14 October 2024
The Exorcist III (1990)
110 min.
Directed by William Peter Blatty.
With George C. Scott, Ed Flanders, Brad Dourif, Jason Miller, Nicol Williamson, Viveca Lindlors, Scott Wilson, Nancy Fish, Don Gordon, Zohra Lampert.
Oddly overrated second sequel to the classic Exorcist starts out pretty good, but for the most part, we can't understand what all the fuss is about.

Based on William Peter Blatty's book The Legion, this follows detective Bill Kinderman (the always excellent George C. Scott), out to find a vicious serial killer who's been decapitating his victims.

Strangely, the murders resemble the grisly work of the notorious Gemini Killer.

Only, he died 15 years ago.

Could there be more than meets the eye here? Could dark supernatural forces be at play?

The pacing is nice & lowkey - the way we like it - but the script is sloppy in parts; and by the second half, the off kilter direction by writer Blatty (author of the original Exorcist) has effectively sunk the boat here.

There's many (too many) ominous references to "that staircase" from the first film, not to mention an unforgivably wasted cameo from Jason Miller - all of which only serve to remind you what a superior classic The Exorcist was, and still is.

Also known as The Exorcist III: Legion.

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