Just in time for Halloween,
the TNC.com official
forum
is now up and running again. Several modifications and tweaks have yet to be
implemented, but, on the whole, it is functionable. Previous members will
need to re-register, as this was a complete overhaul.
Please enjoy your stay, and I
look forward to conversing with you all!
:: American Exorcist
news; more promotional photos
As posted at the
American Exorcist microsite,
advanced copies of American
Exorcist: Critical Essays On William Peter Blatty have been distributed!
Very exciting times ahead indeed. Click on the thumbnails below to view
larger images:
Front
Cover
Back
Cover
Dedication
Acknowledgements
Additionally, I located several more TNC promotional photos on eBay. Check
them out!
Firstly, 'Stung417' (Bryan
Layne), who conducted and provided the interview with Stacy Keach in the
previous update, has provided the website with an autographed photo of Bill
that he acquired during one of his first-ever interviews. Click on the
thumbnail below to view the full-sized image.
Furthermore, the latest news
regarding the stand-alone publication of Elsewhere can be found at
the official
Cemetery Dance Publications website:
Production Status:
Elsewhere has been designed, Alex McVey has turned in the surprise interior
artwork, and the final round of proofreading was just completed. As soon as
the signature sheets are signed, this one will be ready for the printer!
It appears that the
limited-to-52-signed-copies lettered edition has sold out, though the
limited edition version is still available. The official cover for the book
has also been put online, along with a glimpse of the interior artwork that
will come with it (click on the Cemetery Dance link above to view the
images). I managed to place all three editions on order - I hope you managed
to as well!
Finally,
eBay has been quite generous lately, in terms of providing me with lobby
cards/promotional images from The Ninth Configuration that I had no
idea existed. Here are some of the ones I have purchased so far (the third of which
has been signed by Stacy Keach!):
Note the erroneous caption on
the second image - Richard (biker, right) was not an inmate.
It contains a very nice
interview with Stacy Keach, briefly talking about The Ninth Configuration,
working with Jason Miller and so on. Be sure to give it a read!
"American Exorcist: Critical
Essays On William Peter Blatty" is to be published and released later this
year; an anthology of critical essays based upon Mr. Blatty's works,
compiled by fellow friend and Australian Blatty fan, Benjamin Szumskyj.
Check out the following link
at CaptainHowdy.com for more information about the publication:
It can be pre-ordered from
McFarland Publishing
here, or from amazon.com
here.
The essay I have contributed
is entitled "Twinkle, Twinkle, "Killer" Kane and The Ninth Configuration:
A Comparison," which compares the novel of TTKK, the revised
novel of TNC, the film adaptation, and an unreleased copy of the
original TTKK script. It also comments upon Blatty's work and the man
in general.
I'm a big fan of The Ninth
Configuration and I wanted to point you towards a custom poster I made. I'm
a graphic designer and do mostly movie posters here in Iceland.
I started a project recently, for myself mostly, where I make new poster
designs for my favorite films. The first one was
Point Blank and I just
finished a poster for Ninth Configuration. And since you are such a huge fan
as well I wanted to give you a downloadable copy of it. What you can do is
download the PDF file and take it to a print shop and have them print it out
since it's 27x40". If you like it that is.
The poster is located
here and I included a small jpg version as well.
I know that you are in contact with Blatty himself so if you could maybe let
him know about this I would greatly appreciate it. I won't be selling these
posters, they are for free for those who want them, but they have to print
them out themselves of course.
Well take care man.
Omar
P.S.
I just started work on a Exorcist 3 poster."
Thank you for the e-mail,
Omar! The poster is really quite nice:
It's an absolute pleasure to
receive e-mails of this nature. Additionally, Charlie Kondek wrote in with
the following:
"Ryan, just wanted to let
you know I really appreciate your site and it has been a major reason I have
really gotten into Blatty's work. I blogged about my experience here:
Rich
Savine has been kind enough to supply TNC.com with a variety of
material. You can now find scans of the UK presskit for The Ninth
Configuration, UK promotional photos for The Exorcist III and a
review of The Exorcist III from Samhain magazine at the
following links:
The first of the eight
Exorcist III UK promotional photos is particularly of interest, in that
Karras (?) is seen standing at the summit of the stairs, whereas every other
photo I have seen depicting the staircase has either been vacant, or shows
the stunt-man tumbling halfway down.
Please note that the American,
French, German and Spanish promotional photos ("lobby cards") can be found
here:
Additionally, I have added an
alternate trailer for The Exorcist III in
rare section
of the
Legion website.
