The Corner Penthouse

Warner Brothers Home Entertainment recently released the The Exorcist (1973) 4K UHD. Read on to find out more about it...

[ SYNOPSIS ]

The Exorcist tells the now-famous story of a girl's demonic possession, and a gripping fight between good and evil. Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair) is a young girl who starts to exhibit strange, arcane behavior. Her mother Chris (Ellen Burstyn) calls upon a priest, Father Karras (Jason Miller), to investigate. But Karras, who has a spiritual crisis of his own, is suddenly confronted with the unimaginable evil of Regan's possession. Father Lankester Merrin (Max Von Sydow), an archeologist-priest, is called to help, and a horrific battle for her soul begins.

[ SPECIFICATIONS ]

The movie is presented in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio with a runtime of 2:12:20 for the "Extended Director's Cut" and 2:01:51 for the "Original Theatrical Version". (Although this is claimed to be the "Original Theatrical Version", it is not. It opens with the new ice-blue Warner Brothers logo and includes remastering credits at the end. That means that it is NOT the same as what was shown on theater screens back in 1973.) The movie (Extended Director's Cut that debuted back in 2000 as "The Version You've Never Seen") has been rated R for strong language and disturbing images. Audio languages include English, French, and Spanish. Subtitle languages include English SDH, French, and Spanish.

[ SPECIAL FEATURES ]

All of the content listed below can be found on the noted 4K discs (Disc 1 contains the "Extended Director's Cut", and Disc 2 contains the "Original Theatrical Version"). As there is no Blu-ray disc, LOTS of previously-released DVD and Blu-ray material is missing.

• DISC 1: Audio Commentary - by William Friedkin.
• DISC 2: Audio Commentary - by William Friedkin.
• DISC 2: Audio Commentary - by William Peter Blatty with Special Sound Effects.
• DISC 2: Introduction by William Friedkin (2:11) - A vintage DVD-era introduction that was filmed back in 1998.

[ ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ]

A digital copy code voucher is included inside the standard two-disc black 4K UHD case. The first print run includes a slipcover with the ugliest cover image I've seen since the Poltergeist 4K UHD/Blu-ray release last year (back when Warner was including Blu-ray discs with their 4K releases). Seriously, what is wrong with the iconic image of Father Merrin standing under the streetlamp in the fog?

[ NOTES ]

The Exorcist (1973) is available on 4K UHD, but if you want extras, you'll also need to buy one of the older Blu-ray or DVD releases. I would recommend the out-of-print The Exorcist: The Complete Anthology Blu-ray (also on DVD), which contains both cuts of this film (with lots of extras), as well as Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), The Exorcist III (1990), Exorcist: The Beginning (2004), and Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist (2005).

If you're only interested in the first film, the out-of-print Digibook Blu-ray gives you both cuts of the film (the same two discs in the Anthology set) and a book as part of the packaging. If you want a standard case (no book packaging), the Region-Free Import Blu-ray is the choice for both cuts of the film.

If you still buy DVDs, there is no single release with both versions of the movie on it. For the Theatrical Cut (the real Theatrical Cut), you'll want the 25th Anniversary Edition DVD (in a snapper case). For the Director's Cut, you can either get the The Version You've Never Seen DVD (in a snapper case) or the later Director's Cut DVD (in a plastic case). Both DVDs have the same cut of the film, even though they are titled differently, but I think the extras on each disc are different.

Finally, if you want to learn about all of the ways that the Ghostbusters franchise pays respect to The Exorcist, read my Ghostbusters Honors... The Exorcist article on Spook Central.

This item has been provided by Warner Brothers Home Entertainment for review on this site.