L'Exorciste III : La légion

Judging from the two flicks he made, William Peter Blatty was a talented director. He had vision and ambition. But that didn't make him infallible. THE EXORCIST III is a case in point. The theatrical version was flawed and we loved to blame the "suits" who demanded changes and re-shoots. But now here's LEGION, the version Blatty intended to make and I'm sad to report that it's even more flawed than the theatrical version. The theatrical version had that silly exorcism at the end, which brought an up until that point thoughtful flick down to the level of bargain basement horror. But the ending of the director's cut isn't much better, it's extremely anti-climactic and a million miles removed from the theological ending of the book. Another big difference is that in the director's cut Brad Dourif plays both the Gemini Killer/Patient X and Karras. You gotta hand it to the "suits" at Morgan Creek who insisted on re-shoots with Jason Miller, because the going back and forth between Dourif/Gemini and Miller/Karras in the theatrical version works like a charm. That part is much better in the theatrical version.

What's great about EXORCIST III remains great in the director's cut: the performances, especially the lead role by George C. Scott, the eerie atmosphere and photography and the best jump scare I have ever seen.

All in all, EXORCIST III remains flawed in both versions. But it's great that we can establish that by ourselves, thanks to the good folks who assembled the director's cut from whatever crude material they could get their hands on. In that respect, it's mostly historically interesting.

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!

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.

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.

Oddly enough this comes out literally just as William Peter Blatty dies. Maybe it is a fitting end to his brilliant writing and filmmaking.

Yes you have to look past the fact that much of the "new" footage is old, bad quality and looks like it was ripped from an old VHS tape but that just leaves so much more to the imagination - much like the first version of the film did. Also a brilliant movie.

Gone are some sub-plots and even people from the original film and this version has definitely been de-Hollywootized and instead been Twin Peaksed.... stripped of many of the more elaborate sets and special effects - but it still works.

The part that was so amazing in the first film was the mood, the moments, the small things - and it's carried on into this version. I don't want to do any spoilers so I'll leave it at that. But if you loved the original you don't want to miss this one. Great acting, great lines and moments that get under your skin in a way few (if any) movies manages to do today.