About the film
- Directed by
- William Peter Blatty
- Released
- February 29, 1980
- Certification
- R
- Country
- United States of America
- Starring
- Stacy Keach, Scott Wilson, Jason Miller, Ed Flanders, Neville Brand
More credits
- Language
- English
- Origin
- US
- Studios
- Ninth Configuration, United Film Distribution Company (UFDC)
- Written by
- William Peter Blatty
- Produced by
- William Peter Blatty, William Paul
- Cinematography
- Gerry Fisher
- Music
- Barry De Vorzon
- Also starring
- George DiCenzo, Moses Gunn, Robert Loggia, Joe Spinell, Alejandro Rey
Five years after The Exorcist, William Peter Blatty had a screenplay nobody wanted. Columbia developed it and let it go. Universal turned it down, according to him, just because Columbia had passed on it first.
PepsiCo had money in Communist Hungary it could not get out. They could spend the funds inside the country or not at all. The company just needed somebody with a reason to work there.
Blatty put up half the budget and decided to direct it himself. PepsiCo covered the rest, on the condition that he shoot in Budapest.
THE NINTH CONFIGURATION (1980) puts a Marine psychiatrist inside a castle the Pentagon has commandeered as an asylum for officers who may or may not be pretending to be insane. One is staging Shakespeare for an all-dog cast. Another is convinced he is Superman. Stacy Keach is the doctor. Jason Miller, Father Karras from The Exorcist, is one of the patients.
Warner Bros., which Blatty had recently sued over his share of The Exorcist profits, took the distribution rights, recut it, and released it under a different title.
Then it won the Golden Globe for Best Screenplay.
--
Release History:
February 29, 1980, Warner Bros. Test engagement in Los Angeles first, then wide in July, by which point Warner had recut it and retitled it Twinkle, Twinkle, Killer Kane, including some 70mm bookings.
1983. Blatty's complete approved version finally played in full, in New York, advertised as never having been shown anywhere else. It ran as a midnight movie alongside Pink Flamingos and Pink Floyd The Wall. The film had been in release for three years by then.
Five versions exist, running anywhere from 99 to 140 minutes. Blatty disowned all of them except his own 118-minute cut.
How to see The Ninth Configuration (1980)
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Source: JustWatch
Physical media
More editions
Part of Cult Thrillers Collection: 4 Film Favorites
Movies they don’t want you to see
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One of my favorites..
One of the all-time quotable films. Intelligent, idiosyncratic, disturbing, entertaining.
I love that film. Saw it many times, and it always moves me.
Most brutal scene is in the bar and Stacy Keach hits his breaking point and goes off on the biker gang!
Hated the movie.
Damn, I did not know about this! I gotta check it out. But I gotta confess: I love the latter title ‘Twinkle, Twinkle, Killer Kane’ more. Will seek out the director’s preferred cut.
The auteur theory pisses me off. Friedkin ALWAYS gets credit for The Exorcist, NEVER Blatty.
Killer Kane is back
See also Shyamalan’s “Glass”
pro
Masterpiece
Love this one, and I was able to tell Mr. Blatty in person how much of I thought of it. Talented and gracious man.
Saw it in the theater in Houston when it first came out – the couple behind us got up about halfway through and the dude says “I thought this was gonna be some Exorcist shit” as they walked out – great movie
Interesting movie.
I adore this film. Imminently quotable, steeped in 70s bizarre.
Saw the 9th Configuration when it opened in Westwood. Thought it was a lame title but a great movie. They show it on cable now and then. Didn’t know there were other versions.
I SO wanted to like THE NINTH CONFIGURATION, since Exorcist III is a masterpiece, but an hour in I had NO clue what was going on.
The Ninth Configuration – Trailer
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x8m75o5
Which movie has the more over the top fight scene?
The Ninth Configuration
Or
They Live?
Love that movie
It was classic for it time
Also known as “Twinkle Twinkle Killer Kane.”
Some amazingly quotable lines from the patients.
probably in my Top 10 / some of the most *cracking* dialogue since Sunset Blvd !
Physical Media – I got mine! 😸
You forgot to note Blatty was formerly CIA.
Never seen this one but its on my watch list.
Stacy Keach’s bar fight is the stuff of legend.
Heard about it from a Reddit comment as Blatty’s favored sequel to The Exorcist. Went in blind and loved it. The writing and acting are superb.
I have the 50th anniversary book about the film, and it gets into the series also, so this one gets discussed at length too.
Recommend especially if you can fund it as discounted as mine was from a clearance sale place, Hamilton Books or whatever.
Hardcover, and I think it was $5 or so.
One of my favorites!
sorry but this movie bores the living hell out of me.
The copy I have is 117 minutes long. How much approval does this get me?
I never heard of this movie. It is free on tubi.
I have a copy of the director-approved cut. It even includes an alternate ending that Blatty shot, just so he had options.
Even if you’re not religious, it’s an amazing, moving film.
I would be interested in a DVD boxset of all five cuts. It’s an intriguing novel and film that echoes CATCH-22 and MARAT/SADE.
I ❤️ The Ninth Configuration!
It was very interesting. Can’t say I loved it but I appreciated it. Probably should watch it again.
I really Loved this movie!!!!! Just discovered it recently and its ties to William Peter Blatty and The Exorcist however it plays incredibly well as a story of its own and message of Faith!
One of my all time favorite movies. You’re too human to be human.
I remember seeing the Twinkle Twinkle billboards back in the early 80’s. That campaign didn’t entice me to see the movie, but eventually saw it as The 9th…outstanding film.
I saw it in the theaters under the twinkle twinkle killer Kane title.