"You are going to die up there..."

Rating: Null/10 (11 November 2003)

This is not a review of the 1973 version, but a contrast of the two existing versions. THE EXORCIST was completed in 1973 as a 140 minute film, and the studio asked director William Friedklin (THE GUARDIAN) to make it a two-hour affair. In 1998, the film was released on DVD as a 25th Anniversary Edition and it featured most of the deleted material. One was the spiderwalk scene, then there was the dialogue between Karras and Merin at the stairs, and then the alternative ending. In 2000, the film was re-released on theaters as "The Version You've Never Seen" featuring 12 minutes of extra footage and digitally restored picture and sound. I will list and analyze the major changes to one version and the other, and explain why I still prefer the original cut.
-First, let me start with the major difference: This is the best THE EXORCIST has ever looked or sounded. The new transfer blows the 1998 one out of the water. The film looks like it was made yesterday. The new sound is well done and superior in every level and the recent (and improved) extra sound effects are welcome. THE EXORCIST broke new ground in sound recording when it was originally released, and the legacy is kept on.

-The first big change is right before the opening credits. It is a rather effective tracking shot of the house the film takes place and then it follows to the rainy streets. What follows is a still shot of the church. This was done in order to make a beginning difference from the 1973 version to the new one, and to prevent the unfamiliar audience to think the entire movie will take place in Northern Iraq. This is a small, harmless change.

-There are CGI-inserted subliminal images all over the movie. Most of them are shadow interplays or quick flashes of Reagan's deformed face in the shadows and they are followed by creepy music cues making their existence noticeable. There are more digitally enhanced changes: The first is a quick morph in Reagan's face when she looks up to the doctor while being hypnotized. Then, the morph of Karras' possessed face in the ending is improved from a quick cut to an actual on-screen morph. Damien also sees his dead mother's reflection on the window. Overall, these digitally inserted additions are well done but unnecessary.
-Some moments of the original are cut. One of them is the F word. Again, harmless changes.
-Now the first big change: The inclusion of the first visit to the doctor. This is when Chris takes Reagan for a check-up because she has been acting weird these days, and the doctor prescribes her the then-unknown Ritalin. The scene with Chris and the doctor at the office is effective and necessary in order to understand later parts of the movie ("the doctor said...") but Linda Blair's individual moments in during check-up are badly acted and should have been quickly trimmed.
-The second is the famous "spiderwalk" scene. It takes place right after Chris learns Burke is dead. Now, this is not the real scene. Instead, the original material is played on fast forward and a new take of blood coming from Reagan's mouth was inserted. Fade to black. The original scene had Reagan turn around, move her tongue, and attack Sharon. Director William Friedklin wanted to cut this scene and it was a wise move. The scene feels gratuitous, out-of-place, and it was too early. It really breaks the downbeat feel of the scenes around it. I still have no idea why William allowed it to be here *cough* money *cough* and the new Friday the 13th-like "shock music" is terrible.
-Karras now listens to an old tape of Reagan as she talks to her father. This is one touching new addition, because it shows how Karras is starting to feel sorry and connect to the girl. It is one welcomed change.
-The dialogue between Merrin and Karras at the stairs is not really necessary but it doesn't hurt the film either. In fact, it is a rather well-written scene.
-The new ending is, indeed, stupid. Sorry for such an immature take on it, but it is. Screenwriter Blatty defends this ending saying that it was necessary for the audience to feel that the goodness was restored. Friedklin prefers the old ending because he wanted THE EXORCIST to be an open-ended movie where it would be left for the audience to take their own conclusions and he didn't feel it was necessary to explain it. I agree with Friedklin, the original noir-like ending featuring Dyer looking down the Hitchcock steps and then walking away while Tubular Bells played was simply perfect. The new extension of it establishing a new friendship between Dyer and Kinderman feels forced. And why did Friedklin allow it back again?

Overall, the original version is still the one to watch for. While it looks and sounds better, the new version is nothing but a cash-in. The spiderwalk and the new ending are drastic changes, and not for the better. The 1998 DVD contained most of these deleted scenes, a then-restored transfer (while it's not as good as this one, it is far from terrible) and excellent extra features to close it up. Still, the film itself is a masterpiece that will live on as one of the scariest movies ever made. Case closed, and I am tired of all these recent re-edits of modern classics.