THE EXORCIST III (1990)
Label: Scream Factory
Region Code: A
Rating: RI Unrated
Duration: 110 Minutes I 105 Minutes
Audio: English DTS-HD MA Surround 5.1, English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: William Peter Blatty
Cast: Brad Dourif, Ed Flanders, George C. Scott, Jason Miller, Nicol Williamson, Scott Wilson
Synopsis: For more than fifteen years Police Lieutenant Kinderman (George C. Scott) has been haunted by the death of his friend Father Damien Karras. Now, on the 15th anniversary of the exorcism that claimed the priest’s life, Kinderman’s world is once again shattered when a boy is found decapitated and savagely crucified. It’s just the beginning of a nightmare series of bizarre religious murders. The brutal murders bear the hallmarks of the infamous Gemini Killer…who died in the electric chair fifteen years earlier. But when a psychopath claiming to be the Gemini Killer reveals intimate, gruesome details that only the true killer could possibly know, Kinderman is confronted with a horrifying truth that he cannot explain…and that will shake him to the core.
I clearly recall watching The Exorcist III for the first-time during an all-nite New Year's Eve movie marathon in the early 1990s with a group of stoned friends. We watched all-three movies in succession, the first film had always chilled me to the bone from a young age, the second made me wonder what the fuck, and the third was a nice return to form. In it we have actor legend George C. Scott (The Changeling) taking on the role of Detective Lt. Kinderman from the late Lee J. Cobb. It's been fifteen years since the events of The Exorcist and Kinderman is on the trail of a murderer of a 12-year-old boy named Thomas Kintry whom he knew. Later a priest is found murdered in a confessional booth at a church, his head severed and placed in his lap. Next to die is Kinderman's friend, a priest named Father Dyer (Ed Flanders, Salem's Lot) whom is murdered after being hospitalized following a sudden illness. His murder and the two before exhibit the tell-tale signs of the Gemini Killer, a murderer sentenced to death seventeen years earlier. Either there's a copycat who is intimately aware of the original murders or there's something more supernatural happening, which is of course what is happening.
The investigation leads Kinderman to a psychiatric ward where the nervous and chain-smoking Dr. Temple (Scott Wilson, formerly of The Walking Dead) relates the story of a catatonic man found wandering the streets years earlier. The man was committed and remained catatonic for years until just recently, now he has stirred, becoming more violent and claiming to be the Gemini Killer. Kinderman is clearly shocked to see that the man appears to be his friend Father Karras (Jason Miller, The Exorcist). During the session the man alternates in appearance between that of Karras and the Gemini killer, played with a wonderful and creepy intensity by Brad Dourif (Child's Play). During the conversation it is is revealed that the same demon who possessed young Regan MacNeil in The Exorcist has placed the soul of the executed Gemini Killer into the the body of the dying Father Karras as revenge for being cast out of Regan's body. Now locked up at the asylum he takes perverse pleasure in possessing the minds of the senile elderly inmates who carry-out his blasphemous and bloody murders.
The story is well-written and feels personal, so creepy and nicely executed, the use of a pair of oversized surgical scissors to carry out the murders is inspired, even if the murders are not particularly gory with much of the carnage happening off screen. A kill I am very keen on happens at the hospital where a nurse falls victim to the killer covered in a sheet carrying the surgical scissors, the scene begins slow and takes a while to play out, with a frightening punchline, it is scary stuff! Later an elderly woman is sent to the home of Kinderman by the demon and his own daughter comes within inches of having her head snipped off, these scenes are scary and still work on repeat watches.
Sure, the exorcism scene comes abruptly and for good reason, it was added on by the studio Morgan Creek who were not pleased with Blatty's original vision, and though it feels a bit over-the-top I do love it. Father Morning (Nicol Williamson, Venom) arrives from almost out of nowhere and performs the shock and awe exorcism with the fires of Hell emerging from the cracked concrete floor, with the priest's skin peeling-off during the soul-damning battle. I does feel like a bit of a detour from where the movie seemed to be heading but I loved it, and the scenes of Father Karras are a nice callback to the original movie.
The Exorcist III is loaded with creepy atmosphere and menacing flourishes that still hold some impact today. Another stand-out visual worth mentioning is the surreal dream had by Lt. Kinderman who envisions a trip to Heaven complete with Angels attempting to communicate with Earth via ham-radio. If you pay close attention you will spot cameos from 90s beefcake Fabio and a young bearded Samuel L. Jackson! There are a number of oddball cameos in the movie, including former US Surgeon General C. Everett Koop and radio commentator Larry King as themselves, plus basketball great Patrick Ewing as an Angel of Death.
