Has anyone heard any early reviews of this? All I know is what I've seen in the previews... it looks sufficiently creepy.
All I know is that it was filmed and in the can when producers decided they didn't like it and brought in one of my favorite directors, Renny Harlin to re-shoot the entire thing.
I have seen the trailer for it at the theater and it looks pretty good.
Stellan Skarsgard (Professor Lambeau from Good Will Hunting) is in it and he's a good actor. A favorite of mine.
I hope Harlin has delivered successfully again like he has in his other films.
Post Edited (08-18-04 02:12)
I don't quite know how I feel about the new Exorcist. First John Frakenheimer was to direct it, but died during pre production. Then Paul Schrader directed the ENTIRE film and the studio didn't like it, so they hired Renny Harlin to step in. So now they have two completely finished different cuts of the film.
I'm not sure how much faith I have in Harlin. I'm not a big fan of his work, with the exception of Die Hard 2. He has been mainly an action director (except for Nightmare 4). If there was one thing that the original Excorcist taught us, it was that The Exorcist is NOT in any way an action film.
I love the Exorcist series, even the awful sequel 'The Heretic'. I especially loved Exorcist III (aka Legion) and feel it was a perfect end to the series. I'm sure we won't get another slow creepy Exorcist flick with this newest addition. Probably just standard horror fare.
Just for the backstory (three different directors LOL) and the other films in the series this is gonna be worth a look.
From what I've heard there'll be almost nothing of the Frankenheimer / Schrader footage on the final ver, though.
Neville,
You are correct. It seems that some of Schrader's footage will be used for establishing shots, as stock footage, etc.
I read quite a while back that Schrader had a deal that his film would get a showing and to fulfill that deal the studio may put it on the DVD with Harlin version.
Just read a pretty dismal review of the film over at joblo.com
I don't think this flick was even shown to critics in advance, which is always a bad thing.
I've said it before and I will say it again: In my opinion, The Exorcist and Exorcist III: Legion were the only Exorcist films that existed.
I don't recognize the Heretic as being an Exorcist flick and I'm sure I'll be able to say the same about this Harlin work after seeing it.
One can almost hear a young Father Merrin muttering, "Oh, yeah, Pazuzu? Well, yipe-ki-yay, motherf****r."
I wouldn't put it past Harlin.
I wish hollywood would quit milking film titles. They just wanted to capitalize on the exorcist name. sigh
I think I gave up on the Exorcist being a series after the Heretic, I would like to give Legion and maybe this new movie a chance, but the memory is too painful.
Exorcist III is worth the rental. It's not the same movie as the first, but the filming style is very creepy so it stands on it's own as a good movie on a different level
I actually feel that Exorcist III is on a par with the original. I'm sure I'll catch a lot of flak for that comment but I do feel that it is dark, beautiful and has an atmosphere unlike any other film.
Some of the scenes are absolutely creepy.
*Spoilers*
The scene with the old woman crawling on the ceiling of the mental institution still gives me chills. Then of course there is the scene with the nurse beheading. Not graphic but scary as hell.
I think exorcist III is good, but not on the same level of horror type as Exorcist. It's a different style of horror. The same way you can't compare the horror style of jaws to pumpkinhead. Exorcist III had geniunely creepy cinematography that reminded me of how the Omen and Suspiria was filmed. (like the camera falling with the victim) The first time i saw the scene with the hallway and the nurse checking each room as you wait in anticipation for the killer..it was very intense! because it really did give the feeling that it was a false suspense build so when you let your guard down..whammo!
Some parts of the movie had cheese effect. but great suspense style, if you can learn to forget the heretic. didn't the writer direct the third?
Susan,
You are correct. William Peter Blatty directed Exorcist III. It was based on his novel Legion. The original film didn't even have an exorcisim in the original cut. The stuido wanted to link Legion with the original Exorcist films. So, he added in the Exorcism at the end of the flick.
I saw the movie last night and I thought it was superb! Easily one of the scariest movies I've seen in theaters in a while.
Maybe I'll check out Exorcist III... instead of shelling out the dough to see the new one. Last time I checked, the new one was at a whopping 8% on Rotten Tomatoes.