William Peter Blatty made an incredible and unique piece of cinema with this film. This was Blatty's first picture as a director and it's much more personal and accomplished than other directors' first works. Usually first works are good and show great promise, but seeing this you'd think that Blatty must've been directing atleast twenty years before. The story is incredibly personal and thought provoking. I was jaw dropped through quite a bit of the movie, especially at the scene in the bar with Keach and the biker gang, but really all of it. Who knows were Blatty got the story, because it's so unsual and so,completely original because there really is nothing else like this picture. This should be shown more. To me this deserves a better place in cinema and probably DVD. Like Ken Russell's The Devils. See it if you haven't.

Although spoilers exist all throughout the internet pertaining to The Ninth Configuration, they are to be ignored at all costs. Those who read them are cheating themselves, and those who write them are gravely insulting this fine movie. People who watch this film for the first time without any expectations, preconceived notions, or any other ideas as to how the movie ends are to be envied. One reviewer was very smart to add in his/her review that you don't ask a great filmmaker if they seen this before, you ask them how many times. Even most of the negative reviews are about the DVD transfer (which I'll admit does leave something to be desired) and not the actal film quality.

Being one the first films to deal with Vietnam Era Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (Apocalypse Now being another), TNC was one the first great films of the 1980s. Here, the military commandeers an abandoned medieval castle in the Pacific Northwest(?) to treat a group of highly intelligent, but mentally unbalanced soldiers who may or may not be faking their ailments. The patients range from an artistic type who tries to turn the facility into his own version of the Sistine Chapel to one who directs his own Shakespearean productions - starring dogs! There is also a multiple personality case who one day believes he is a German scientist who can walk through walls and a foul-mouthed nun the next. Now the story takes an even sharper turn toward the bizarre.

A seeming compassionate and understanding Dr. Hudson Kane (an amazing performance by Stacy Keach) transfers to the facility. His treatment of patients at first appears to be calm and nonjudgmental, even when the patients become belligerent. His most challenging case is Capt. Cutshaw, a Marine astronaut who saw no actual combat, but lost his nerve before his rocket blasted off. At this point, some of the patients begin to wonder about Kane's sanity. And to make matters more complicated, in order for Kane to get to the bottom of Cutshaw's problem, he has to confront some very uncomfortable truths about himself.

You may hear it a lot of times; but in this case the words "They don't make'em like they use to" definitely apply. Rarely does a film nowadays explore spirituality in a positive way that TNC did. For all of its profanity, bleak themes, and a very violent bar fight; it is one of the most uplifting and life-affirming films I have ever seen. It has often been said something cannot be both intellectual and religious. This film takes that myth and rips it to shreds. Unlike some "religious" movies that try to push an agenda down the viewer's throat via emotional pandering (The Passion of the Christ, anyone?), TNC uses logic. And never once does it condemn people who have legitimite questions.

Extremely recommended.

This movie is very well written. It had me in a trance from begining to end. I highly suggest this movie to anyone who likes movies that require deep thought.

I first saw this film on vhs about 15 years ago on a whim. Then as now I enjoy it. In widescreen it's even better. This film is his personal masterpiece,his other film being the Exorcist 3. The only good Exorcist film besides the original film which he wrote the novel and screenplay.
The Ninth Configuration is a dark comedy about insanity based in an old castle at the end of the Vietnam war.I won't go into the plot, you can read some of the other reviews. If you enjoy strange and obscure films about psychological drama and human experience, this is a must see.The ending is a surprise to say the least. But don't expect the exorcist here. It's really nothing even remotely of the same genre. Non-the-less brilliant and charming.

The vocals are not synchronized with the video. The visuals are a terrible blur. This old (1980) film needs to be deleted from supplier inventory....mine is in the trash can as toxic waste.........