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There is one movie called "The Exorcist II", I've written about it before, but there are actually many alternate direct sequels to The Exorcist. The Exorcist III exists entirely independently of II. It ignores that movie's plot and characters. But there's even stranger options. In 1980, William Peter Blatty directed a movie called The Ninth Configuration, about an astronaut character who appeared in The Exorcist book and movie very briefly, who is now in a mental asylum in a castle. The Ninth Configuration is one of the weirdest movies I've ever seen. I have no idea what Blatty was going for in terms of tone or message or... anything, it's a mess. Let's not talk about it further.
So that's three alternate sequels, spiritual or otherwise. Which is fitting because in the mid-2000s, they made two dueling
Exorcist prequels, which I've also written about. (Past Me is out here
doing Present Me a solid, so many movies I don't have to cover thanks to
him.) And now a new sequel, Exorcist: Believer is out in theaters, we'll get to that on Halloween itself.
...Actually, make that four alternate sequels! There are in fact, two Exorcist IIIs. There's the theatrical cut released in 1990, with which Blatty was not pleased. The studio demanded several dramatic changes to the script, such as having an actual exorcism in this Exorcist movie. Blatty obliged, but decades later would release his own edit with the surviving footage. He never could get it 100% his way, but he cobbled together the closest possible thing to his vision. That was called Legion, named after his 1983 novel which was the source material here. I've seen this movie called "Exorcist III: Legion" online, though it never went by that name anywhere. Look at the poster, it clearly says "The Exorcist III". Or well, "The EX(III)RCIST".
This franchise never ceases to be wild. None of these sequels do the thing you would most expect: just have another girl possessed by a demon and do creepy shit. This franchise keeps wandering off in strange places from locusts in Africa to here, a slasher movie set in a hospital. The Exorcist III had to put the iconic steps from the first movie on the poster, as if it needed to remind audiences "yes, this is an Exorcist sequel".
The Exorcist III is about two minor characters from the first movie.. Those would be police Lieutenant William F. Kinderman and Father Joseph Dyer. Dyer was Father Karras' dear friend who gives him last rites at the end of the movie, and Kinderman was a wacky Columbo-esque comic relief character. Originally the detective and priest were played by Lee J. Cobb and William J. O'Malley, an actual priest. In Exorcist III, the new roles are played very different men in terms of temperament, appearance, and even age. Now George C. Scott is the policeman, a sad old man capable of explosions of anger, and the priest is played by Ninth Configuration alum Ed Flanders.
You'll see a lot of deviations from the first movie. Kinderman and Dyer are both very sad at the beginning of this movie remembering Karras' death, though Kinderman barely knew him. That's because Blatty seems to be making a movie that's more a sequel to his book than Friedkin's work, there's a few other holes.
Interestingly, Kinderman and Dyer over the years have become practically an old married couple. Their scenes are just a never-ending patter of sitcom shtick, as if Jerry and George were trying to solve sacrilegious murders involving decapitation. The homoeroticism gets a bit thick too: "You're standing very close to me, father. Have you smelled me?" Which makes Kinderman's deep depression and rage through the rest of the movie more believable. Dyer is murdered in the first act, with him goes most of the comedy from Exorcist III. It turns into a horror movie properly after that.
The demonic scheme in The Exorcist III is hard to follow. The demon calls itself "Legion", named after the demon Christ exorcised in the Gospels. However, maybe that refers to how many people are possessing this body. The actual possessed person is Father Karras (Jason Miller, the only returning actor), who was dead, but has been brought back to life by Satanic power. Inserted inside his body is the mind of a recently-executed serial killer, The Gemini Killer (a fabulously hammy Brad Dourif), in clear reference to The Zodiac Killer. So sometimes the character will be played by Miller, sometimes it is Dourif. Sometimes neither are in control and instead its the demon, who might be Pazuzu from the first movie, that's unclear too. Gemini/Legion/Pazuzu have been in a hospital mental ward for fifteen years, regrowing their strength to get revenge on the Father by using his flesh for awful deeds.
In fact, it is even more complicated than that, because the killer never leaves his cell. Instead he's actually controlling catatonic old women in the final twist. This is one or two steps too many. You have to make this simpler, Satan.
That said, the scares in Exorcist III are not lacking. None of the kills happen on camera, instead we see their prelude or some of the aftermath. It is a remarkably un-gory movie for its body count until the very end. We're told the lurid details, such as how Dyer's entire blood supply has been meticulously drained into a baker's dozen of neat cups. There is a legendary jump scare involving a nurse in a hallway, the camera cutting away just as the Gemini appears out of frame to chase her with a massive pair of scissors. (This usually ranks somewhere on lists of greatest jump scares of all time, they're not wrong.) Yet, ever here, we are shown no murdering.
The Exorcist III is the most traditional horror movie on this whole list so far. Blatty had real horror clops, shame he never would direct another movie. I guess he blew all his favors on a dream sequence full of inexplicable cameos. Fabio plays an angel, Patrick Ewing is credited as the Angel of Death, a soon-to-be-famous Samuel L. Jackson is here. I don't know what any of this is supposed to mean.
There is a lot to like in The Exorcist III. There's great atmosphere. George C. Scott is up in his years but can still bring it. ("IT IS *NOT* IN THE FILE!! IT'S NOT!!") Brad Dourif is what brings this movie a wonderful energy, he's so much fun and so terrifying as the Gemini. This is one of his best non-Chucky performances. It was so good that even Jeffrey Dahmer was a fan, he started modeling himself off the Gemini at times.
Which leaves us in an unsettling place. A really good horror movie about a serial killer, inspiring a real serial killer, who will himself inspire dozens of horror films. We've become un-moored from any reality outside media construction. This is 1990, we're just at the tail end of the Satanic Panic, partially whipped up by the horror movies we've been studying. There you have it: Satanists, serial killers, one seemingly more real than the other, but yet both constructions. Powerful forces decided we needed to be afraid and if there were no demons and only sad White men play-action as slasher villains, narratives could be supplied to create them. Make sure you ask yourself what you're being to be afraid of now and which media or legal systems benefit from your fear.
Next Time! Italy makes a movie so similar to The Exorcist that Warner Bros. took them to court, we go Beyond the Door.
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