The Exorcist (2 Disc Blu-Ray)

Hi there!

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I'm not going to bore you all talking about the plot of The Exorcist. I can imagine most people know what the film is about! Instead I'm going to tell you about the discs and if it's worth buying or not, and a bit of the backstory about the inspiration behind it.

On disc one there is the extended directors cut. This cut has one of the more infamous scenes, the "spider walk" scene, a slightly different opening and ending, and a few extre scenes of dialogue thrown in. Extras include a directors commentary and a few new featurettes including never before seen, on set footage.

The featurettes are:

Raising Hell: Filming The Exorcist - In this feature, cast and crew talk about making the movie. It has behind the scenes footage of the film and it also goes into why the movie was so controversial when shown for the first time. I personally found this feature quite informative.

The Exorcist Locations: Georgetown Then and Now - Basically shows you how the locations look now compared to back when the film was made.

Faces of Evil: The Different Versions of The Exorcist - A look at the different versions of the film. Director William Friedkin talks about the reasons some of the shots were cut for the theatrical release and how this led to the fallout between him and the writer, William Peter Blatty. Again I found this extra quite good.

Disc two has the original theatrical cut. Also on the disc are two commentaries, a directors and a writer/producers commentary.

There are also some extra features. These are:

1998 Documentary, The Fear of God: The Making of The Exorcist - This is the BBC documentary presented by Mark Kermode and featuring interviews with cast and crew. This is genuinely entertaining and Mark Kermode clearly has a passion for the film. It goes into the making of the film and the media and public phenomenon.

Interview Gallery with William Friedkin and William Peter Blatty - This is split into three topics. The Original Cut, The Final Reckoning and Stairway to Heaven. Blatty and Friedkin share their memories of the movie and are quite entertaining as they talk about both the film and the novel.

Also there is a collection of the original trailers and tv spots for the film.

The films both really benefit from the improved picture quality and the sound has never been better than on this set. If you have a blu-ray player then this should be in your collection. The film is a true classic. When you take away the controversy surrounding the film what you are left with is an intelligent, well acted, well written and well directed movie that, after 27 years, still has the power to shock just as effectively as when it was released.

As for my opinions on the story that inspired the novel of The Exorcist, I believe that there isn't really a "true" story out there i'm afraid. William Peter Blatty wrote a memoir on the book entitled "William Peter Blatty On The Exorcist From Novel to Film". In the book he talks about his inspiration, a 1949 Washington Post article he’d read as a student when he was at Georgetown University. The piece, which ran August 20, told of a 14-year-old boy from nearby Mount Rainier, Maryland, who had undergone an exorcism.

Whether these events actually happened or not can't be proved by myself but that is apparently where the idea comes from. Online there are about a million different stories all claiming to be the real story so it seems the "true" story is a bit of a myth.

Well that's what is on The Exorcist (2 Disc Blu-Ray). I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much I've enjoyed writing it! Also please comment and let me know your thoughts!

I was going to write a couple more reviews but it's starting to get a bit late now. Hey tomorrow's another day! I can either write about Alejandro Jodorowsky's insane mexican western/art film El Topo, or Don Taylor's shockingly funny The Omen 2. I'll let you decide! :)

Thank you very much!

Session 9

Howdy folks! Another day another blog and today I'm going to be talking about Session 9!

Session 9 is a 2001 movie directed by Brad Anderson (The Machinist). It tells the story of the Hazmat Elimination Team, an asbestos removal company, owned by Gordon (Peter Mullan, who has recently directed the film "Neds"). Employed by Gordon are Phil (David Caruso of CSI fame) who is second in command, Hank (Josh Lucas) who just stole Phil's wife, a law school dropout called Mike (Stephen Gevedon, also screenwriter), and Gordon's nephew Jeff (Brendan Sexton III).

The film begins with Gordon and Phil going to survey a job at Danver's State Hospital, a psychiatric hospital closed in 1985. While looking through the hospital, Gordon comes across an ominous looking corridor with a wheelchair in the distance (also the films trademark image), and hears a ghostly voice say his name, "Hello... Gordon".

As Gordon is desperate for the job, he say's he can do the asbestos removal in two weeks, but then lowers that to one week as he really needs the cash or the business will fold. Well needless to say they get the job and commence work.