Audio/Video: The Exorcist II arrives on Blu-ray from Scream Factory with a new 2K scan from the interpositive looking wonderful in every respect. There's a new depth and clarity to the image of the theatrical version not see on the The Exorcist: The Complete Anthology version we saw a few years back from Warner Bros. The grain is tighter, fine detail is plentiful and the image is crisper, and skin tones are a bit warmer. Scream Factory have done some great restoration work here, this is a solid upgrade.
Audio on the theatrical cut includes both a DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 Surround remix or the more authentic sounding DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Stereo presentation, both are solid options free of distortion, coming through crisp and clean. The surround option does have some nice atmospheric moments with the Barry DeVorzon score but I tend to prefer the stereo presentation this time around. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided.
Onto the extras we have a well-stuffed 2-disc edition loaded with some great extras. Disc one features the 110-minute theatrical cut. Also on disc one is a vintage featurette with Writer/Director William Peter Blatty, George C. Scott, Jason Miller, Ed Flanders, Grand L. Bush, Executive Producer James G. Robinson, Production Designer Leslie Dilley, Larry King And C. Everett Koop. The 7-minute EPK is loaded with scenes from the film and behind-the-scenes shots, as with all the extras this one is a bit spoilery so be aware. The first disc also includes 6-minutes of deleted scenes and bloopers,a deleted 3-minute prologue, trailers and TV spots, plus three image galleries with 166 images of behind-the-scenes, lobby cards, posters and still images.
Onto disc two we have the re-assembly of Director William Peter Blatty's Legion cut of the movie running 105-minutes. The studio interfered with the final cut of the movie and demanded re-shoots, the theatrical cut is not Blatty's original vision, though I will say I love the theatrical version and always have. Unfortunately the original negatives of the original 'Legion' cut of the movie have been lost and what Scream Factory have done is to assemble what they could from Blatty's own VHS dailies of the movie. The end result is a somewhat distracting cut of the movie comprised of scenes from Scream Factory restoration of the theatrical version with hard-cut VHS footage, which is distracting to say the least. This is not truly a director's cut, a lot of original footage simply does not exist anymore so this is not a complete and true director's cut, this is a re assembly stitched together as best it could be with the existing elements, some of which are awful looking.
Which is not to say I didn't love watching it, because this is quite a different experience with some notable differences including the fact that there's no exorcism scene in this version, actor Jason Miller does not appear in any of it as Father Karras. Brad Dourif gets a lot more screen time in this version and the ending is quite a bit different and more abrupt. It makes for an interesting watch but I cannot imagine this is gonna be anyone's preferred version of the movie. Having watched it I still love the theatrical cut, I think the studio made some good decisions when it came to the re shoots and some of that exorcism imagery is fantastic stuff. Despite its shortcoming it is great to finally have some version of the director's original version available for fans of the movie to watch.
Extras on the second disc include an audio interview with director William Peter Blatty by Michael Felsher of Red Shirt Pictures, which is not so much a scene specific commentary as an interview edited to play along with the movie, which on one level is disappointing but they do cover some good ground. There are also over two-hours of brand new interview with Producer Carter DeHaven, Actors Clifford David, Tracy Thorne, and Brad Dourif, Production Assistant Kara Reidy, Production Designer Leslie Dilley, Assistant Designer Daren Dochterman and Illustrator Simon Murton, Composer Barry DeVorzon, Makeup Effects With Production Manager Ronald Colby, Editor Todd Ramsay, Effects Artists William Forsche, Mike Smithson, Brian Wade And Actor/Body Double Charles Powell! Loads of ground is covered, including a nice candid interview with Dourif who defends the original cut and speaking very pointedly about Jason Miller's alcoholism. There are also interviews with key players pertaining to the re-shoots, and it is great to hear their dissenting voices, some of whom feel that Blatty's version of the movie is unwatchable.
The 2-disc release comes housed in a standard blue keepcase with a sleeve or reversible artwork featuring both the original theatrical poster art and a new illustration from artist Joel Robinson, which is also featured on the limited edition slipcover.
