Support NeoGAF

[ManaByte]

...

I mean...

...

"STUUUUPID! YOU'RE SO STUUUUUUPID!"

If you aren't aware of the history, original a different director was doing the Exorcist Prequel, and according to the critics who saw the movie it was actually GOOD. It was a very psychological horror movie and when Ebert saw it he gave it a glowing recommendation.

Well, when the studio saw it they decided that they wanted a hip teen horror movie with a bunch of blood and gore so they fired Schrader and brought in Renny Harlin to remake the movie and the result was the crappy Exorcist: The Beginning.

After that flopped Schrader tried to convince the studio to give it a chance. So they are. You know how? By giving it a limited theatrical release with NO advertising on the exact same fucking day as STAR WARS?

Can you say "retards"?

 

[Matlock]

Is it getting a DVD release?

 

[FoneBone]

It's not like they're actually trying to compete with Star Wars... I mean, they're probably only going to get hardcore movie buffs to see this in theaters, anyway.

Is it getting a DVD release?

Nothing's been announced (to my knowledge), but the answer is pretty obviously yes.

 

[ManaByte]

It's not like they're actually trying to compete with Star Wars... I mean, they're probably only going to get hardcore movie buffs to see this in theaters, anyway.

Except hardly anyone will know about it because they aren't going to advertise it at all.

Basically they're doing it that way so when it bombs they can tell Schrader they were right in remaking it.

 

[VistraNorrez]

Hardcore movie fans already know it is coming. Anyone else who sees it or hears about, would not be interested. They probably know shit about the production problems. So if they saw Exorcist in the theatres again they would ignore it, thinking they could just get the DVD. It would only confuse them to educate them on the the production problems. There is no way this would do well, it's only being limited released anyway. It will only reach it's success on DVD.

 

[Suerte]

Apparently the film is pretty good, I think Variety reviewed it at some point.

 

[FoneBone]

Hardcore movie fans already know it is coming. Anyone else who sees it or hears about, would not be interested. They probably know shit about the production problems. So if they saw Exorcist in the theatres again they would ignore it, thinking they could just get the DVD. It would only confuse them to educate them on the the production problems. There is no way this would do well, it's only being limited released anyway. It will only reach it's success on DVD.

I have to agree with this. Maybe I'll see it in the theaters anyway, though, although I need to see more reviews -- I'm still not clear on if this is good on its own merits, or merely when compared to the Harlin version.

 

[PartlyCloudlike]

Here's a small blurb on Schrader's version from Ebert. Check out the site for a picture from Schrader's film. wtf...

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050501/REVIEWS/50412001/1023

Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist

A milestone in movie history. Same premise, same hero, same leading actor, two directors, two completely different visions. Not a "director's cut" but a different director and a different film.

Schrader's "Exorcist Prequel" is not a conventional horror film, but does something risky and daring: It takes evil seriously. There really are dark Satanic forces in the Schrader version, which takes a character forever scarred by the Holocaust and asks if he can ever again believe in the power of God. The movie is drenched in atmosphere and dread, boldly confronting the possibility that Satan is active in the world. Instead of cheap thrills, Schrader gives us a frightening vision of a good priest (Stellan Skarsgard) who fears goodness may not be enough.

After Schrader delivered this version, the studio apparently found it too complex and intelligent, although those of course were not the words they used, and not scary enough. Well, it seems scary to me. They commissioned a different version by Renny Harlin, unseen by me because it was not screened for the press (never a good sign). He replaced three of the four key actors, although not Skarsgard, and produced a work that clanged in at 11 percent on the Tomatometer.

Then the studio decided to release this original version. Schrader, whose screenplays for "Taxi Driver" and "The Last Temptation of Christ" and directorial achievements like "Hardcore" and "The Comfort of Strangers" reveal a deep obsession with the war between good and evil, was the right director, and this is a film that works. Those who have seen the earlier version, may find the two films instructive as an illustration of the gulf between a personal vision and a multiplex product.