What has (and always will) distinguishedThe Exorcistfrom not only lesser films but also from other great horror classics is the fact that the author of the original novel,William Peter Blatty, truly believes. He believes not only that exorcism is a fact, but that there is great evil — and also great good. Blatty has always set his films and novels in the realms of the spiritual and philosophical, the natures of good and evil. Despite the transgressive and disturbing things that happen inThe Exorcist, there is never a point at which any of the film’s protagonists despair. This push and pull between faith and despair is just as evident in Blatty’s self-proclaimed spiritual sequel to the 1973 classic,The Ninth Configuration(an adaptation of Blatty’s 1978 novel of the same name). Following up what is largely considered the greatestreligious horrorfilm of all time is no easy task, but there is a good case to be made that Blatty was successful in creating something worthy of being called a spiritual sequel toThe Exorcist.
The Ninth Configuration, which saw Blatty in his directorial debut, is atrippy, contemplative, and often absurd look at faith in the modern world. It comes from a place of deep sincerity. Let it be known that nobody but Blatty could have madeThe Ninth Configuration, as it contains just as much, if not more of his creative DNA thanThe Exorcist,which he wrote the script for but did not direct. Watching the two films back to back makes it clear that they are indeed companion pieces that share not only similar themes, but also a tone that is at once reverent and somber, yet also not afraid to get messy with the many contradictions that come with living a life of faith.
What Is ‘The Ninth Configuration’ About?
AfterThe Exorcistbecame a hit,Blatty reworked his 1966 noveltitledTwinkle, Twinkle, “Killer” Kane!and turned it into 1978’sThe Ninth Configuration, which is part of what Blatty has deemed his"Trilogy of Faith". It is the middle installment, nestled comfortably betweenThe ExorcistandThe Exorcist III(which came out a decade afterThe Ninth Configurationand is Blatty’s only other directorial effort).The Ninth Configurationtells the story of a mental institution forVietnamveterans. The entire story takes place in a beautiful yet extremely spooky castle located in the Pacific Northwest where the patients are being treated for their various trauma-induced issues. Many of them have schizophrenia or personality disorders. Colonel Hudson Kane, played bythe prolificStacy Keach, arrives to oversee the operation and is given special trouble by Billy Cutshaw (Scott Wilson), an astronaut who suffered a mental breakdown following a failed Moon-bound launch.
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The film’s first half is (seemingly) deliberately disorienting in structure. It takes quite a while to really grasp what the movie is going for, as the haunting and stripped-down cinematography is in stark contrast to the farcical goings-on of the patients. Kane seems largely unaffected by the patients' antics yet deeply concerned about their well-being and healing processes. The film only truly comes together in the last act which goes to much darker and psychologically potent places. WhenThe Ninth Configurationfinally comes together in the end, it wraps up in a surprisingly satisfying way that will likely provide the viewer with much food for thought. There is one brief scene at the end whose absence would have left the movie more open-ended and possibly provided more room for conversation regarding the film’s challenging material. Nevertheless,The Ninth Configurationis the kind ofthought-provoking film that is hard to come by in the horror genre.
How Does ‘The Ninth Configuration’ Connect to ‘The Exorcist’?
On the surface, there are many obvious parallels to be made betweenThe ExorcistandThe Ninth Configuration, the obvious of which is the topic of finding God, or even of finding sheer goodness in a world that is so clearly unjust. The inability to cope with pointless suffering and seemingly unending evil is something that anyone can relate to, regardless of one’s belief in a higher power.The Exorcisttackles this subject elegantly, using the narrative to propel the conversation.The Ninth Configurationhas the same questions on its mind, but instead makes the conversation the narrative (while also telling a tragicomedy about mental illness to perplexing but unique and fascinating results). The degree to whichThe Ninth Configuration’s method of exploring the problem of evil and God’s apparent silence will undeniably vary by the viewer.The Exorcistis very straightforward in its execution: Regan, pure childhood innocence personified, has been overtaken and perverted by an entity that is interested in nothing but corruption.As Father Merrin says in the film, “The point is to make us despair. To see ourselves as… animal and ugly. To make us reject the possibility that God could love us.”
Evil inThe Ninth Configurationis much more nebulous, which is appropriate for a film that often seems conflicted about its own genre in the most fascinating way. Evil cannot be pinned down or isolated the way that it can be inThe Exorcist. There is no villain, there is only suffering; endless, meaningless suffering. Pazuzu does not reveal himself to be the main antagonist, and there is no Father Merrin or Father Karras to sacrifice themselves as lambs on behalf of the sinless. Instead, our protagonists inThe Ninth Configurationare a delusional astronaut and a well-meaning, good-hearted colonel whose own past reveals a pattern of proliferating violence which the film seems to be suggesting is an inescapable fate for all of us.
‘The Ninth Configuration’ Continues the Questions Posed by ‘The Exorcist’
WhereThe Ninth Configurationsucceeds in continuing the conversation so masterfully begun byThe Exorcistis that it sees the unresolvable nature of the question while also refusing to despair. It recognizes that the same evil represented by Pazuzu inThe Exorcistalso exists on some level in everybody, but calls the viewer to tap into their own faith — be it in a God or in the inherent goodness of every individual — to snuff out despair. WhereasThe Exorcistsees Blatty primarily identifying with the character ofFather Karras,The Ninth Configurationsees reality through the lens of two men, both delusional, both lost in a sea of doubt and suffering, only to pull each other out for the sake of the other. The sacrifice at the end ofThe Ninth Configurationis to see that a schizophrenic astronaut going through a crisis of faith is just as worthy of sacrificing one’s life for as a pure and innocent 12-year-old girl possessed by a demon. That’s a thematic resolution that is hard to come by in sequels, andThe Ninth Configurationmight be one of the unlikeliest yet effective sequels as a result.
