scrapped, the director fired, and an entirely new film shot in it's place. Seems Morgan Creek felt the original cut of the film was to heavy on dialogue, not enough action or horror. Rumors suggest that shortly after the movies theatrical run, both versions of the film will be released on DVD, alongside a new release of "Exorcist 3: Legion", restored to William Blatty's original shooting of that film (minus ALL scenes of Jason Miller and the final exorcism scene).

So, will "Exorcist: The Beginning" live up to the scariest film of all time, or be the 3rd strike in the Exorcist series? I'd like to be believe it will be a nice closing to the Exorcist story, but seriously doubt it. Seems like the original cut of "The Beginning" may be more interesting than the theatrical release.

 

[KR...]

I will wait to the DVDs

 

[braillediver]

Heard a lot about The Excorcist as a kid when it first came out and when I finally saw it we laughed through most of it.

The scariest part is when she's in getting the medical tests.


Mitch

 

[warubozu]

I remember seeing the Exorcist with my parents when I was 8 yrs old. It scared the living crap out of me and I had nightmares for days. I'll probably go and see the pre-equal when it comes out, hope it doesn't totally suck.

 

[chadbang]

"So, will "Exorcist: The Beginning" live up to the scariest film of all time, or be the 3rd strike in the Exorcist series?"


I think this is actually the fourth film in the series ("The Exorcist" "Exorcist II: The Heretic" and then the one where the guy runs around wilth hedge clippers, I forget what that one was called). Yes, this will suck. The original film remains the most chilling film of all time. And you know what, all that damn dialogue bothering Morgan Creek helps build what was once known as suspense. Idiots.

 

[Edwood]

LOL, c'mon. How about "suspense" music to build up tension so that you know something will happen when someone wanders alone into the basement to investigate a strange noise?

-Ed

 

[KR...]

The only thing notable of this film is that they shot two completely different versions, and I mean completely different! In order to make their money back they will release both on DVD, so this will be the 5th film

I love the 1st one, original version thank you. The 2nd was cheesy and dumb and I barely remember anything about it. The 3rd one was pretty good until that stupid ending that came out of nowhere and made no sense whatsoever.
It was sloppily tack on, the edit is quite abrupt and ruined the whole movie. I wonder what the real ending was?

 

[Riordan]

i actually prefer the third one to the first. the exorcists's author william peter blatty was never really happy with friedkin's direction and cut, so he decided to direct the sequel (the novel is actually called 'legion') himself.

 

[quke]

The Beginning is directed by Renny Harlin and even though I'm from Finland too I must say he just plain sucks. Harlin's Prison, an early work, was ok-ish but nowadays he makes the most average Hollywood films of anybody. Oh well, a pessimist won't get disappointed as we notoriously melancholic Finns say, right?

 

[EyeAmEye]

Quote:

Originally Posted by KR... The only thing notable of this film is that they shot two completely different versions, and I mean completely different! In order to make their money back they will release both on DVD, so this will be the 5th film I love the 1st one, original version thank you. The 2nd was cheesy and dumb and I barely remember anything about it. The 3rd one was pretty good until that stupid ending that came out of nowhere and made no sense whatsoever. It was sloppily tack on, the edit is quite abrupt and ruined the whole movie. I wonder what the real ending was?

The 3rd film is called "Legion". The stupid ending you speak of was a reshoot, again Morgan Creek dediced that the first cut of the film, which did not have an exorcism scene, needed one, so they slapped one on. The original cut of that film, written and directed by William Blatty, did not feature Jason Miller, he was added by Morgan Creek as well. A release of the original cut of the film is due, probably by year's end.

As for the new film, depending on what web sites you view, the original version of "The Beginning" and the reshoot are either polar opposites, or not so different at all. The rumor was Morgan Creek wanted more action and gore, but some sites seem to suggest that they brought Harlin in to fill in some story-line gaps, and ending up decided on letting Harlin reshoot the whole film, but the core story of the first cut is intact, just more cohesive.

 

[EyeAmEye]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Riordan i actually prefer the third one to the first. the exorcists's author william peter blatty was never really happy with friedkin's direction and cut, so he decided to direct the sequel (the novel is actually called 'legion') himself.

Blatty actually stated that when he first wrote "The Exorcist", he wrote it more as a murder mystery, with Lt.Kinderman being a major character in the story, which he is in the novel. In the movie, he is fairly minor to the film as a whole. Personally, I don't see how he could have written that novel and seen it as anything but a horror novel. How could Friedkin have possibly taken that story and done anything but a horror film with it?

 

[elrod-tom]

I haven't paid any attention to this series of movies since the first sequal came out. I'll have to look into this a bit.

All I can say is that the first movie is without a doubt the scariest I've ever seen. Up there with Silence of the Lambs and Alien in terms of big theatre impact. I saw it when I was very young, and it scared the hell out of me. I had nightmares for weeks. It was also not too long after that my parents divorced...you can just imagine all the Catholic angst going on during that period!!

 

[dj_mocok]

the one that has a little girl twisting her head around and puking, is that the 1st one ?

but for me, the scariest movie of all time will have to be Bruce Wiliis' Sixth Sense...

Its just so real, it makes a lot of sense, its so scary... couldnt sleep well for a few days after watching that...

especially the scene where the boy hid and when he turned he saw that little girl ghost...

 

[chadbang]

Yes, definitely. "The Sixth Sense" was a masterpiece of a story. I just hope M Knight can come up with another winner. His latest (looking at the trailers) looks like another dog.