Caffeinated Clint
Effects man, KNB’s Greg Nicotero talked to Creature-Corner about the reshoots for “The Exorcist” prequel, saying it’s as if they’re redoing the whole film. "Production tells me that they’re just waiting to see what they’re going to do," Nicotero recounts. But, "The next thing I know, Gary Tunnicliffe is prepping new effects for the reshoots. So, I call him up and ask him if he’s going to need anything from us…that’s when I learned they’re redoing practically the whole movie" He adds, “Evidently they’ve re-written the movie and re-cast not only the female lead but re-cast the character we’ve done all the make-ups on. So Che Che is no longer an 18-year-old pop singer from Europe but he’s gonna be like a nine-year-old native boy…Originally the whole concept was that Che Che was this handicapped boy whose withered and as he becomes possessed his body regenerates," he continues. "Through the final exorcism he’s wearing this bald make-up based on some concept art that Paul [Schrader] did himself while on the set in Rome."
"I’m trying to figure what the whole experience is all about," Nicotero sighs in frustration. "Nevertheless, I’m glad we had an opportunity to work with John Frankenheimer from the very beginning – going over designs and what we could do to make things scarier. I mean, this is the guy that did ‘The Manchurian Candidate’! I’m glad I had that chance before he passed away."
Nicotero also touched upon the re-writes on “Cursed”. "I believe the script is much, much better," claims Nicotero. "Kevin really worked his ass off and did a great job."
And what of Stephen King’s “Riding the Bullet”? “It’s a great script and a fun movie," he says. "Mick [Garris] has always been a good friend and we’ve always wanted the opportunity to work together and when this project came up last year he called and said, ‘I think I found a project that is a Garris/KNB fit.’"
