Review Detail

An excellent restoration of the movie to its original intentions. Not only does the mystery add to the film in terms of making its young hero seem like a sinister Omen-style kid for the most part, but choices like his "Good Guys" sneakers make more sense in this new context. Also, the magic spell-casting Brad Dourif feels less jarring now coming in the movie where it does now (in flashback) rather than dropping fantasy coldly into the first act as setup that the audience hasn't been adequately prepared for.

Not only a fantastic edit of an already good movie, the comparison between this and the theatrical cut could serve as very useful instruction for aspiring screenwriters in terms of structure, ambiguity and the kind of things that can go wrong when studio notes start interfering with the final product. Great work, and congrats on the well-deserved award.