Special Features:
Disc One: The Exorcist III (Theatrical Cut) (110 is) HD
- NEW 2K Scan Of The Interpositive
- Vintage Featurette (7 Mins) HD
- Deleted Scene/Alternate Takes/Bloopers (6 Mins) HD
- Deleted Prologue (3 Mins) HD
- Vintage Interviews (Featuring Behind-The-Scenes Footage) With Writer/Director William Peter Blatty, George C. Scott, Jason Miller, Ed Flanders, Grand L. Bush, Executive Producer James G. Robinson, Production Designer Leslie Dilley, Larry King And C. Everett Koop (39 Mins)
- Theatrical Trailers (3 Mins) HD
- TV Spots (2 Mins) HD
- Behind-The-Scenes Photo Gallery (4 Mins) HD (44 Images)
- Posters and Lobby Cards Photo Gallery (6 Mins) HD (70 Images)
- Still Gallery (4 Mins) HD (50 Images)
Disc Two: Legion (Original Director's Cut) (105 minutes) HD
- NEW Audio Interview With Writer/Director William Peter Blatty moderated by Michael Felsher of Red Shirt Pictures (105 Mins)
- NEW A "Wonderfull" Time – Interviews With Producer Carter DeHaven, Actors Clifford David And Tracy Thorne And Production Assistant Kara Reidy (25 Mins) HD
- NEW Signs Of The Gemini – An Interview With Brad Dourif (18 Mins) HD
- NEW The Devil In The Details – Interview With Production Designer Leslie Dilley, Assistant Designer Daren Dochterman And Illustrator Simon Murton(18 Mins) HD
- NEW Music For A Padded Cell – An Interview With Composer Barry DeVorzon (18 Mins) HD
- NEW All This Bleeding – A Look At The Re-shoot And Makeup Effects With Production Manager Ronald Colby, Editor Todd Ramsay, Effects Artists William Forsche, Mike Smithson, Brian Wade And Actor/Body Double Charles Powell (29 Mins) HD
The Exorcist III has long been an undervalued entry in the Exorcist saga, I think its the only one worth watching after the original. The new Scream Factory 2-disc Blu-ray is a stunner top-notch A/V and some excellent extras. I do wish we had the true director's cut of the Legion version with a pristine HD presentation, but the re assembly is a nice extra and the theatrical cut looks fantastic. A very high recommend, this is a solid movie with some seriously creepy moments, if you haven't watched it you are missing out, if you're a fan already this release is overflowing with cool extras, this is essential stuff for horror fans
VENOM (1981)
Label: Blue Underground
Release Date: May 31st 2016
Region Code: region FREE
Duration: 92 Minutes
Rating: R
Audio: English DTS-HD 7.1 Surround, DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo, Dolby Digital Surround EX 5.1 with Optional English SDH, French, Spanish Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Director: Piers Haggard
Cast: Sterling Hayden, Klaus Kinski, Sarah Miles, Nicol Williamson, Susan George, Oliver Reed
This was a first time watch of the hybrid serpentine-siege movie Venom (1981) starring two of cinema's most notorious madmen, the equally strong-willed Klaus Kinski and Oliver Reed. As the story goes we an asmthmatic 10-year boy named Phillip (Lance Holcomb) who is left alone for the weekend with his grandfather by his overly protective motherRuth (Cornelia Sharpe) at their posh London townhouse. It seems Ruth is off to Rome to join her husband who is away there on work. She leaves Phillip with her father Howard (Sterling Hayden, Dr. Strangelove) who was some sort of African big game hunter back in his prime. Ruth has some reservations about leaving her son alone with her elderly dad, but she is somewhat comforted by the fact that she has the chauffeur Dave (Oliver Reed, Burnt Offerings) and a nanny named Louise (Susan George, Crazy Mary Dirty Larry) to help keep the boy safe while she is away.
What she does not know is that Louise and Dave are not good people, in fact they have partnered with an international criminal named Jacmel (madman Klaus Kinski) to kidnap her son and hold him ransom. However, before the trio can enact their kidnap plan the boy's grandfather throws a wrench into the works by allowing young Philip to take a taxi by himself to a pet shop to purchase a snake ...only the inept shop keepers send Philip away with not a harmless snake, but the deadliest snake ion the damned planet, a venemous black mamba!
Philip arrives back at the home with his deadly new pet safely locked away in a wooden box, he runs to his room but not before an odd staircase encounter with Reed's character who confronts the boy by repeatedly calling him a "cheeky bastard". Just as Jacmel arrives on scene to kidnap the kid poor Louise is viciously bitten in the face by the snake in one of the movies more fun and thrilling scenes. Unfortunately Susan George is down for the count and out of the picture at this point which was awful for me, just a few moments earlier she was stripping off her maid outfit... which makes the cover art for the Blu-ray which teases a scantly clad Susan George versus the snake sort of funny, you just gotta love the exploitation movie marketing machine, they sure know how to tease us into watching a movie with a certain expectation.
