The Exorcist III

*** out of ****

The Exorcist III is such an effective thriller that it almost makes you forget that it is a completely unnecessary sequel. Of course, most hit/cult films have unnecessary sequels—that is inevitable, especially in the horror genre, which continues to insist that you cannot keep a good monster down, particularly when they are successful at the box office. But as far as unnecessary sequels go, The Exorcist III is top-drawer, and it successfully tells a good story that compliments the original film without stepping on its toes.

Well, maybe it isn’t so unnecessary. As I recall the incoherent mess of The Exorcist II, perhaps part III is necessary for restoring honor back to the series. I would argue that if they had never progressed past the first film, which is probably the scariest movie of all time, then that would have maintained enough honor. However, since The Exorcist II indeed came and went, without the support or input of the original’s writer William Blatty, it was decent of him to come back and both write and direct the third film as sort of an apology for the second one.

In fact, Blatty did us a grand favor by making it optional to watch part two before plunging into this one. This has been tagged with the Roman numeral III, but it is, fortunately, completely unrelated to part II and tells its own, unique story that branches straight from the first film. Here’s some free advice, on that note: Do what Blatty did, and after the first film, skip straight to this one. You’ll thank me later for that.

What we first notice about The Exorcist III is its quiet, thoughtful nature that works as a sharp contrast to the first film’s aggressive mental assault. Blatty’s film is first and foremost a good, healthy mixture of murder mystery and ghost story, picking up around fifteen years after the first one left off. The central character is Lt. Bill Kinderman of the Georgetown Police Department. He had an important supporting role in the first film, where he was played by Lee J. Cobb; here, he is played by George C. Scott, an actor with equal talent and perhaps a little more intensity—not to mention a striking resemblance to the late Cobb. Scott's casting is a good sign that this will be a refreshing movie: In an age of pretty Hollywood faces, here is a film that's not afraid to have its central character be a witty, cantankerous old man.

Blatty directs here from his own screenplay, and like M. Night Shyamalan, he demonstrates a natural knack for still cameras and creating most of his action and suspense out of what the characters are saying. This is a curious departure from The Exorcist part one, so much that if not for the nature of the midway twist, this could be an entirely different, unrelated movie. The first film, directed by William Friedkin, dealt with a full-throttled, terrifying ordeal of the violent, demonic possession of an innocent little girl (Linda Blair, unseen here), and the pain and suffering that it caused for her and her family. It was a carefully constructed film that took its time in creating its characters and looking into the private lives of priests. The Exorcist III is a more traditional mystery with supernatural overtones, and while it does contain scenes of gripping terror, most of its movement is contained in its freshly written dialogue as Kinderman seeks to solve this mystery and, along the way, question his own faith.

The story involves a series of murders that have been taking place throughout the city that resemble, to a ‘T,’ the murders of the Gemini Serial Killer from several years prior. The problem is, the Gemini Killer has been dead for years, put to death in the electric chair. Kinderman tries to figure out the connection to the murders and the person responsible for the killings, and it eventually leads him to the disturbed ward of the local hospital, where a mysterious Patient X (Brad Dourif) insists that he is the Gemini Killer, back from the dead. Plot twists abound that you must discover for yourself, but eventually, Kinderman figures out the connection between Patient X and the Gemini, and realizes that there are indeed supernatural powers at work.

Despite the reappearance of a few chief characters from The Exorcist, this film tells a story that only reveals faintest connection to the events of the original film. The last half of The Exorcist III is essentially a long conversation between Kinderman and Patient X—a sort of verbal chess game in which Patient X boasts and reveals crucial plot elements while Kinderman listens carefully and calculates his next move. All the while, X taunts the detective about his flourishing serial killing career (“I still hear from [my victims] occasionally, screaming. I think the dead should shut up, unless there's something to say.” ) and Kinderman is helpless to explain it logically beyond the supernatural, something he does not believe in.

There is a major twist about halfway through the film that is a clear connection to part one, but Blatty keeps the tone down so that this link is not sensational or overbearing. This surprise could have been Blatty’s weakest link if he hadn’t played his cards carefully: The whole film leads up to this twist, and it is one so surprising and so preposterous that Blatty has to spend the rest of the film explaining how it works. Much of the dialogue, in fact, between X and Kinderman is an explanation that is probably too exhaustive and complicated. Think about it carefully, you will realize that this twist, which the whole film basically revolves around, is underwhelming and a rather pointless side-note to the events of the first film. However, because the dialogue is so well written and acted, we forgive the movie. Against all odds, Blatty pulls the premise off and never cheats, and he manages to conjure up some pretty effective scares just in the conversations between these two men.

Whereas the little girl’s cold bedroom was the spiritual battle arena in The Exorcist, the battle of wits between Kinderman and X takes place in a dark cell in which X is obscured in the shadows—think Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lector in Silence of the Lambs. Kinderman does not believe that a ghost can possess a person, or that the dead can be raised. Patient X seems to be living proof of such a resurrection, and he is adamant about convincing Kinderman so that his legacy of murder will live on. Scott and Dourif play these roles with straight faces, and this makes their verbal war very convincing. Dourif is particularly vicious as Patient X; he sneers, mocks, and brags about skinning his victims alive, and he does so with such conviction that it’s pretty unsettling.

Blatty does not leave his film entirely void of physical jolts. There is a scene towards the end of the film that is, frankly, one of the most unnerving sequences that I’ve ever seen. A camera rests far down the hallway, and we quietly observe the actions of characters on the other end, who are nearly specks on the screen. Why does the camera sit here, so far away from the actors? We assume, correctly, that something terrible is going to happen, and we brace ourselves. No amount of bracing, however, will prepare us for the release that Blatty gives us. It is a quick image that, while not gory or sensational, will leave certainly leave a horrific, surprising impact that is just as powerful and ten times more subtle than anything in the first film. Hitchcock would have been quite proud of this sequence.

While The Exorcist III mainly works as a well-written, if inconsequential, character-driven horror mystery, the tacked on, gory ending leaves something to be desired. I understand that the studio wanted an actual exorcism for an Exorcist sequel, despite the film’s clear deviation from the original’s themes. The final scenes, featuring a hastily added and underdeveloped Father Morning (Nicol Williamson) confronting the Gemini Killer, seem tacked on and unrelated to the rest of the film. In fact, I doubt that they were directed by Blatty at all, who I understand originally filmed a more emotionally complex ending that complimented the quiet scenes of dialogue between the two chief characters. As it stands, these moments with Father Morning lack the subtle, absorbing style of the rest of the film.

These final scenes notwithstanding, Blatty has created a gripping suspense film here, with a refreshingly different spirit than the first Exorcist. So different, in fact, that I’m left curious how two related films could seem so completely unrelated. If nothing else, the change in tone strips our expectations away, and we are forced to take our guard down, left truly wondering that will happen next because we honestly did not expect a film with such little in common to the film that it is a sequel to. Many great horror films have unnecessary sequels, but rarely are they as engaging or as horrifying as The Exorcist III, nor as inventive.

A.KA. Legion, The Exorcist III: Legion.

Cast:
George C. Scott: Detective Bill Kinderman
Brad Dourif: Patient X
Ed Flanders: Father Dyer
Jason Miller: Father Karras
Nicol Williamson: Father Morning
Scott Wilson: Dr. Temple

Warner Brothers presents a Morgan Creek production. Written and directed by William Peter Blatty, from his novel Legion. Rated R, for frightening sequences, brief language, and strong violence/gore. Running time: 105 minutes. Original United States theatrical release date: August 17, 1990.