Wiilliam Peter Blatty is best known for writing The Exorcist, one of my personal favorite films… and one I was tempted to pull from the shelf and rewatch this weekend. It is October, after all… the time you get ready for Halloween by watching movies like, well, The Exorcist. I resisted that temptation, though, and decided to watch another Blatty film… A movie named Twinkle, Twinkle “Killer” Kane.
It’s better known by its alternate title, The Ninth Configuration, but I ike the original title better – which was also the name of the Blatty’s original novel. I like the title because it is so very very inappropriate for the movie.
When you see a title like Twinkle, Twinkle “Killer” Kane, and note that it was a movie released in 1980… from the guy who made The Exorcist…well, it has to be a horror film, right? It can’t be a dark farcical philosophical character play about the meaning of God, or something like that… can it?
Yes, it can… and it is.
This is Blatty’s first turn sitting in the director’s chair, and with the film Blatty made an indirect sequel to The Exorcist. It explores many of the same themes about good and evil and madness that he did in the earlier story… without any demonic possession, of course . Starring as “Colonel” Kane is the great Stacy Keach, who does fine work as part of an ensemble that also includes Ed Flanders, Robert Loggia, Moses Gunn, Nicol Williamson and Jason Miller (who also played Father Karras in The Exorcist). A heck of a cast, who are given quite a bit of scenery to chew in their roles as mental patents at an asylum for military personnel.
Any more of the plot… well, that would spoil things. I am a firm believer in coming into movies like this as “cold” as possible, so as to experience the film with fresh eyes and as little preconceived notions as possible. I don’t expect everyone to like Twinkle Twinkle “Killer” Kane/The Ninth Configuration… it’s a very eccentric film, with moments of dark comedy as well as moments of shock and (yes, a little) horror. Personally, I like it quite a bit… it’s a provocative film worth viewing and well worth recommending. Which is what I’m doing now.