Рет қаралды 24,930
What I still consider to be the best horror movie ever made, The Exorcist, arrives on 4K UHD disc in its 50th year. This is the latest in a long line of home movie releases of this title which began in 1980 with the first Super 8 400ft reel release. In this video I take a look at both including that original release running through an Elmo GS1200 Super 8 projector in our home cinema.
The 4K disc is excellent and highly recommended. My opinion of the image quality is that it is too good for this film and I explain why I think that. The original mono soundtrack is included but there is a new Dolby Atmos track which although it's pretty amazing it does distract me at times owing to many of the sound effects being re-worked or changed. Image aspect ratio is 1.85:1. There are two versions of the film each on their own 4K disc - the original theatrical version and a so-called 'extended director's cut' which I had a quick look at but did not like what I saw. Changes have adversely affected the film and this is confirmed by William Friedkin in an extra feature on the second 'extended cut' Blu-ray who explains why he agreed to create this longer version of the film. I mention the prevalence of film grain owing to much of The Exorcist taking place in dark sets or at night and this does result in variable grain structures and particularly when subtitles have been optically inserted which exacerbates this further. There is one scene I did not mention where there is a facial close-up in the dark and something odd happens with the film grain which is on the move. I do not know if this was a deliberate effect or whether it is the result of the scanning process which interprets film grain incorrectly sometimes. It hardly spoils the overall disc which is almost 35mm film-like quality for a current cost of just £20. The Blu-rays aren't of quite the same high standard so once you've seen the 4K you won't ever want to run the Blu-ray again.
This 4K was released in the UK on 18th September 2023 and I purchased mine from HMV for £19.99 which seems pretty good value given there are four discs included in the pack.
Also featured in this video are the new Blu-ray releases of the Shudder series 1 to 3 of Creepshow. I'm still watching these but so far they're all excellent and in my opinion better than the original two Creepshow films upon which they are based. Sound and image (1.85:1) are the best of Blu-ray quality. If you enjoy anthology horror films or great movies such as Halloween then you should love these Creepshow series. The 'Creep' is at his best and tops and tails each opening, closing and link between the two stories in each episode. £29.99 per series and it's released 25th September 2023.
The Exorcist mass-hysteria documentary made in 1974 as mentioned in this video can be seen here: • Video
For details of the upcoming 'Film Is Fabulous!' event being hosted by the De Montfort University with the BFCC team go to the NEXT EVENT page of www.bfcc.biz