a review of 第九种配置

February: 16/28 I saw this one was about to expire on Mubi, so I gave it a shot. This is William Peter Blatty's self-written/directed film based on his novel of the same name, which on balance feels like a hackneyed mash-up of "Catch-22", "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest", and "Psycho". The combination of elements feels both labored and self-indulgent, and doesn't ring with anything resembling emotional or intellectual truth. Most of the characters (played by legitimately great character actors like Robert Loggia, Ed Flanders, and The Exorcist's Jason Miller) in the film are Vietnam veterans being treated for psychosis, all of whom are written and directed to play their maladies in the most hacky improv-comedy manner imaginable. The last 30 minutes of this film are pure, over-the-top pain, involving a random run-in with a jaw-droppingly homophobic depiction of a disco-dancing motorcycle gang, and a narrative non-twist so fully telegraphed from the very beginning it could have been sent by Samuel Morse. Not recommended for anybody except the biggest fans of the original "Exorcist", and even then I can't recommend it.