On the first day there is an electrical problem. Mike goes into the basement to fix the problem and stumbles across a collection of 9 taped sessions by patient #444, Mary Hobbes who has multiple personality disorder. Mike gets fixated on listening to these sessions and finds out she has three personalities. Princess is childlike and innocent and likes to talk a lot. Billy is the eyes and see's everything. They mention the third personality as Simon, but are reluctant to talk about him.

As Mike becomes more engrossed in the tapes tension escalates within the group. The tension is slowly cranked up until the shocking finale!

Now i'm not one for completely spoiling movies so that's all I'll say on the plot. All that's left is to give you my opinion.

If you haven't seen this movie I urge you to look it out. It can be purchased from amazon for only a couple of quid so there is really no excuse not to have this in your collection. The film absolutely drips with atmosphere largely thanks to the film's location. Danvers State Hospital was a real insane asylum, rumored to be the birthplace of th pre-frontal lobotomy. Unfortunately most of the hospital was torn down in 2006 and made into luxury flats but there are plenty of pictures taken inside and around the grounds that are online if you fancy taking a look at them. I must say the place is pretty damn creepy!

The film is more about psychological horror and believe me it'll have you thinking about it long after it has ended. I bought this film last year after seeing so many recommendations online and wondered why I had never heard of this film before. Suffice to say I have watched it countless times since and it really does live up to multiple viewings.

Thanks for taking the time out to read this blog, and if you have seen the movie please comment as I would like to hear your opinions.

I just bought Grindhouse 2 disc blu ray which has the movies Planet Terror and Death Proof back to back whith the fake trailers, and also The Exorcist 2 disc blu ray with the original and extended versions of the film. Each movie is loaded with extras so they should keep me busy for the next couple of days and maybe I'll write about one of them.

Once again, cheers! :)

Paranormal Activity 2

Well, on Thursday night I went to see the preview for Paranormal Activity 2 at the local cineworld. I'm a fan of the first movie but when I found out they were making a new one I wasn't very optimistic about it as I didn't see how it was possible to re-use the formula from the original and improve on it, also it seemed a bit rushed as the first one only came out a year ago. There was practically nothing online with any info about the films plot and I only really found out what it was about the day I went to see it.

This time round we have Tod Williams directing while original director Oren Peli is producer and partly wrote the movie.

Now the film is about Katie's (from the original) sister and her family being pursued by the same demon and in particular, their son Hunter. At the beginning of the movie they come home to find that their house has been completely smashed up, but that nothing has been stolen. Fearing that it may happen again they set up security cameras around the house in hope that they can catch something on film.

That's pretty much the basic premise of the film. I don't really want to say much more about the film because I don't want to spoil any of the surprises for you.

To say I was surprised by this film is an understatement. Not only was it a great movie, I would go as far as to say it was a superior film to the original. This film really needs to be seen in the cinema to get the most from it. This is the first time I've went to see a horror film where the audience were totally drawn in. People were screaming left, right and centre even at parts that weren't supposed to be scary. Even me, a hardened horror movie veteran, jumped a few times!

This is one of those rare times when an audience making noise and shouting actually made the movie more enjoyable. All I can say to recommend it is that if you are a fan of the original, go see it now as it really cranks the scares up a notch or two. If you aren't a fan, I think it still has a few cheap scares that would make you jump! There were a couple of grown men sitting beside me covering their ears when it got to the night time scenes and one of them kept shouting "No, NOOO!", everytime the smallest thing happened. It was hilarious!

That's my opinion on Paranormal Activity 2. If you have seen it and have your own opinions, please comment. Even if you haven't seen it and have an opinion, please comment!

Apart from going to see that, not much else has been happening. My weekend has been a busy one hence the late post about the film. Not really sure what film i'm going to see or watch next, suppose that's why random is in the name of the blog. I'll just have to surprise you! (If you're bothered that is!) Haha!

Hello!

Hi there Michael here!

This blog has been created primarily so I can talk about any movies, music or any other cool things that have caught my attention. The main thing I will be talking about is movies I have seen recently be it horror, cult, arthouse or any other type of movie that has caught my attention recently.

I hope you enjoy reading about the things I talk about and I'll regularly be putting up posts about any stuff that comes into my head (as I have a lot of time on my hands!).

If you have any things that you'd like to share or ideas about any films I should watch, feel free to comment and I'll check it out.

Well i'm just leaving to watch Paranormal Activity 2 at the cinema so expect my thoughts in the next few days! Bye! :)