L'Exorciste III : La légion

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.

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.

No pun intended - the movie was not supposed to be called Exorcist .. and yet it has or rather had all the ingredients an Exorcist sequel should have. Cast member(s?) from the original - and a story that while seems to have nothing to do with the movie from 1973 ... well is quite connected.

Once possessed one can not just shake it off - no I am not making a Taylor Swift pun here (unless you think it's cool, then I am definitely making one of course). This is the directors cut that came with the disc I got from the movie. Many scenes are included/had been saved for this. Unfortunately the video quality is not the best to say the least. You can immediately see and tell the difference to the other stuff.

If you don't mind that, there are interesting differences - although sometimes it seems to be just slight alterations of what was ultimately used in the movie. But this does end differently and you get to see more of Brad Dourif in this cut, instead of ... well another actor who is quite connected to his character in this movie. I delibaretely keep it vague ... so not to reveal too much. If you have seen it you'll know anyway what I am talking about ... if not, you will find out for yourself. Funnily enough this is shorter than the other version - directors cuts usually (mostly) are longer. I had never seen the second and third Exorcist movies ... they are quite different from the original ... which I consider a good thing ... you can't reach or copy what Friedkin did ... so this is as good as it gets (or the other version for all that I care) ...

The theatrical cut is in my opinion better. But I think it's a matter of taste. It doesn't matter which version you like, they are both great. But I think the theatrical cut is a little better.

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.