Friday, June 14, 2013

THE EXORCIST III (1990)

Call it a hunch, but I think at one point there might have been a good movie hidden somewhere in here.  Unfortunately, that good movie didn't make it to the screen.  What did make it to the screen is a promising idea that's garbled all up and nowhere near as graphic or shocking as it should have been.

Fifteen years ago there was a serial killer haunting Georgetown and killing people in gruesome ways.  He was caught and executed.  Now suddenly the killings start up again and the killer is using the same unpublished techniques that the original killer used.  Police Lieutenant George C. Scott, who worked on the original case, is extremely shook up.  Then, when his best friend is tortured to death in a local hospital he takes it personally.  What does all of this have to do with the original Exorcist film you ask?  Not a whole hell of a lot until towards the end of the film they awkwardly shoehorn in a supernatural storyline featuring ol' Pazuzu as the killer!  What the f?

There are a few good moments of suspense (the hallway scene, the dining room scene), but for the most part, THE EXORCIST III looks like it was the victim of too much studio involvement.  Overall, it's still a good 90's movie that's worth checking out.  It'll probably be a disappointment to the majority of horror fans, but hey, it's still better than Part 2.

Original trilogy
Part 1 - The Exorcist (1973)
Part 2 - Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)

Prequel films
Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)
Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2005)

Sequel trilogy
Sequel 1 - The Exorcist: Believer (2023)