MovieChat Forums > The Ninth Configuration (1980) Discussion > Is there an Exorcist/9th Configuration c...

Is there an Exorcist/9th Configuration connection?

posted 20 years ago by sburke47
17 replies | jump to latest

I've never read "Twinkle Twinkle Killer Kane", much less been able to locate a copy anywhere, so I don't know if this is explained there or not. But when I saw the movie I was interested in finding out more about Capt. Cutshaw's breakdown before launching into space. Specifically, I was wondering if he is the same astronaut that Regan tells "You're going to die up there" in the Exorcist.

I don't recall the astronaut being named in the either the book or movie version of Exorcist, but it would seem to fit in with Blatty's overall style of storytelling. Legion had some characters from the Exorcist featured in it, so I'm making the assumption that 9th Config. would have some kind of related character angle to it as well. Instead of sequels to one another, they're more of an expanded universe, where the characters co-exist.

It just seems to me to be too coincidental to have, in one book a demon possessed child tell an astronaut that he is going to die in space and in the other book, have the astronaut character undergo a crisis of faith/mental breakdown because he's afraid of dying up in space. I've done some searching on the web for connections on this but haven't yet found anything directly to support my hunch.

Has anyone else out there heard of anything conencting the Exorcist and 9th Config.?

[–] videokillerprods 20 years ago

Blatty has confirmed in interviews that the astronaut who has the breakdown is the same guy who Regan says "You're gonna die up there" to.
Blatty originally proposed this screenplay to studios as a sequel to the Exorcist.

[–] towerofangels 20 years ago

Blatty called this movie his second in his "Trilogy of Faith", where "The Exorcist" was the first. He then made "Legion", but due to press from many parts was released as "Exorcist III".

I will see them all some day... The Trilogy of Faith, I mean, not the Exorcist(s).

[–] Indiephantom 20 years ago

Interesting info towerofangels.

I just saw 9th Configuration today and that means I've completed this "trilogy".

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[–] Eli_Zardo 18 years ago

Looks like all you geniouses missed the most obvious connection between the two films is the late Jason Miller playing Father Demian Karras on the "Exorcist" and the wanna-be director in the 9th configuration. Enough said!

You misspelled "geniuses".

[–] wicked_lust1101 18 years ago

Considering Blatty thought of this as the second in his Trilogy of Faith, he also considered it the "true" sequel to The Exorcist. Cutshaw is having a crisis of faith. He believes God is dead or does not exist because of the horrible things in the world. Kane, on the other hand, insist by that logic God exist and is alive because there are good things in the world.

This I think is the connection more that anything else, like the statue of Pazuzu or the fact it is Cutshaw. Perhaps Cutshaw has come to a moral crisis because of Regan and her possession. It is never explained though I have wondered if maybe since she was possessed he thought she knew something we, as humans, could not know.

On the other hand her possession could have caused this lack because he did not believe or does not want to believe such a thing as Pazuzu or any demon could exist. In the movie it is said Hamlet faked insanity to keep his sanity. Perhaps Cutshaw faked disbelief to mask his extreme belief.

I saw this movie years ago, when it was still Twinkle, Twinkle, Killer Kane. It stuck with me far more than The Exorcist. I never forgot the decapitation scene and the head continuing to speak.

[–] missworld458 17 years ago

I just watched the movie last night, and I barely saw the head.... just a flash. Was this scene cut from the latest dvd release?

[–] zedmib 17 years ago

I've read "Twinkle, Twinkle, 'Killer' Kane", and it's a whole lot sillier than 'The Ninth Configuration"... it's like "Catch-22", but not as dark. As far as I know, Cutshaw is the astronaut that the posessed Regan talked to... Pazuzu planted the seed of psychological doubt that made Cutshaw freak out just before the launch (and isn't there a statue of Pazuzu in the castle?)... it just goes to show how potent these demons are; an off-the-cuff remark can ruin someone's life...

I like what you said about Blatty's "expanded universe", and I think you're right on the mark when it comes to his films and novels.

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[–] Edward_de_Vere 16 years ago

The chronology of the Exorcist/Ninth Configuration is confusing.

Supposedly, when Regan tells Cutshaw (in The Exorcist) "you're going to die up there," that becomes the source of Cutshaw's breakdown. In fact, he expresses his fear in almost the same words.

However, the events of the Ninth Configuration take place before those in the Exorcist: Blatty wrote "Twinkle Twinkle Killer Kane" several years before he wrote the Exorcist, and the events of Twinkle/Ninth Configuration predate the time during which the events in The Exorcist occur.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] cult_classics 16 years ago

I was reading The Exorcist last night for the first time and when i got to the part where Regan tells him he is going to die, i noticed there was more interaction with the astronaut and the guests (that wasn't in the movie) and he [the astronaut] seemed to be very disturbed and contemplative as the guests basically ignored her explosive comments and his bothered reaction.
This immediately made me set down the book and rewatch The Ninth Configuration. It's so far very complimenting to the book despite the chronological conundrum.

"Confess quickly! If you hold out too long you could jeopardize your credit rating."

[–] lordkinbote 15 years ago

Been a LONG time since I've seen The Exorcist and I only saw it once, but perhaps Pazuzu is not what caused Cutshaw's crisis of faith, perhaps he had that on his own (like many people) years before the events in The Exorcist and Pazuzu was playing on that previous fear and knowledge of him and his breakdown to unsettle him. She did that with all the characters, if I recall. Reaching into their heads and spitting out specific fears and insecurities to unsettle them. Like I said, been a long time since I saw it and don't remember much about it. Just going on how people here are describing it.

I'm assuming that Cutshaw was one of the guests at the house when Regan gets possessed. If not and she's just spouting stuff to someone that isn't there, then that blows my theory. If he is at the party, then it would make "The Ninth Configuration" a type of prequel rather than sequel. It's something referenced in The Exorcist, but then you get to see the story behind that statement in The Ninth Configuration. Have to watch them both again to be sure.

[–] Edward_de_Vere 15 years ago

I'm assuming that Cutshaw was one of the guests at the house when Regan gets possessed. If not and she's just spouting stuff to someone that isn't there, then that blows my theory. If he is at the party, then it would make "The Ninth Configuration" a type of prequel rather than sequel. It's something referenced in The Exorcist, but then you get to see the story behind that statement in The Ninth Configuration. Have to watch them both again to be sure.

That interpretation makes the most sense. For one thing, if the events in Ninth Configuration take place after the Exorcist, the Vietnam War would have been nearly over.

And it's just as reasonable to assume that Cutshaw had his fears long before Regan/the Demon planted them in his mind, since we know that the demon takes advantage of people's existing or past fears and guilts to make them uncomfortable.

[–] nelsonvh 15 years ago

a major conection is that british film critic mark kermode considers both films to be amongst the best movies ever made... his opinion of course is that the exorcist is THE BEST FILM OF ALL TIMES!

but honestls, thank you fellow posters for all the insight

[–] nilbog_king 15 years ago

The connection is Cutshaw, remember in the exorcist when Reagan comes down stairs and says "your gonna die up there" to the astronaut? That astronaut was Cutshaw he was jsut played by a different actor. After Regan/Pazuzu said this to him it triggered his fear of dying alone up there and caused him to have a nervous breakdown and he ends up hospitilased and meets Colonel Kane, and we have this movie, its not hard to understand people. The link is perfectly straight forward