Episode 4.

16_ Celebrating The Forgotten 90s – Exorcist III (1990)

Rated R

Runtime: 1 Hour 50 Minutes

Starring:

 George C Scott(Patton, Dr Stangelove)

 Ed Flanders (St Elsewhere, Salem’s Lot)
 Brad Dourif(Child’s Play franchise, Alien Resurrection, Lord of the Rings: The Two
Towers)

Written and Directed by: William Peter Blatty (author of The Exorcist and Legion novel)

Based on the book Legion, the actual Exorcist II story.

15 years after the events in The Exorcist

Taglines:

 Do you dare walk these steps again?

 The horror is Legion.

~NOTES~

In a world of horror relying on Jump scares and forced terror, this picture is a breath of fresh air,
and holds up 30 years later as a disturbing, well paced psychological journey into darkness.
Which adds to the effectiveness of the few jumps in the movie, because the elements of the
scenes pull you in, and once you are fully invested I. The scene, they strike and “get you” every
time.

This includes the infamous “nurse scene”, a jump scare out of nowhere and still haunts me 30
years later.

Flashbacks to the original Exorcist ties in to a catholic priest thinking about father Damian.

A police lieutenant is convicted a long-dead serial killer who kills in a religious manner is
striking again

The friendly dialogue between Scott and Flanders are natural, and feel like a real friendship both
personal and professional. Definitely (to me) an inspiration for future writing of people like
Shane Black.

This chemistry is what gives Scott’s character an even deeper, almost insane spiral of a Sherlock
Holmes-level NEED to find the killer when Father Dyer is murdered. And gives opens the main
story of the film. Trying to figure out how he’s seeing a dead friend and a dead serial killer in the
same body, and how said serial killer is committing intricate murders from a padded cell

Dourif is as manic as ever. Giving, in my opinion the best performance of his career

The use of uneasy sounds as a red herring return in the vein of the original

Dream sequences are haunting and ethereal(Fabio cameo)

Scott’s character is haunted by the images of seeing Father Damian die on the Georgetown steps
in the 1st movie. He was Damian’s friend and on scene when he died.

Jason Miller reprises his role as “Damian Karras” a man possessed

The lighting is meticulously designed for each scene

The theatrical cut(this version) has editing issues that were fixed in the Director’s cut(titled
Legion; like the book it was based on)

The third act is just as engaging and intense as the 1st movie. Dourif vs Scott and the priest Scott
has been confiding in. This includes an incredibly gory short scene. The exorcism is a bit
anticlimactic and the movie just abruptly ends.

——REVIEW——

Exorcist III (Theatrical Cut)

Year: 1990

Rated R

Runtime: 1 Hour 50 Minutes

Starring:

George C Scott(Patton, Dr Stangelove)

Ed Flanders (St Elsewhere, Salem’s Lot)

Brad Dourif(Child’s Play franchise, Alien Resurrection, Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers)

Written and Directed by: William Peter Blatty (author of The Exorcist and Legion novel)

Based on the book Legion, Blatty’s novelization sequel to the first Exorcist story which he also
wrote. This story takes place 17 years later as Lt. Kinderman(Scott) is haunted by his inability to
stop past murders by a serial killer known as The Gemini Killer, who was confirmed dead. He
was Father Damian Karras’ friend from the first movie(Originally played by Lee J. Cobb who
passed in 1976), and was on the scene as he died after throwing himself out Regan’s window.
Seeing his good friend die lead to a staunch disbelief in the afterlife and most things religious.

Over the years in between, he befriends Father Dyer(Flanders) who helped him with The Gemini
Killer’s theological methods of killing (Crucifiction positioning, replacing decapitated heads
with Jesus statue heads, etc).

The friendly, snappy back-and-forth dialogue between Scott and Flanders is natural, and feels
like a real friendship both personal and professional. Definitely (to me) an inspiration for future
writing of people like Shane Black.

