Exorcist III

Fifteen years after the horrible sequel to “The Exorcist,” William Peter Blatty, the author of the novel that the film is based off of, came in as writer and director for “Exorcist III.” How is this film compared to the second one? A “HUGE” improvement with some bone-chilling moments, but the first one is still far superior.

The film completely ignores the events from the second one and acts like a direct sequel to the first movie, thankfully. Lt. Kinderman and Father Dyer are still very good friends after 15 years from the events of the first movie. Lee J. Cobb and William O’Malley are not in this film. Instead, they are replaced by the great George C. Scott (who you might remember from “Patton”) and Ed Flanders (no, not “The Simpsons” character). Kinderman is investigating a case that is similar to the Exorcism from 15 years earlier. Apparently this killer is out killing the family and friends that are related to the people that were involved in the Exorcism in the first movie.

Now the killer calls himself “The Gemini,” and he is played by Brad Dourif. You know what he does? He takes the soul of Father Karras, played by the only returning actor from the first movie, Jason Miller. Just to let you know, he is only seen in a flashback scene.

Even though this film is not as scary as the first one, it’s still pretty darn scary. There are moments in this film that will literally make you jump out of your seat or hide under a blanket or pillow. After every murder in the hospital, the camera always pulls over to that headless Jesus, which makes you wonder why? Also, the voice that Dourif does, which echoes through the walls of the prison cell he is in, is bone-chilling. One point in the hospital, Nurse Amy Keating, played by Tracy Thorne, is just walking the halls to see if anyone is around. Finally, when you least expect it, either it’s a headless man or a man covering himself in a blanket, jumps her from behind and kills her, along with Dr. Temple, played by Scott Wilson. There’s even an old lady that you will see crawling around on the ceiling. When you see that, you will think, “Who is she, Spider-Granny?” One other scary moment is near the end, when Father Paul Morning, played by Nicol Williamson, performs an exorcism, but Pazuzu interferes, and Father Morning is gruesomely murdered.

George C. Scott, like in all of his other roles, is just solid. He is a very strong Lieutenant that wants to investigate this case and get to the bottom of it. He is scared completely, as you would be as well, and you want him to solve the case. You don’t want him to go through anymore torture because as the film goes on, you feel what he is going through and you want him to succeed. He does not believe in Satan, but this case would make him believe. Whenever you hear him scream, you will immediately remember him as General Patton.

Ed Flanders plays a great friend. He works very well with George C. Scott, and whenever you see them interact with one another as friends, they make the chemistry flow. This is very helpful to Lt. Kinderman, since he has been friends with Father Dyer for a long time. No one knows him as well as Father Dyer, and he is there for Kinderman till the very end. This will make you remember that true friends are very hard to come by. Despite all that Kinderman has been through, Father Dyer makes sure that he is by Kinderman’s side to help him through his troubles. Flanders really brings the realism out in this performance.

Brad Dourif is hands down creepy in this movie. Whenever you see him on screen, you know that he is going to do something scary. You don’t really see his face since he is shadowed, and the voice is mainly heard throughout the duration of the time he is on screen. It’s not as memorable as Linda Blair from the first film, but as a film that ignores the second film and works as a direct sequel to the first, it’s memorable in its own respective way. Definitely one of the scariest performances from 1990, the year this film was released.

Nancy Fish plays the very creepy Nurse Allerton. Seeing Kinderman over and over again, when he comes into the hospital about every day to see “The Gemini” more, she doesn’t want any harm to be given to the hospital or her patients. She doesn’t know that “The Gemini” is possessed by Pazuzu, and only protects him as a Nurse would to her patients. Realistically speaking, a Nurse would probably not know if his or her patient is possessed by Satan because Satan would know if someone is coming and hide. That is why Nurse Allerton doesn’t know, and wants Kinderman to leave.

However, the dream sequences you see of Kinderman do not really look like you can take them seriously. Also, when “The Gemini” explains how he moved from body to body seems complicated to really have your head wrapped around. Finally, the last action sequence with Kinderman and “The Gemini” seems like a pyrotechnic flash show, but does deliver a memorable ending.

Overall, the casting is very well done, the story is nail-biting, and scare value is higher than the second. Blatty made a good move when he ignored the events from the second movie, and instead made this one follow after the first one. It’s a much better sequel than the second, so go out and watch it. I would give this film a 7/10.

We only have two films in the series left to look at, and they are both prequels told in a different way. How are they: good prequels, one better than the other, or ones that you should not bother to waste your time on? Only one way to find out: stay tuned tomorrow for the review on the first prequel.