Paul Schrader directed the other prequel to The Exorcist - the one that was dumped by producers for not being scary enough in favour of a schlocky splatter-fest from Deep Blue Sea helmer Renny Harlin. Considering how royally he's been shafted, the veteran writer and director of American Gigolo and Auto Focus seemed remarkably upbeat when interviewed at the 2005 Brussels International Festival Of Fantastic Film. And with good reason too: his Exorcist prequel got a rousing reception at the event that can only boost its chances of a theatrical and DVD release.

So is there anything of your film left in Harlin's prequel?

I'd say there are about a dozen shots. They're all establishing shots, and they stick out because of the colour. Renny shot his movie on a sound stage, so it has a very smoky, greenish feel. Then all of a sudden, boom - you see the stuff in Morocco and it's all golden. In fact, on his DVD commentary, Renny says they're stock footage shots of Africa. I guess he was under instruction not to mention there was another film.

Was there anything you liked in his version?

I think there were some effective moments, but overall I wouldn't say so. One thing I did recognise was that all of the bad ideas I had resisted were there. All of the times I said "We can't do that, that's a bad idea," they all came back in.

You don't seem too bitter, though.

You've got to have a certain amount of ironic distance - not just in this business but also in life. Otherwise you'd just grind your stomach to glass. If you can't just stand back, see the situation and accept it, you just make yourself unhappy.

But it seems as if your film might get released after all.

That is why I've always been measured in my comments about the situation: I cannot alienate the people involved. The only people who can bring my film back to life are the same people who destroyed it. So if I alienate them or call them names, there goes any chance I have.

Years from now, do you think you'll let rip?

I don't know. No one really wants to listen to a whining, vindictive, overpaid director. It's not an attractive thing! It's like listening to overpaid screenwriters bitching about how their great screenplay was destroyed. I'm not going to play that game.

Has the experience put you off making films?

No. It probably took a year of my life away creatively, but the fact it exists is such a relief. I'd hate to have to keep answering questions like: "So what was your Exorcist film like?"

Exorcist: The Beginning is released on DVD on 18th April.