exorcist-3The Exorcist III
Director: William Peter Blatty
Cast: George C. Scott, Ed Flanders, Brad Dourif
Reviewed by Brian M. Sammons

The original The Exorcist is the Mount Everest of horror movies. It is big, huge, hard to beat, and casts a long, wide shadow. Since its release in 1973, other demon possession movies have come out (quite a lot, actually), and they have all been compared to The Exorcist, and they have almost all been found wanting. You just can’t out-exorcist The Exorcist, and that is true for the direct sequels and prequels that followed in the film’s wake. However, you can come close and do something really good, nearly as good as the groundbreaking original, if you try hard enough. Sure it takes a maximum amount of effort, but 1990’s The Exorcist III, written by the same man (William Peter Blatty) who wrote the original novel and screenplay for the first film, and also directed by him, did just that. If anyone had a chance of coming close to the original movie in quality and horrific effectiveness, it would have to be him. And he did it, despite all of the studio meddling, or maybe even because of that meddling? Well we’ll get to that soon. For right now, take my hand, be sure to bring your bile, and let’s dream of a rose and falling down a long flight of stairs.

The Exorcist III pretends that The Exorcist II didn’t happen, just as so many of us horror fans try to do. It is the only official sequel to the original story, and as such, begins where that movie left off, but well over a decade later. The cop from the first film, Kinderman, played to gruff perfection buy the always excellent George C. Scott, is investigating a series of disturbing and sacrilegious murders. Not only that, they seem all too familiar, but that’s just crazy, because the sicko that seems to be behind these deaths (the Gemini Killer) died in the electric chair 15 years ago. Adding to Kinderman’s unease is the fact that all of the victims have something in common: a connection to the infamous Regan MacNeil exorcism, also from 15 years ago. When someone close to the policeman is murdered in the same horrific fashion, Kinderman sets his sights on a hospital, and more specifically on one of the patients as his prime suspect, no matter how unbelievable, how faith shaking and sanity shattering it might be.

The Exorcist III is not like the original movie in many respects, and that’s for the best. Once again, you just can’t out-exorcist The Exorcist. This is an occult murder mystery, much like the equally good and demonic Angel Heart from 1987. In fact, while this movie does have an exorcism at its end, it was not originally intended to have one, and that was only put in at the studio’s insistence. That big confrontation is easily the weakest thing in this movie, but it’s not horrible — it only pales in comparison to the rest of this magnificent movie. All of the actors do commendable work, but stars George C. Scott and Brad Dourif are simply wonderful in this. Both are at the top of their game and they bring it with gusto here. And since Dourif has all his scenes with Scott, watching the two play off each other is, honestly and without any hyperbole, amazing. That alone is worth the price of admission. But wait, there is so much more. The direction by Blatty ranges from able to outstanding, and this movie has the most effective and scary jump scare ever. Ever, ever, ever. Now, I’m so not a fan of BOO! jump scares in movies, as most of the time they are lazy crutches used by hacks that don’t understand how horror movies work, but if they were all done this masterfully, not only would I never have a problem with them, I would relish their existence. In addition to that awesome moment, there is legit creepy dread on display here, and that aforementioned mystery which also really works.

Again, the only slight misstep this movie makes is that shoehorned in exorcism for the conclusion. Thankfully, there is good news to that end, as this two-disc Blu-ray release comes with a new director’s cut that removes all of that exorcism business. So that must make this movie now 100% golden, right?

Wrong.

This is one of the few instances where the director’s cut does not improve on the original, but weakens it. Yes, the final exorcism is removed, and so too is any mention of the priest that performs it, but the original ending is (sorry to say) weaker than what we got in theaters. Furthermore, an entire second actor from the original movie is also excised here, and I don’t know why. In one of the special features, Brad Dourif, who is no doubt a great actor, sort looks to be a not so great person when he throws that other actor under the bus and basically says that originally they didn’t want to use him for this because he was a drunk. And yet in the theatrical cut, that actor brings it as much as he or Scott does, albeit in a far more subtle way, but only because the character he was playing dictated that. Really, that whole Dourif interview came off as nothing more than sour grapes of an actor mad that some of his screen time was cut to make room for someone else. A few other “new” elements are added to this version of the movie that, while true to the novel the film is based off of, really add nothing of value. This is a clear example that just because someone can write a good book, that doesn’t mean they can make a good movie. Yes, The Exorcist III is a great movie, but seeing how the filmmaker original intended it, all I can say (and this might be the only time I ever say it) is thank god for all the studio “meddling” with this movie. I’ll take the meh exorcism scene at the end of this movie over what might have been any day.

As for the extras on this two-disc set from Scream Factory. First and foremost, there are two versions of this film: the theatrical cut and the director’s cut, both in HD (for the most part, some scenes in the director’s cut are still pretty raw), and each given their own disc. As for the goodies associated with the original cut, there is a collection of deleted scenes, alternate takes, and bloopers, photo galleries, trailers, and TV spots. There are also two blasts from the past: one is a collection of vintage interviews (read as: filmed back in 1990 – how weird that the 90s are now “vintage” – when the movie was being made) that runs thirty-eight minutes long, and a short (seven minute) behind-the-scenes featurette. There are no commentaries on here, and that is a bit sad.

The second disc is the director’s cut, and there are a bunch of new special features and goodies. There is an audio interview with writer/director William Peter Blatty that runs as an audio commentary while the movie plays, but it’s not really talking about the movie as it plays, so I guess that’s why it’s not an actual commentary track. There are also five chunky featurettes here, beginning with a twenty-four minute retrospective of the movie called “A Wonderfull Time.” “Signs of the Gemini” is a near eighteen minute featurette all about the deranged murder Brad Dourif plays to perfection in this movie; “The Devil in the Details” is also eighteen minutes and is about the look and production design of the film. “Music for a Padded Cell” is all about, surprise, the music used in the movie that runs for fifteen minutes, and “All the Bleeding” is a twenty-nine minute featurette on the special effects.

The Exorcist III is a must have for horror fans. It is the true sequel to one of the best, most influential horror movies ever made, and against all odds, it doesn’t screw anything up in following in those very big footsteps. Exceptionally well made, directed, acted, and with the single best jump scare ever put to film, I cannot recommend this movie high enough. Be sure to get it when it comes out October 25th.

About Brian M. Sammons

Brian M. Sammons has penned stories that have appeared in the anthologies: Arkham Tales, Horrors Beyond, Monstrous, Dead but Dreaming 2, Horror for the Holidays, Deepest, Darkest Eden and others. He has edited the books; Cthulhu Unbound 3, Undead & Unbound, Eldritch Chrome, Edge of Sundown, Steampunk Cthulhu, Dark Rites of Cthulhu, Atomic Age Cthulhu, World War Cthulhu and Flesh Like Smoke. He is also the managing editor of Dark Regions Press’ Weird Fiction line. For more about this guy that neighbors describe as “such a nice, quiet man” you can check out his infrequently updated webpage here: http://brian_sammons.webs.com/ and follow him on Twitter @BrianMSammons.

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