This trailer differs from both the one available on The Exorcist III
DVD, and the rare, unreleased
"head morphing" trailer. Check it out here:
Things
have been a little slow lately (due to a lot going on in my life at the
moment) but rest assured, plenty of updates are on the horizon. In the
meantime, a new picture of Bill has been added to the
gallery:
An incredible haunted house novel from William Peter Blatty, the legendary
author of The Exorcist! Disturbing, unsettling, chilling, and laced with a
nasty streak of dark humor, Elsewhere is a must-have for all fans of dark
fiction! Sure to become a time-honored classic in the genre!
Available in three states:
- Trade Edition bound in full-cloth with full-color dust jacket artwork
($25)
- Slipcased Limited Edition of 350 signed and numbered copies ($75)
- Traycased Lettered Edition of 52 signed and lettered copies bound in
leather with satin ribbon page marker ($250)
I am
currently looking to purchase two pieces of Blatty-related memorabilia. The
first is the only remaining promotional poster from The Ninth
Configuration film that I do not yet own, along with a black and white
Legion lobby card that I do not seem to be able to track down
anywhere:
If you are
in possession of either of these and are willing to part with them, or are
able to point me in the right direction of acquiring them, please click the
"Contact" link in the menu above and let me know.
:: Legion Call Sheet
/ TheNinthConfiguration.com on MySpace!
First
and foremost, be sure to head over to the Legion section of
the website for brand new, exclusive images directly from William Peter
Blatty's home.
If you
are a MySpace member, click
here
to check out TNC.com's profile. Don't forget to add us!
A MySpace profile has also
been created for
Legion.
Additionally, the remaining
TNC out-takes have been uploaded (1, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 8).
:: "Elsewhere" - December 28,
2007? / Blatty 1958 and 1985 Articles
Update: Bill's wife let me know that he looked into it, but it isn't
true. However, she did also state the following: "It IS a shame....don't
know why it's listed. Maybe if there are enough pre-orders, they really will
re-release it..."
Here's hoping!
According to Barnes & Noble (bn.com),
Blatty's "Elsewhere" short story from the
999 Anthology is set to be published on December 28, 2007:
During the filming of the exterior castle scenes, William Peter Blatty
decided to deepen the character of Groper by allowing him to verbalize his
disgust at the cowardly 'play acting' in which he believes the inmates are
indulging. Actor Neville Brand was America's second most decorated veteran
of World War II and a man whose bravery and forthrightness impressed the
author greatly. Following conversations with Brand, Blatty penned an
impressive outburst in which Groper berates the men for their perceived
weakness as he assembles them for inspection. This elongated version of
Groper's address was considered successful on set, but in the editing room,
Blatty accepted that it was, if anything, too powerful for its own good; the
force of Groper's words jarred with the comic tone of the surrounding
material. Thus the speech was cut, although its exclusion still causes
Blatty some regret.
One of the most significant abbreviations of all released versions of The
Ninth Configuration is the shortening of Cutshaw's late-night encounter with
Kane in which the astronaut talks specifically about the problem of evil and
his resultant disbelief in God. In its original form, the scene (which
immediately follows Kane's discussion with Krebs) finds Cutshaw expanding
upon his belief that evil is an inherent, rather than a learned, trait.
Using a mocking example of Jack the Ripper, he parodies the platitudes of
psychiatry, before concluding that wicked men started out life as wicked
children, heartless souls who would torture caterpillars for amusement.
Although the shortening of this scene may have helped the dramatic pace of
the film, it also removed the explanation of why Cutshaw [Kane] would later
use the phrase "green soaked caterpillar torturing bastard." The original,
lengthier version of this key scene also contains an explanation of
Cutshaw's eccentric substitution of the word 'Foot' for 'God', a habit which
is left bafflingly unexplained in the released version.
Comprehensive image galleries
of The Ninth Configuration and The Exorcist III are next on
the list, along with an extensive list of correspondences and links between
Blatty's films, the actors in his films, and recurring themes that
appear throughout his written works.
If you
have always been wondering what the original opening sequence to "The Ninth
Configuration" would have looked like, had WPB stuck with his initial ideas,
you can now read it on this website. Click
here!
:: R.I.P. Peter Vincent
Galahad Blatty: 1987 - 2006
On
November 7, 2006, William Peter Blatty's son, Peter Vincent Galahad Blatty,
passed away.
Peter's death, among a variety
of other things, was what prompted me to re-launch a website such as this. I
had previously run a variety of sites pertaining to Blatty's own work as
a writer and director (apart from the world-renowned The Exorcist),
but, to my dismay, they quickly began to dwindle (see the
about page). In any case, this new
website will be incessantly updated and filled to the brim with content.
I also wish to publicly
declare my belated condolences to the Blatty family. A tribute can be found
here.
This website is currently being
(re)constructed, and much of its content will be online and available within the
following weeks. Please do not hesitate to bookmark this page and check back
occasionally.