This chemistry is what gives Scott’s character an even deeper, almost insane spiral of a Sherlock
Holmes-level NEED to find this killer when Father Dyer is murdered, and gives opens the main
story of the film. Trying to figure out how he’s seeing a dead friend and a dead serial killer in the
same body, and how said serial killer is committing intricate murders from a padded cell.
Kinderman’s denial of the supernatural is what keeps him focused, and at the same time is his
weakness in an unraveling story of possession and regret.

the majority of the film takes place in a hospital. Complete with a psych ward, and that’s where
Scott’s character meets “Patient X”(As credited) played by both Brad Dourif(As The Gemini
Killer) and Jason Miller(as Father Damian Karras from part 1). The exchanges between
Kinderman and Patient X, no matter who he’s talking to is the highlight of the film. Especially
when Brad Dourif is the one talking. His acting is as over the top, manic, and 100% believable.
His manic changes of tempo and emotions are brilliant, and I think it is Dourif’s best
performance to date.

The third act is just as engaging and intense as the 1st movie. Dourif vs Scott and the Father
Morning, the priest Kinderman has been confiding in is way shorter than the exorcism in the
original, but it is PACKED with imagery and unsettling effects including an incredibly gory
short scene that’s worthy of a Hellraiser picture.

This is a psychological mystery story as much as it is a supernatural horror story. There are many
twists and turns that keeps you wondering what’s going to happen next. The atmosphere is as
creepy and unsettling as the original, and also uses the “horror in daylight” template that the
original did, which I love. The idea of day time being safe in a horror movie is so over used, it’s
nice to see that trope being broken again.

Blatty was really going for a relatable companion piece to 1973’s Exorcist, as he used uneasy
sounds as a red herring to unsettle your brain and start wondering what they mean. The film and
lenses were nearly identical to Friedkin’s style, and the lighting was meticulously designed for
each scene.

This isn’t by any means a perfect film. It is well paced, but some of the editing is abrupt and
confusing. It’s obvious this movie was cut for time, and it shows. Fortunately, there is a
director’s cut (simply entitled Legion) that fixes most of the editing issues. This film is so well
written, and superbly acted, I would gladly sit through a 2-3 hour version, where all the
characters, past and present are fleshed out, and the mystery can unravel at a natural pace. That
said, the last few minutes are the lowest point of the picture. The actual exorcism and
denouement went by so fast, your thinking “That’s it?” as the credits roll. Which, as stated
before is mostly fixed in the Legion version.

The Exorcist III is what I consider the true Sequel to The Exorcist. I can understand what they
were trying to do with Exorcist II: The Heretic, and in ways it works as a sequel to Regan’s
story, but not to the Exorcist story itself. With its issues, Part III is a Hell of a movie (Pun
intended) and shouldn’t be missed.

Right now, we live in a world of horror relying on Jump scares and forced terror. This picture is
a breath of fresh air, and holds up 30 years later as a disturbing, well paced psychological
journey into darkness. Which adds to the effectiveness of the few jumps in the movie, because
the elements of the scenes pull you in, and once you are fully invested in the scene, they strike
and “get you” every time.

This includes the infamous “Hallway scare”, a jump scare that is so well done, you don’t expect
it, and still haunts me 30 years later, and deserves to be on every horror fan’s list of Top Scares.

Final Thoughts:

The dialogue is absolutely brilliant

The Story is worthy of the name Exorcist

The Lighting is beautiful

The editing is problematic at times

The end is too quick

The horror is fantastic

Verdict: 3.5/5 stars

FUN FACTS: (Paraphrased from IMDB)

The name The Gemini Killer was based of the real-life Zodiac Killer

Brad Dourif says the line “It’s Childs Play” in the film. He was the voice of The killer doll
Chucky for all but 1 of the movies featuring the doll.

Blatty gave the director job to John Carpenter, who liked the script. Carpenter declined when he
saw the passion in Blatty and knew he wanted to direct.
George C Scott quoted "It's a horror film and much more... It's a real drama, intricately crafted,
with offbeat interesting characters...and that's what makes it genuinely frightening."

Jeffrey Dahmer’s favorite movie

Cameos (see if you can find them):

Fabio

Samuel L Jackson

Larry King

C. Everett Koop