“For those who aren’t aware, the fourth film in the successful horror series was shot last year in Italy and Morocco with respected filmmaker Paul Schrader behind the lens and the always solid Stellan Skarsgärd playing the younger incarnation of the priest that Max von Sydow played in the 1973 original.”
“Most horror aficionados would be chomping at the bit to see an “Exorcist” movie from the writer of “Taxi Driver” and “Raging Bull,” but because of Hollywood’s penchant for all things illogical, we’ll never see the film.”
"Even though the movie was finished and assembled, a new director and a mostly new cast has been brought on board to shoot the film anew. Who is this director brought in to make Schrader’s thought-provoking cerebral horror film into a fast-paced and flashy thriller geared toward today’s audience? Renny Harlin, the man behind “Cutthroat Island” and “Cliffhanger.”
I wonder if somehow one will be able to see both films. I bet there’s work that will never be done on the original to make it a complete product, though. “Assembled” porbably doesn’t mean completed.
It was almost a month ago that I read on CHUD.com that both versions of the Exorcist prequel will both be released on DVD. Here’s the CHUD article by Nick Nunziata on the news. And here’s his CNN article about it.
And, apparently, that has led to a campaign to release a director’s cut of Exorcist III as well. If that happens, then maybe there’s hope that all copies of Exorcist II can be destroyed, and III will retroactively become II.
The author of the CNN article says about the 1st version, probably correctly, “This was to be a very smart and very classical horror film.” So no, the studio probably didn’t like it. You need teenage characters and cheap gore and titties to bring the kids in and make money with a horror flick these days.
I seem to remember hearing that the studio advertised this new movie with scenes from the original “Exorcist” - you know, the usual Regan possessed stuff. Then when they actually got the new movie in the can and saw it, they realized that what they got wasn’t actually a retread of the demons messing with people, but a movie about a priest attempting to come to terms with his faith in the holy land. Something of a really dramatic, psychological film. The studio then got pissed and made the movie they wanted to see.
At least that’s how I remembered it, I may be wrong on some of the details.