Is the theatrical cut obsolete?
I saw it a few nights ago and for the first time I felt it was terrible.
shareyour feeling is invalid
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MovieChat Forums > The Exorcist (1973) Discussion > Is the theatrical cut obsolete?
Actually I think it holds up better than the director's cut especially on Blu Ray. The VYNS has a lot of early 2000's horror gimmicks like flashing demon faces and added scary music you don't really need, I think the theatrical feels more timeless because it's more straight forward and not playing on scares like the newer version does. The theatrical version is a horror film not trying to be a horror film, a human drama in disguise, the Director's cut is trying to be a scare film and doesn't realize it was never intended to be that deliberate. That makes the theatrical feel less dated to me.
sharewhat music did they add?
shareThey added some new score to the director's cut but it's very subtle. In the opening when Merrin sees the Pazuzu statue, if you compare the TC to the DC you hear this creepy sound effect/music that's enhanced during the statue reveal in the DC, it's subtle but there's a difference. When Chris McNeil returns home at night after the doctor's visit you'll notice some creepy score playing as she's checking on Regan, the theatrical cut doesn't have that added music. Just compare the two. Also you hear some added score during Karras's conversation with Kinderman about Burke Dennings, in the theatrical cut there is zero score but you'll notice some score playing in the director's cut version of that scene. Another weird thing I noticed was the scene when Karras sees the Help Me message on Regan's belly, the score is much louder in the director's cut. Very subtle changes but noticeable.
shareinteresting.
shareThe director's cut should've been called the Author's cut or Blatty cut because Friedkin only did the DC to make William Peter Blatty happier with the film. Friedkin still claims the Theatrical cut is still his final cut unless he's changed his mind recently. I like them both!
shareNo the Directors Cut is absolutely magnificent. Saw it on DVD in 2002 when I was 12 with a friend and were just enthralled by it. It brought a dated horror movie into a new era by modernising it. The face flashing was terrifying, not gimmicky. Except for maybe the kitchen face (but that was so brief).
shareThe blu ray took out the face flashing except the kitchen one for some reason.
shareLOVE the theatrical cut for the Tubular Bells montage when they're explaining Regan's condition as somnambulist possession.
shareI believe that appears on the version you've never seen too.
shareThe 1973 version is my favorite.
shareIt's not in the extended director's cut, the one with the spider crawl. No music behind the somnambulist possession in that one. Much less effective without the music.
shareI'm confused, what scene are you referring to? if it's the one where she is in the hospital and there's a conference of doctors, I'm sure it's there in all the versions.
shareAt about 1:03. First there's an establishing shot of the Baringer Clinic. Then the music begins, along with the voiceover saying, "It looks like the kind of disorder we don't see anymore except in primitive cultures..."
http://personal.morris.umn.edu/~webbrl/PrimitiveCultures.jpg
yes, I'm pretty sure the tubular bells are in this scene in every version, I could be wrong but I don't ever remember the music missing, since it's also one of my favorite moments.
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