From:
darkangel5@DONTEMAILMEbtinternet.com
As we all know, the original cut of "Exorcist 3" was quite different to
the version released theatrically.
Well, some time ago, Shout Factory managed to reconstruct William Peter Blatty's original version of the film, which was also released in the UK
on a limited Edition BD by Arrow. Which I finally got around to seeing
earlier.
This version has the same basic premise as the theatrical release, in
which LT Kinderman (a character from the original Exorcist, played this
time by George C Scott) is investgating a series of brutal murders, that
bare all the hallmarks of a serial killer known as the Gemini, who was
executed 15 years ago.
His enquiries lead him to a mysterious patient in the secure mental ward
of the local hospital, who claims he is the Gemini killer and happens to
look a lot like the late Father Karras.
I'm sure most of us are aware that Brad Douriff was originally cast as
Patient X/Father Karras, but after they'd started filming, the studio
then insisted they had to use original actor Jason Miller, and so all
the scenes between Kinderman and Patient X had to be reshot.
This version re-instates the original scenes with Brad Douriff, and also includes a lot of other stuff that was cut from the theatrical version, including the exhumation of Father Karras's grave and a conversation
between Kinderman and Father Riley about a priest who went missing 15
years ago, who matches the description of the body in Father Karras's grave.
Some scenes are longer, or cut differently. There's a lot more dialogue
between Kinderman and Patient X, more footage of Scott Wilson's
character Dr Temple, a bizarre dream sequence and a completely different ending, that does not contain an exorcism. Which was added during
reshoots at the insistence of the studio. Indeed, the priest seen at the
end of the theatrical version, Father Morning, is not in this version at
all.
Based on William Peter Blatty's novel Legion, technically, this SHOULD
have been Exorcist 2, but the studios decided to do their own follow up entitled The Heretic (and we all know how that turned out). This version
of Exorcist 3 follows the book a lot more closely. Unfortunately though,
a lot of the original elements were missing, so some scenes had to be reconstructed using video footage from dailies/screener copies. But
other than that, this is a great companion piece to the theatrical version.
Definitely a must for Exorcist fans.
--
Best Wishes
Simon (Dark Angel)
http://www.realmofhorror.co.uk
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