With Susan George's Louise writhing in pain and dying an awful suffocating death the kidnap plot is revealed to Howard, who is now held against his will at gun point along with his grandson. Right then a copper comes knocking on the front door, unbeknownst to the kidnappers he is there to make an inquiry about the unfortunate mix-up at the pet shop, before this is known trigger happy Dave blasts the cop right off the front door step with a shotgun, which incites a near instant stand-off with the authorities who arrive within minutes. Now the kidnappers and victims are trapped in the house with a deadly black mamba on the loose while the coppers surround the townhouse making escape difficult.
This one is a claustrophobic bit of siege fun, we begin with a very simple kidnapping gone wrong scenario that turns into a oddball siege movie with a killer snake on the loose, which makes for good movie watching if not a great slice of cinema. Susan George is gone a bit too soon for my tastes, but turns is fine performance for her part. Surprisingluy Reed and Kinski are mighty restrained in their roles but they're bursting at the seems with tension, probably because they actually hated each other, and the always watchable Sterling Hayden turns in a wiley performance as the aging white hunter trying to protect his son. Young Lance Holcomb manages to not be too annoying for a kid actor, but doesn't get a lot to do, he's suffering from his asthma most of the movie.
Venom has a reputation as having not enough siege nor enough snake for the most part, and I agree with the latter of the considerations, there is definitely not enough of the black mamba in the movie for my tastes, though there's plenty of siege, to that end we have Commander William Bulloch (Nicol Williamson) heading the siege against the kidnappers. He comes across as a smart and shrewd lawman during is negotions with Kinski but somehow allows the kidnappers to snatch away a snake expert who arrives on scene to consult about the deadly black mamba. She becomes a bargaining chip for the kidnappers who threaten to cut off her fingers if their ransom demands are not met.
This is a good watch, it moves along at a fast pace, along the way the script seems to jettison a fair amount of logic to maintain that pace, but it was not anything I couldn't forgive. For myself the thrill of this one is the great cast and fun premise, a somewhat aloof siege movie married to a serpentine survival movie, starring Kalus Kinksi, Susan Geoge, Oliver Reed and Hollywood veteran Sterling Hayden cannot be that all that bad, in fact it's quite good. The biggest drawback for me would be the need for more snake onscreen, it is glimpsed only fleetingly, which works for some movies but not this one, especially when the few scenes we do get are so effcective, that snake was scary and a few of the scenes made my skin crawl, while others made me laugh, such as the venemous serpent crawling up Reed's pant leg to bite the brute right on the schlong, this was a rare ustance of Reed underplaying a situation. Definitey check out Venom if you have not done so yet, it's not great cinema but it is a good watch, this new Blu-ray from Blue Underground is a great excuse to finally check it out or give it a rewatch.
Audio/Video: Venom (1981) arrives on Blu-ray from Blue Underground framed in the original 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio with a new 2K transfer straight from the original camera negative looking very nice. The image is clean and crisp with a nice clarity and a modest amount of depth. Colors are strong and vibrant, the black levels and shadow detail are very strong all the way around. Audio choices are plentiful with choice of English DTS-HD MA 7.1 Surround and 2.0 Stereo, plus Dolby Digital Surround 5.1 Surround with Optional English SDH subtitles. The audio is clean and free of hiss, except for that of the deadly black mamba... drum roll please! The Michael Kamen score, sound effects and dialogue are nicely balanced and come through clean and with a sense of urgency, the surround options offers bit of discreet channel fun, but us unecassary, for me the original stereo mix sounded just fine.
