‘Infinite goodness is creating a being you know, in advance, is going to complain…’
William Peter Blatty is best known, of course, as the author of The Exorcist. Horror aficionados will also no doubt be aware that Blatty went on to write and direct The Exorcist III – a film that has become something of a cult classic and also notoriously features one of the most terrifying jump scares in horror history. A decade earlier, however, Blatty made his directing debut with The Ninth Configuration – a curious and claustrophobic movie that has some great moments but is also inherently flawed…
A bunch of ’70s character actors go mad together in a castle. That’s pretty much it. Having returned from Vietnam in various states of instability, a group of soldiers attempt to navigate life without war. Stacy Keach, Jason Miller, Robert Loggia, Joe Spinell, Tom Atkins and loads of other ‘That Guys’ make up the talented ensemble.
The Ninth Configuration is an uneasy mix of House, M*A*SH* and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. Blatty never really gets to grips with the tone of the film, and the plot, thin as it is, is nowhere near substantial enough to justify the punishing 118-minute running time. What saves the film is the performances. The whole cast are great. I believed that these were troubled men. Real men. Scott Wilson is particularly affecting as Captain Billy Cutshaw, a character who could have walked straight off the set of Cuckoo’s Nest.
The Ninth Configuration is the kind of film that deliberately rejects coveting mainstream appeal. This is a film designed for a niche audience and while I never really picked up what Blatty was putting down here, I’m glad this weird little film exists and I enjoyed spending a couple of strange hours in its company.
