the audience applauded

A different way of telling a story

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

Writer/Director William Peter Blatty, whose novel THE EXORCIST was made into a groundbreaking horror masterpiece by THE FRENCH CONNECTION Oscar-winner William Friedkin, takes personal, independent pride in his very own picture, THE NINTH CONFIGURATION...Mostly because the critics deemed how insanely original it is since "Robert Loggia sings Al Jolson in blackface" and "Jason Miller rehearses HAMLET using dogs" and "Moses Gunn wears superhero spandex" or "a man dressed as a nun tries exorcising a soda machine" or "an image of the crucifixion on the moon," and on and on the weirdness goes but, in the reality of this surreal anti-war, existentialist vs religion fable: being set inside a castle that serves as an insane asylum, there could have been even more nutty stuff... Anything goes in a story about human beings who are seemingly without logic or limits... And in that, NINTH is actually an extremely grounded vehicle...Upon a wide-shot glance it's an esemble comedy, as if the members of MASH's 4077th practiced witchcraft on benzedrine, but there are really only two characters that actually matter. One is Scott Wilson, playing the same astronaut that Linda Blair warned was "gonna die up there" before she soaked the rug in THE EXORCIST, based on Blatty's famous novel (yet that is never mentioned)...His Captain Billy Cutshaw is the type of 'Crazy like a Fox' character who can spout as much meaningful dialogue as is allowed to counter his rambling residual of meaningless gibberish, and he's nicely balanced by Stacy Keach's silent and seemingly non-troubled Col. Vincent Kane...As the new psychologist inside the castle of war-weary loons, he's there to listen yet is just too perfect, somehow... As Billy puts it, foreshadowing BLADE RUNNER by a few years, "Too human to be human" (and here's a personal favorite line, "the essence of suicide is not collecting the insurance")...There's probably not a more downright quotable motion picture ever made, despite Blatty, the writer, aiming words like sharpened arrows within this Gothic locale that could've used a little more suspense and intrigue to complete its dark, formidable canvas: this includes creature-statues right out of THE EXORCIST's Iraqi tomb-digging prologue... Leaving any kind of mainstream fare to a third-act sequence involving a popular cinematic device during the late 70's/early 80's: Rowdy bikers in a crowded tavern. Although the "bar-fight scene" is more DELIVERANCE-eerie than action-packed, and is part of an important twist that, had they used the source novel's title for this adaptation, would be a spoiler in itself, marring what really connects two polar opposites... the believer and the non-believer... into a labor-of-love cult film that seemed, by the screenplay alone, meant to be that and nothing else: Some movies haven't got a choice. (cultfilmfreaks.com)

There's a reason insomniacs, 24-hr convenience store clerks and people who like to hit the chronic have smothered this movie with high ratings - - it's pretentious, self-indulgent, self-important tripe. The only way you could think this is the greatest thing ever put to film is if you've never actually seen a live theatre production in your life - the kind that's full of people who could never exist in real life, doing unrealistic things, spouting nonsensical philosophy. Bad plays like this exist all over North America, from off-off-off Broadway right down to your local community theatre production of Neil Simon's junk. Stacy Keach spends most of the movie looking brain damaged. I'm surprised he ever got cast in another movie he's so boringly wooden in this. His dialogue sounds like it's over-dubbed after he'd hammered back about 9 sleeping pills. Ed Flanders, on the other hand, is brilliant. I had forgotten he was one of the few credible characters on St. Elsewhere. The crazy inmates are just irritating. I didn't care for a single one of them. To even mention this garbage in the same sentence as Catch-22 or M*A*S*H* is an insult to one's intelligence. Little surprise Blatty never got another directing gig, unless you count Exorcist III, which is like taking a directing credit for Spring Break Co-Eds B00bstravaganza. I could see getting into this if I had hit the bong and downed half a pizza after a night out with my friends. Whoooaaaaa, dude, this is deeeeeeep....