Special features on the disc are on the slim side, the Blu-ray and DVD discs come housed in a clear Criterion style keep case with a reversible sleeve of artwork and a 20-page collector's booklet with writing about the movie from Michael Gingold, the booklet also includes promotional images and artwork for the movie. Extras on the discs include a commentary with Director Piers Haggard moderated by Jonathan Sothcott, offering some solid insight about the making of this troubled movie production, with Haggard commenting on taking over the movie after the original director Tobe Hooper was fired, following what has often been reported to be a nervous breakdown on set. He also speaks volumes about the tumultuous on-set chemistry between stars Klaus Kinski and Oliver Reed who apparently loathed each other from day one, with Reed taunting Kinski by calling him a "nazi bastard" while for his part Kinski threatening to kill Reed. In a lot of ways the making of anecdotes are more interesting the movie to a degree. There's also a selection of trailers and TV spots for the movie, plus an image gallery of behind-the-scenes, and advertising and promotional images.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Director Piers Haggard moderated by Jonathan Sothcott
- Theatrical Trailer (1 Min)
- TeaserTrailer (1 Mins)
- TV Spots (1 Min)
- Poster and Still Gallery (78 Images)
- BONUS Collectible Booklet featuring new writing by Fangoria Editor Michael Gingold
Venom (1981) is a movie I have known about for a long time but just never got around to seeking out, I think I first read about it about it on a list of movies that Tobe Hooper was booted from and/or quit, a list which also included werewold with laser-eyes movie The Dark, which is another strange one. This serpentine siege thriller is a good watch, the story has some huge holes in it but the cast do a fine job of bringing it home, and knowing the on-set acidity between Kalus Kinski and Oliver Reed only makes it that much more fun when they share scenes together, knowing the friction was real adds some depth to it. Blue Underground have done a great job bringing Venom to Blu-ray with a solid A/V presentation and an attractive package, highly recommended, another geat release from BU!
I clearly recall watching The Exorcist III for the first-time during an all-nite New Year's Eve movie marathon in the early 1990s with a group of stoned friends. We watched all-three movies in succession, the first film had always chilled me to the bone from a young age, the second made me wonder what the fuck, and the third was a nice return to form. In it we have actor legend George C. Scott (The Changeling) taking on the role of Detective Lt. Kinderman from the late Lee J. Cobb. It's been fifteen years since the events of The Exorcist and Kinderman is on the trail of a murderer of a 12-year-old boy named Thomas Kintry whom he knew. Later a priest is found murdered in a confessional booth at a church, his head severed and placed in his lap. Next to die is Kinderman's friend, a priest named Father Dyer (Ed Flanders, Salem's Lot) whom is murdered after being hospitalized following a sudden illness. His murder and the two before exhibit the tell-tale signs of the Gemini Killer, a murderer sentenced to death seventeen years earlier. Either there's a copycat who is intimately aware of the original murders or there's something more supernatural happening, which is of course what is happening. 
The story is well-written and feels personal, so creepy and nicely executed, the use of a pair of oversized surgical scissors to carry out the murders is inspired, even if the murders are not particularly gory with much of the carnage happening off screen. A kill I am very keen on happens at the hospital where a nurse falls victim to the killer covered in a sheet carrying the surgical scissors, the scene begins slow and takes a while to play out, with a frightening punchline, it is scary stuff! Later an elderly woman is sent to the home of Kinderman by the demon and his own daughter comes within inches of having her head snipped off, these scenes are scary and still work on repeat watches. 
The Exorcist III is loaded with creepy atmosphere and menacing flourishes that still hold some impact today. Another stand-out visual worth mentioning is the surreal dream had by Lt. Kinderman who envisions a trip to Heaven complete with Angels attempting to communicate with Earth via ham-radio. If you pay close attention you will spot cameos from 90s beefcake Fabio and a young bearded Samuel L. Jackson! There are a number of oddball cameos in the movie, including former US Surgeon General C. Everett Koop and radio commentator Larry King as themselves, plus basketball great Patrick Ewing as an Angel of Death. 
Onto disc two we have the re-assembly of Director William Peter Blatty's Legion cut of the movie running 105-minutes. The studio interfered with the final cut of the movie and demanded re-shoots, the theatrical cut is not Blatty's original vision, though I will say I love the theatrical version and always have. Unfortunately the original negatives of the original 'Legion' cut of the movie have been lost and what Scream Factory have done is to assemble what they could from Blatty's own VHS dailies of the movie. The end result is a somewhat distracting cut of the movie comprised of scenes from Scream Factory restoration of the theatrical version with hard-cut VHS footage, which is distracting to say the least. This is not truly a director's cut, a lot of original footage simply does not exist anymore so this is not a complete and true director's cut, this is a re assembly stitched together as best it could be with the existing elements, some of which are awful looking. 
The Exorcist III has long been an undervalued entry in the Exorcist saga, I think its the only one worth watching after the original. The new Scream Factory 2-disc Blu-ray is a stunner top-notch A/V and some excellent extras. I do wish we had the true director's cut of the Legion version with a pristine HD presentation, but the re assembly is a nice extra and the theatrical cut looks fantastic. A very high recommend, this is a solid movie with some seriously creepy moments, if you haven't watched it you are missing out, if you're a fan already this release is overflowing with cool extras, this is essential stuff for horror fans
