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Rating: "The Exorcist" from 1973 by the master William Friedkin was one of the films that radically changed the thinking of modern horror, along with another masterpiece cult that bears the name "Rosemary's Baby". The image of the evil that forcefully enters a home context, infiltrating the relationship between a mother, a successful actress, and a daughter left without the support of a paternal figure. A pioneering film of the genre, it still holds its own today, although the new generations can no longer discern what makes them laugh from what makes them scared with the advent of the Internet age. The sequel "The Exorcist II: The Heretic", directed by John Boorman, turned out to be a half flop contrary to the first film. Hated by both the public and the critics, although in my opinion, it's a somewhat interesting film, even if it falls short in terms of form. William Peter Blatty's work marks for better or worse a zero point for world horror cinema; every subsequent supernatural horror film had to reckon with "The Exorcist", but ironically, few have been truly memorable over time.
And after almost twenty years, Peter Blatty thought it wise to return to his personal creation born from his beautiful and controversial novel "The Exorcist". He took responsibility for the camera, with the subject taken from the novel "Legion", better known as "Gemini Killer" from 1983. Staying as true as possible to the book, Blatty directed a sort of prequel spin-off of the original story, starting from the tragic finale following Father Karras's death. Fifteen years pass since the event. We are back near Georgetown, and Lieutenant Kinderman (excellently played by George C. Scott) has not lost touch with the young Father Dyer from the first film, aged here and played by Ed Flanders. Kinderman finds himself on the trail of a series of murders bearing the mark of Gemini Killer, a serial killer executed fifteen years ago, on the exact day of Karras's death. He will uncover a terrifying truth that will lead him into an abyss of paranoia until he finds himself face-to-face with Gemini "himself".
"The Exorcist 3" is the third cinematic chapter of what we might call the "saga" which, in my opinion, while overall not as bad as many have described it, certainly falters in many areas. Let's start with the negative aspects, just to get it out of the way quickly: Blatty's direction gains a decent aesthetic, seeking to approach that of the original film. Even without the touch of the great Friedkin, Blatty still manages to bring the images on the screen to life, accompanied by an atmosphere both dark and almost dreamlike, aided by beautiful and inspired cinematography. The problem with Blatty's direction lies primarily in the form itself; he lacks the timing of cinema, failing to manage the pacing to provide a calibrated and engaging rhythm to the story. The tense moments, perhaps the few genuinely successful ones, are preceded by sequences that are borderline nerve-wracking due to their slow tempo, but not the kind of slowness that fosters pleasant attention even if it demands more concentration, rather one accompanied by dull dialogues, uninteresting characters' relationships, and above all a finale leading nowhere, leaving open both the sense of the story's conclusion and a sour taste in the mouth. The film, hypothetically 80% of it, is a continuous dialogue, where everything is explained as if Blatty himself were reading his own novel to the viewer, losing value at that point in the film's pacing, which becomes lethargic as the viewing progresses. Additionally, consider that the film risked being doomed from the start, as producers prevented Blatty from using the title "Legion" and forced it commercially under the name "The Exorcist 3", and finally included a forced exorcism scene towards the end, making the film automatically seem more like a calculated cold operation orchestrated at a desk.
George C. Scott plays his character brilliantly (portrayed in the original film by Lee J. Cobb, who passed away later in 1976) giving him the right charisma and a good dose of humor that makes him much more genuine and fearless. But the real protagonist of this film is precisely Gemini Killer, portrayed by the duo of actors Jason Miller, who appeared as Damien Karras in the first film, and the extraordinary Brad Dourif, better known for films like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Lord of the Rings, and staying on the horror theme, the cult Child's Play. The two actors have a showdown of skill, Miller dark and tormented, Dourif aggressive and manipulative, enjoying his role to the last scream. The true strength of the film likely remains its performance. Nicol Williamson's intervention is relatively unmemorable, another great actor known for his Merlin in Boorman's "Excalibur", here as the exorcist father Morning; although the character intrigues in the film's early fragments, towards the end he almost becomes a caricature. The cast is one of the few successful elements of the film, the actors are in shape and do well in their roles (Samuel L. Jackson even appears as a blind man in one of Kinderman's dream sequences), some horror sequences are well-executed (especially the terrifying sequence of the nurse in the hospital, one of the most frightening jump scares I've ever seen, also in terms of the entire scene's construction), others suffer from poor direction craftsmanship, like the exorcism sequence filled with special effects but lacking in pathos and that sense of fear and discomfort it should convey.
Overall, "The Exorcist 3" is a stumbling film, which despite a good foundation and anticipation does not fully meet expectations as it should. As I mentioned, the technical aspect is commendable, a competent team of actors and some good unsettling sequences, even if few are truly sharp. It's a shame, because with more carefully crafted pacing, a more incisive screenplay, and more professional direction, it could have been significantly better.
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