The Ninth Configuration — also known as Twinkle, Twinkle, "Killer" Kane — is one of the most mind-warping movies I've seen in a long time. Written and directed by the brilliant William Peter Blatty (and based on his 1978 novel), who you likely know from The Exorcist fame, it vacillates brilliantly between laugh-out-loud comedy and deep existential and religious examination.It takes place in the Pacific Northwest (though was actually shot in Hungary) in a castle-turned-asylum used by the US government for military personnel. Colonel Kane (Stacy Keach) is the new psychiatrist assigned to treat the patients and, ultimately, figure out how many of them are truly mentally ill and how many are faking. Colonel Fell (Ed Flanders) is the doctor who helps him get acclimated, Billy Cutshaw (the incredible Scott Wilson) is the former astronaut who botched a moon launch due to his own nervous breakdown, and Lt. Frankie Reno (Jason Miller) is trying to stage a Shakespearean play cast by dogs. Blatty himself even makes an appearance as Lt. Fromme, who steals the medic's clothes.It's almost too smart even for its own good. After the truly confusing opening scene set to Denny Brooks' "San Antone", we settle in for some genuine madness. You see shots of the castle set in the fog, in the waning daylight or pure darkness, and while it's obvious we aren't in the Pacific Northwest (or in the US at all), it lends an appropriately spooky, crazy setting for what's going on inside.Right away you feel disoriented, to a degree, not knowing for sure who is sane and who is insane. It feels as though everyone there is just free to say and do whatever their mind comes up with, and is that really, truly insane or is it just some kind of freedom most of us never enjoy? You have a feeling — or at least I did — about Colonel Kane as soon as he comes on board, wondering if he's truly mentally fit for the duty he's been handed. He's quiet and patient with the men, but in an eerily detached and almost zombie-like way — as Cutshaw says to him at one point, "you're too human to be human". He decides to indulge the men — to let them take over the castle, in a way — and what was already madness descends into pure comedic chaos.I found myself just scanning the screen, waiting for the next bit of hilarity, soaking in the dialogue… it's quick, witty, and smart in the most cutting way. I feel like you could watch this movie 10 times and notice something new at every viewing. It's amazing, really, that SO MUCH could be packed into a mere two hours. It's worth giving this movie a shot JUST for the scene where Colonel Kane and Cutshaw debate the existence of God. The entire movie is highly centered around religion and the questioning of it, but this scene in particular is just in a league of its own.When the twists arrive, they hit hard, and the story completely shifts gears. We soon find ourselves in a nearby bar with Cutshaw trying to drown his sorrows and the most ridiculous but awesome scene unfolds as Cutshaw is repeatedly prodded and taunted, and it only gets more tense when Kane arrives and they switch their attention to him, specifically Steve Sandor as the most absurd villain ever (just truly spiteful and mean, but then does a pretty impressive split at one point and just… I may have been clapping). You're watching the scene thinking (or saying out loud, as I was), "He's going to freak out on you guys. You DON'T EVEN KNOW the madness you're about to unleash"… and then it's unleashed and it is wild. One of the most intense bar fights I've ever seen. But I think an awesome one because it isn't there solely for guts and glory, or for gore, or for us to see someone get their lights punched out. It's another layer in an already complex relationship between Kane and Cutshaw.And the ending… well, I won't spoil it for you, but I think it summed things up quite nicely.But really, for every bit of laughter this movie provides, it delivers tenfold in deeply relatable and thought-provoking dialogue. It's sharply intelligent, well thought out, and crafted lovingly. The characters are intense and likable despite their obvious struggles. A vastly underrated and under-recognized film, truly!

I'm always looking for a hidden gem, something I haven't seen before that hasn't been hyped to death on the internet. This film by William Peter Blatty (writer of The Exorcist) might be such a gem. I certainly never heard of it before. I was intrigued by the title and the cover (an astronaut on the moon with Jesus on a crucifix...what on earth could this be about?). This is the plot synopis from IMDb: 'A new commanding officer arrives at a remote castle serving as an insane asylum for crazy and AWOL U.S. Army soldiers where he attempts to rehabilitate them by allowing them to live out their crazy fantasies while combating his own long-suppressed insanity.' Sounds good to me. First of, the dialogue of these insane people is written brilliantly. The actors really go all the way in portraying these nut jobs. It's really funny to watch. But the film is a mix of a lot of different styles. It might start out as a comedy, it also contains horror like elements, drama, surrealistic and tragic parts. It's best not to know to much about this movie beforehand. So just check it out. You might not love it, maybe even hate it but it certainly will be like no other film you've seen before and in these times of cookie cutter productions that is a welcome relief.