The Exorcist III: Legion

A much much better version of the film. Here the film has been tidied up a great deal so that the original concept of one character being played by one actor is restored. I also found it much slower and firstly much more of a detective story, which we only latterly come to consider might at least involve forces from the first film. The ending is also far better too. I think the director was trying to tell a slower more mediative story and in the end that vision wasn't allowed to come through. Instead they wanted a big showy elaborate finale where everything but the kitchen sink is thrown at us. Stick to this version though, it's far better, even if some scenes are still missing.

I am going to rate the director's cut of Legion differently to the theatrical, which is my preferred version. This review covers the Legion version which I honestly think is interesting and very entertaining but fails to be as good as the version with an actual exorcism. What this film does well is the story progression and the characters. It also has one of the best jump scares in cinematic history. How the story is told is a true highlight. I would also argue that the theatrical version is actually better than the original film, the definitive of the perfect sequel. This version isn't as good though in my opinion. For starters the quality of the new footage is pretty terrible and jars greatly with the main part of the film. It also doesn't really add anything or do anything differently for the first hour so the extra moments are really quite pointless. Now in the final half there are more changes and these are the ones that are interesting for fans of the theatrical version. But that is all this version is, a curiosity for fans. It removes the climatic exorcism and removes Father Karras to focus more on the gemini killer. So it's different and what makes the original so engrossing is still all there but the low quality of the inserted scenes are sometimes distracting but nevertheless interesting for fans.

For years fans were wanting the the Directors Cut of "Exorcist III" and in 2016 Scream Factory released it.

"The Exorcist III" original version was destroyed or lost by the production company "Morgan Creek". However I think there is still the uncut print around somewhere. So in the Scream factory release they re-created the director's cut the best way they could by including VHS copy the director had. They cleaned up the footage and it was used "Sparingly". However the difference in quality and screen ratio is very noticeable and it might put off some viewers however this version is much better than the theatrical cut however I do prefer the ending that was used for the theatrical version.

The story is about Police Lt. Kinderman (George C. Scott) who notices similarities between his current murder investigation and the methods used by the "Gemini" killer (Brad Dourif) who was executed 15 years before. He soon discovers a hospitalized mental patient (Jason Miller) claiming to be the dead serial killer, but who looks uncannily like a priest Kinderman knew who died during an exorcism. As more bodies are found, Kinderman looks for connections between the two supposedly dead men.

Not exactly a sequel its a spin-off of the original film. To me its not an Exorcist sequel if Linda Blair is not in it.

Everyone needs to view this film not as a sequel but just a movie about a police investigation. In fact the film was originally titled "Legion". It was marketing people that called it "Exorcist III". When test audiences were told the title was "Exorcist III" they were expecting an Exorcism. When one didn't happen they gave this film a major "Thumbs Down"! This sent the film back into production and the re-shoots caused major controversy.

With William Friedkin unavailable, author and one-time director William Peter Blatty took up the job himself and... by god, I'm gonna go out on a limb here and say, The Exorcist III is just as, if not more, terrifying than the original. Top-tier acting from George C. Scott and Brad Dourif, brilliant and minimalist music by Barry De Vorzon and astounding direction from Blatty with an atmosphere of unbearable dread and utter horror; also contains the single greatest (and only acceptable) jump-scare in film history. The Exorcist III is bloody horrifying in the best way possible and a worthy successor to the already frightening original.

This is a fantastic bit of cinema. It hits a lot of the same home runs as the original "Exorcist" - stellar performances and cinematography, gripping plot and a strong script. But where it diverges (brilliantly) is in theme: this is a mystery movie with supernatural elements, as opposed to a horror film with Christian elements. Legion: Exorcist III uses a serial killer plot to explore overarching themes of existentialism, faith and - yes, there's a clue in the title - demonic possession.

This is a very different experience to the 1972 predecessor, and so comparisons are unfair. While not unsettling in the same ways as the first film, Exorcist 3 still provides ratcheting tension and impressive scares over the course of its generous runtime. The lasting impression we're left with is one of a riveting story, supported by outstanding performances from Scott, Dourif and Nancy Fish (whose work here isn't recognized enough - she's unsettling, and brilliant).

As before, William Peter Blatty (in my opinion, one of the finest writers. Full stop, no qualifiers.) adapts his own excellent novel into a tense, finely-drawn screenplay which runs along at a brisk pace. One could argue that the final act is more explicit, and ultimately less effective, than the rest of the movie - but that's a matter of personal taste, as opposed to an objective quality issue.

I can't recommend this enough - it treads difficult water, between an epic prequel and its own subtler self, with great success. A definite recommendation!