No one knows The Exorcist better than William Peter Blatty – the man who wrote the 1971 novel that the film is based on, as well as both adapting this for the screen and producing the picture. As everyone knows, the film was a huge success so it’s no shock that we were treated to several sequels. The first being Exorcist II: The Heretic, which in my opinion is an underrated classic but unfortunately no one agrees with this. However, it’s the third film I wish to talk about. Here William Peter Blatty takes the reigns as directing, adapting his own novel Legion.
The Exorcist III ignores the events of the second film and reunites us with Lieutenant Kinderman (Now in the form of George C. Scott) and Father Damien Karass, both from the first Exorcist film. The film takes an interesting twist, putting us the perspective of the police trying to hunt down ‘The Gemini Killer’, a murderer who’s attacks have a satanic undertone to them.
Blatty’s direction is incredibly dark and stylish, giving the film a sinister, chilling vibe. I think partly the reason this is so overlooked is because it’s a very intelligent film, marketed to the wrong audience. Unfortunately the studio demanded constant recuts and the addition of more ‘mainstream horror’ to make it more audience friendly. This means throughout the film there are somewhat out of place SFX sequences, which feel forced just to connect the film to the Exorcist name.
However, Exorcist III or as Blatty prefers, Legion, is an incredibly dark and atmospheric crime thriller with some chilling psychological horror – most certainly an honorable follow-up to The Exorcist.
