Stacy Keach, Scott Wilson, Jason Miller

The lunatics are running the asylum... but are they really lunatics? Is Colonel Kane (Stacy Keach) really a noted psychiatrist, assigned to supervise patients in an experimental government clinic, or ...( read more  read more... )is he really "Killer" Kane, a decorated U.S. Marine who committed atrocities in Vietnam before going insane? And why did Captain Cutshaw (Scott Wilson) go berserk just seconds before a scheduled rocket launch? These are just some of the puzzles that will eventually be solved in The Ninth Configuration, a giddy and often brilliant drama created by William Peter Blatty, who wrote The Exorcist before directing this adaptation of his own novel, Twinkle, Twinkle, Killer Kane. A satirical study of war's traumatic aftermath, the film uses battle psychosis as the springboard for a delirious and scathingly intelligent human tragedy, laced with some of the wittiest dialogue you're ever likely to hear.

The movie boasts a veritable menagerie of crazy characters, all brought vividly to life by a stellar supporting cast. One patient is preparing a production of Shakespeare with an all-dog cast. Another is convinced he's Superman, and the resident doctor can't seem to find his trousers. But there's a method to this madness, and it takes a barroom brawl--one of the most memorable in movie history--to provide the harsh slap of reality to Blatty's elaborate group therapy scheme. When the true purpose of The Ninth Configuration is revealed, the film (and particularly the fine performances of Keach and Wilson) reveals a depth of compassionate sanity that may take you completely by surprise. --Jeff Shannon

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84% liked it

1,679 ratings

R, 114 min.

Directed by: William Peter Blatty

Release Date: February 29, 1980

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DVD Release Date: September 17, 2002

Stats: 166 reviews

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Flixster Reviews (166)


  • June 21, 2009
    It's a considerable struggle to sit through this movie and the rewards don't really justify the trip, but for some reason I enjoyed it in all its tedium. This is probably to the credit of the magnificent Stacy Keach, who turns in an incredible performance here, and the fascinatin...( read more)g premise. William Peter Blatty's unsure direction is a little bit threatening, as he can't really anchor the movie into realism (and despite its surreality it requires a presence in the normal world).

    The initial mystery stays compelling even when the movie itself doesn't and has just enough life to push you through. If you enjoy a good psychological twist but find them too overdone nowadays, The Ninth Configuration should satisfy.
  • February 13, 2007
    Willaim Peter Blatty's masterpiece, one of the few movies that are better than the source novel. Great performances from the ensemble cast and a superb screenplay with heavy doses of amazing dialogue and philosophical debates about "Shoes" existance make this one of the greats. ...( read more) Watch with Bad Lieutenant for a spiritual movie mania!
  • August 8, 2009
    Really good film, starts a little slow but really builds up.
  • January 19, 2009
    Blatty's unofficial sequal to the Exorcist is an underrated masterpiece.
  • January 11, 2009
    Fantastic, well played cult classic from William Peter Blatty: part of his 'faith' trilogy (including The Exorcist and Legion). More comedic than the other parts of his series, but poignant, with stellar performances from a game cast.
  • January 11, 2009
    The writer of THE EXORCIST made his directorial debut with this obscure, strange and definitely one-of-a-kind psychodramedy (this film may be its own genre), set in a secluded castle (Budapest subbing for the US Pacific Northwest) owned and run by the military as an (EXTREMELY) e...( read more)xperimental psychiatric hospital for Vietnam combat veterans. New head psychiatrist Col. Hudson Kane (a searing Stacy Keach) arrives to put his own stamp on things... but is he crazier than the inmates? One of those films you think you've got pegged, until it subtly changes direction: it kicks off as a comedy, swerves into psychodrama and flirts with psych thriller, before ending up in a completely different place entirely. There's some awesome dialogue (a number of characters seem to be channelling Groucho Marx) and a barroom scene that's a gem of building tension and killer payoff. Whether you agree with its ultimate point of view is immaterial (I didn't), this is one of those films you have to see to believe.
  • January 5, 2009
    nominated for best picture at the golden globes
  • April 21, 2008
    A very well made and funny movie set in a psychiatric hospital for the military. The movie is written and directed by William Peter Blatty, but don't expect another Exorcist as this movie has more in common with Blatty's early comedy work.
  • April 4, 2008
    In the bar section, is one of the most brutal depictions of where the thin line between good and evil meets, and yet the thin line is so far apart that it is virtually different. The line is so different that you have to choose, there is no middle point, the middle point is a far...( read more)ce and the bar scene in this film is one of the most brilliant examples of what happens at the mid-point, of striking the other cheek.
  • June 13, 2007
    What is being crazy... about choosing to go mad in order to remain sane.

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