Written And Directed by William Peter Blatty
Patient X (to Kinderman): "I still hear from her occasionally, screaming. I think the dead should shut up, unless there's something to say."
If ever a horror franchise had its run of bad luck sequels, it would definitely be this one. However after the critically reviled second entry, this third one actually has enough going in it favour to be fair.
First of all, it makes a point to ignore the events of Exorcist II: The Heretic while being written and directed by William Peter Blatty himself. Does it mean this movie happens to be on a par with the first one? Not quite but there's a lot to like here.
Focusing on an older protagonist here, we have Lieutenant William F. Kinderman (George C. Scott) and his rather spiky friendship with chain smoking Father Dyer (Ed Flanders). They have great scenes together and then the latter got brutally murdered and suddenly, links to a past killer resurfaced.
The past killer in question being the Gemini Killer (a not so subtle Zodiac Killer stand in) and suddenly things get a bit strange for Kinderman. Notably because the Gemini Killer died fifteen years ago and then in a facility, Kinderman spotted someone who looked just like the presumed dead Father Karras (Jason Miller), claiming to be the Gemini Killer aka James Venamun (Brad Dourif).
Fairly soon, it's made clear that Karras did die and Pazuzu (Colleen Dewhurst) just to be a petty shit managed to put the Gemini Killer in Karras's body and have the latter obediently serve him. In terms of performances, both Jason Miller and Brad Dourif perfectly sync with one another, despite the literal restrictions in their movements.
For the rest of the movie, there's an excellent back and forth between Kinderman and Pazuzu/Gemini Killer with the bodies lining up, including Father Morning (Nicol Williamson) as the latter was unable to defeat Pazuzu a second time before Karras managed to get some free will and a gunshot ended Pazuzu this time around.
- William Peter Blatty based this movie on his book, Legion, which was what he wanted to call the movie in order to distant it from the previous one.
- The Gemini Killer claimed to kill at random but went after victims with a K in their names and to spite his father.
- I liked that sly reference to Child's Play. They did cast Brad Dourif so why not?
- Chronology: 1990, fifteen years after the events of the first movie.
The Exorcist III easily made for a better sequel than expected. The combination of excellent performances from the leads, William Peter Blatty's script and a genuine sense of terror all helped. It's too bad the next two installments are contradicting and rather pointless prequels.
Rating: 7 out of 10
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