Everyone knows the original Exorcist whether or not they’re horror fans. It is rightfully considered to be a horror classic. Although it’s a bit of a slow burner, the atmosphere in the original is phenomenal. Part of what I think made the original movie better is the screenplay was written by William Peter Blatty who wrote the novel the film was based on. I love when movies get that kind of personal touch. The Exorcist III even goes a step further than that and Blatty both wrote and directed this movie. Unlike the second Exorcist which was just a continuation of the franchise, Exorcist III was based off of the novel Legion, the only sequel written to the original novel.
Exorcist III has everything going for it as far as talent. All the lead actors do a good job (some of the bit parts have strangely bad acting), especially a great job by Brad Dourif (Child’s Play). The atmosphere in the movie is good, but it can only take the movie so far. After so little happening in the movies running time the atmosphere does start to loose a little of its edge.
They made a smart choice with this movie by changing the format pretty far from the original. The Exorcism in this film doesn’t last for that long and is held off till the movie starts to near its end. Instead of that we’re treated to a murder mystery film. It’s interesting as Detective Fatnold (I seriously suck at character names) tracks a killer with a similar MO as the Gemini Killer who was executed years before. I’m sure with this movie’s title you can easily guess why that is.
There’s a lot going for this movie which is probably why this movie ended up being somewhat of a disappointment. Although I was interested for a good chunk of the movie, that interest started to wane as more time went on and nothing seemed to be happening. Still Brad Dourif did a great job and he’s probably the biggest reason why I’m giving this movie a C+. I admittedly was not a big fan of the original movie the first time I watched it, and will likely be giving this movie another chance and see if it grows on me. On the off chance of that I’ll update this review to reflect that. Not that I think too many people will notice it later.
HORRORably Self Indulgent 
I really enjoyed both of Blatty’s novels in this Exorcist series. I was pleasantly surprised by how good ‘Legion’ was. I didn’t hate this 3rd film installment. I agree with your points here. I miss the days where movies about demons and exorcisms were actually interesting like this. Great review.
Thanks. I do plan on rewatching this movie after I read Legion. Some movies have required multiple watches for me to enjoy. Actually hated the original movie the first time I watched it and then watching it again years later I was blown away.
Read ‘Legion’! It is awesome. Everyone does react differently to ‘The Exorcist’ the film. I absolutely love it! It is in my top five favorite horror movies ever. I put it on in the background while I am doing work all the time.
I will soon. I read a lot of books, and this series has gotten pretty high up on my to read list.