I am giddy with excitement over this news regarding the possible distribution, in cinemas, of the abandoned Paul Schrader helmed Exorcist prequel.
If I remember my pre-blogging history correctly, Morgan Creek deemed Schrader's version to be too cerebral and decided that the first version would not be commercial enough for them. Despite the investment in time and money, it was shelved in favour of hiring Renny harlin to reshoot the whole thing and hope for big returns.
Anyone who saw Exorcist: The Beginning knows what a deeply flawed movie it was - well intentioned, but oh so very flawed. Unlike Friedkin or Blatty's Exorcist films, it relied on obvious scares, gore and predictable fright beats. It was slow-moving and felt more cerebral when compared to comething like I Know What You Did Last Summer, but all-in-all was a derivative sequel.
And for those Exorcist: Legion naysayers out there, bear in mind that Morgan Creek fiddled with that version, too.
Now, I could be talking out of my ass here since I've never seen Schrader's version, but the actors all stand behind it, Blatty screened it and said he liked it, and the reviews before it got shelved, and since, have all been stellar (at least the ones I've seen, anyways). Here's hoping this one brings us back to what was so great about the first film.
You can watch the opening sequence of the movie here at the festival website, click here to download the trailer, and here for an interview with Schrader just before the Brussel's premiere. There was a great article done just before The Beginning was released, and I'll link to that too if I can find it again.
Enjoy!
Update: I managed to track down that article I was talking about earlier on. It's from the LA Weekly website and was written by Scott Foundas. Click here to check it out.
mike
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