THE EXORCIST (1973)
50th Anniversary 4K Ultra HD + Digital
Label: WBHE
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: R
Duration: 122 Minutes (Theatrical), 132 Minutes (Extended Director’s Cut)
Audio: English Dolby Atmos, English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: HDR10 2160p UHD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: William Friedkin
Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Lee J. Cobb, Kitty Winn, Jack MacGowan, Jason Miller, Linda Blair
The William Friedkin (The Gaurdian) The Exorcist (1973), based on a screenplay by author William Peter Blatty, and based on Blatty’s 1971 novel of the same name is still one of the most soul-shredding slices of supernatural terror ever committed to film - even 50 years later. In it actress Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burysyn, Resurrection) is in Georgetown,
Washington, D.C. filming a new movie for director Burke Denning (Jack MacGowran, The Fearless Vampire Killers), meanwhile her precocious 12-year old daughter Regan (Linda Blair, Savage Streets) is having trouble sleeping at their rental home, and complains of noises in the attic and her bed moving at night. While hanging out in the basement playroom Regan shows her mother a Qujia board she's found in the closet, and says that she uses it by herself to talk to her imaginary friend Capt. Howdy. Later young Regan pisses herself during a party, and become increasingly erratic and violent. Her mother seeks medical and psychiatric help, after a battery of intrusive medical tests and bizarrely violent meeting the the psychiatrist she starts to look towards the idea of demonic possession as the sciences of the body and mind seemingly do not explain her daughter's current state of being. Later when MacNeil's director friend Denning is left alone with Regan to keep an eye on her he is found dead, his neck broken at the bottom of the steep Georgetown staircase below her window. Lieutenant William F. Kinderman (Lee J. Cobb, The Day of the Owl) investigate the "accidental" death, but expresses that he feels the death was no accident, that the victim was most likely pushed from Regan's bedroom window.
At her wit's end, her daughter now throwing out a string of blasphemous profanities and showing sores and lesions on her face and body, MacNeil calls upon Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller, The Ninth Configuration), a psychiatrist who is having his own crisis of faith following his mother's death. Though the priest is skeptical of preforming the exorcism, until the words "help me" appear on her skin. He approves the exorcism and they call in elderly archeologist-priest Father Merrin (Max von Sydow, Dreamscape), in a still terrific old-age make-up, to perform the ceremony with Karras assisting.
To this day there is still no film that tackles demonic possession, and the fight between good and evil, plus issues of faith quite as terrifyingly as The Exorcist. The concern of the mother for her daughter is fantastic, her sense of helplessness is palpable, the crisis of faith of Father Karras and his grief over his mother's death add another layer to it, and then there's the exorcism itself and the lead-up to it with the truly shocking scene of Blair's character bloodily stabbing herself in the naughty bits with crucifix screaming "let Jesus fuck you!", spewing green-pea soup, and letting loose a sharp-tongued blasphemous vernacular that would make a sailor blush - it's also so well executed, steeped in dreadful atmosphere and at the heart of it are this core group trying to save the soul of an innocent kid who has been possessed by a demon.
A masterful film that actually lives up to the hype, I saw it as a teenager after hearing about for years and how frightening it was. I thought there's no way this old movie is gonna scare me - I've seen The Texas Chainsaw Massacre! Well, I was not raised Catholic (or any other religion) but I was told plenty of time I was gonna go to Hell for my bad-ways as a young boy, and this got me big time, and every time I watch it it still send tingles or terror down my spine.
Audio/Video: The Exorcist arrives on 4K Ultra HD for it's 50th anniversary in 2160p UHD framed in the original 1.85:1 widescreen with HDR10 color-grading. The source looks immaculate, the image is stable and the 4K resolution really does draw out a pleasing amount of fine detail and texturing, more so than even the Blu-ray, quite a bit more actually. Now concerning the color-grading, which generally looks stunning, I will say that I have never seen The Exorcist projected from a 35mm film print, only digital projection and on home video on VHS, DVD and Blu-ray, and it's always looks a bit different every time, so I just want to say I have no basis for what is accurate to the original theatrical
release, and most of Friedkin's films seem to have storied, revisionist home video histories that have always caused a stir. With that said, I thought this was a pretty stunning release; primaries looks fantastic, texture and detail in close-ups and facial features are top-notch. The blacks are inky black with terrific shadow detail, I really felt like I was seeing this film for the first time, and I have seen it plenty on pretty much every home video format. The color-grading being accurate to the theatrical is debatable, but as I've never seen it shown on film I couldn't say for sure, but I will say that I thought it looked rather stunning on this UHD release, both cuts.
Audio comes by way of a new Dolby Atmos remix on both version, plus the original DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono mix for the Theatrical Cut. The Atmos tracks are pretty stellar without sound revisionist, or artificial the dialogue is crisp and clean, startling so, when Regan starts screaming "Let Jesus fuck you" it's unnerving, and more discreet atmospheric sound design elements are handled with aplomb, plus that score is just washes over you in the most immersive way. Also onboard is the film's original mono mix via DTS-HD MA 2,0 dual-mono, which I don't ever recall having had on disc before. I am a huge fan of having the original mono mixes for these vintage films, I love the direct front-forward nature of it, it had nice depth and balance to it that pleases me.
The A/V upgrades are most welcome, the film has never looked or sounded better than it does right here, but the situation with the extras is a crime against physical media and the people who support it. The only extras on the Theatrical cut are the archival Introduction by William Friedkin; the Audio Commentary by William Friedkin; and a second Audio Commentary by William Peter Blatty with Special Sound Effects, while the Extended Director’s Cut only gets the Friedkin commentary. There are no new extras and all those tasty archival extras from past releases are MIA from the standard release version of the film on 4K. Meanwhile their releasing a LE set and digital copies chock full of extras - what the actual heck WB!?! Anyway, I'll just hang onto my Blu-ray edition and lump it, but I think this is disrespectful to fans who have bought this film time and time again on VHS, Laserdisc, DVD, Blu-ray and now UHD, only to get bagged on the extras.
The two disc UHD arrives in a standard black keepcase with a dual hub housing the disc. The single-sided sleeve of artwork features a new artwork featuring Regan in the depth of the possession, it's not awful, but god forbid that WB use the iconic movie poster illustration. This is anther WB trend that I feel is a disservice to fans of the film, the defaults option should be the iconic artwork associated with the film, not these bastardizations, which while sometimes cool looking, don't ever compare to the iconic artworks. It seems to simple, just use the existing artwork!
Inside there's a digital copy of the film.
Special Features:
Disc 1: 4K Ultra HD, Theatrical Version
- Introduction by William Friedkin
- Audio Commentary by William Friedkin
- Audio Commentary by William Peter Blatty with Special Sound Effects
Disc 2: 4K Ultra HD, Extended Director’s Cut
- Audio Commentary by William Friedkin
