The way that this film ties into the original "Exorcist" just never quite worked for me. George C. Scott's tormented cop certainly goes through his own private Hell, as the long-thought dead Gemini-killer played by Brad Dourif, returns to kill again. This is certainly a slow movie but that doesn't mean it's not entertaining. There are a fair number of shocks along with a wealth of some pretty heavy dialogue. The scenes of Scott's Hinderman and Dourif's killer in his asylum cell are bleak and depressing but not really scary. These scenes are also very long and could have been trimmed down and still not lost their effectiveness. There is one shocking scene when a nurse is attacked that really catches you by surprise and it leaves you wishing there was more of this kind of jump scare in the movie. I'm not a big fan of the jump scare, but this movie could have used more of them. Overall,this seems like more of a heavy crime drama. It gets supernatural at the end, but even that doesn't have the impact that it should given it's "Exorcist" bloodline.

>"I think the dead should shut up unless there is something to say" Not the biggest fan of the original, thought it was overrated. But 3 is slightly better. Unlike the original they cutback on the supernatural stuff mostly and focuses more on the mystery. It's slow burning and dialogue-heavy but there weren't any moment throughout the runtime that had me bored. Some really intriguing and mysterious scenes, with The Gemini Killer being my favourite character along with George's main character. The performances were really good and Brad's performance is probably one of the best acting performances I've seen in a while. I would've loved to see more supernatural killings or even a bit more scares. The final moments were solid but feels rushed.

**(Theatrical Version)** Wasn't crazy about *The Exorcist*, couldn't finish *Exorcist II: The Heretic*, thought *The Exorcist: Believer* was generic but ***The Exorcist III*** is more my taste. It's very different from the others and for a good while there's no exorcisms in sight. It eventually kinda gets to that but it's strong suit is the serial killer stuff. The most interesting aspect is the storytelling told by the characters within the movie, some well-told very troubling stories. It plays on the viewer's imagination instead of actually showing the murders. I really like George C. Scott in the main role he's amazing and his character is easy to root for. The real powerhouse is Brad Dourif though, a great performance. Great acting and dialogue, a good pacing, no dead spots, love the dark and rainy weather. Not really any score except for some weird demonic voices mixed with loud instrumentals but it fits so well. The last ten minutes are so wild, part of me loved it for everything it brings visually but it doesn't fit at all with the calm tone previously established. Well-placed *Child's Play* in-joke!

The Exorcist III isn't nearly as brilliant as the first movie, but compare it to the sequel, it's a masterpiece. This is what I call sluggish film that you'll need a lot of patience to get to the good stuff. Well, the whole movie is kind of like that. Every time I think something is going to progress with the story it jumps right back. Luckily it doesn't do that too often and it's only for build up (i guess). But it's not to say that "The Exorcist III" doesn't have it's scary parts, because it really dose. There's moments that are so eerie and quite shocking that the movie quickly cuts away to next scene so you don't even have a reaction or a thought of what you just seen. The movie takes a few minutes of silence as the scene plays on and then BOOM! And this actually did get to me. A great example of this is the Nurse scene which is one of the scariest scenes in movie history. During the scene you really don't get a sense of damage, but more of a safe feeling as every thing seems to be alright, until the horror kicks in. And I know that sounds very similar to every horror movie that use it's scars, but I think those movies get it completely wrong of how to make the build up and the scare executed in a way that it's effective. I think this is something that's missing in horror today. Brad Douriff is in this movie playing The Gemini killer and he's freaking amazing. This is one of the best performances I've seen from Douriff and it just proves of how talented this guy truly is. I would go as far to say it's Oscar worthy and he isn't in the movie that much. He's so creepy and frightening that he steals the show. But the actor that I thought was going to steal the show was George C. Scott, which is sadly not the case. He's a great actor and he was excellent in "Patton", but I found he's performance in this to be a bit over the top. I mean, I don't think he was RAZZIE worthy bad or anything, but he over reacted in the wrong parts. It came off a bit laughable. It's until the very end when he gets to shine as he's really giving it he's all. I give him that. The interesting thing I found out about the movie (after i finished watching it) was that the author of the book William Peter Blatty wrote & directed this. You know when you hear people complaint that when a movie adaptation isn't as accurate to the novel it's based on. Well, it's kinda refreshing (to me) for an author to make the movie that he wanted to see. And I can say that he exceed in a few parts even if the whole thing feels a bit disjointed, and that goes to the writing. Overall rating: "The Exorcist III" while not great, but at least gets back to it's roots of having a dark and unsettling atmosphere, something that was missing in "Exorcist II". The movie is honestly worth watching just for Brad Douriff performance.

As a movie that comfortably rests within my top 10 movies (or 20 or 5, idk... it's so hard to make definate lists) I can safely say that The Exorcist III is a must-watch. Not only for George C Scott and Brad Dourif's performances, not only for building on the first (and second) Exorcist movie without falling into cliché pitfalls, not only for the tense feeling you have while watching it, the Tubular Bells intro, the quoted scenes... In short: the whole movie. I've seen this movie more times than I can safely remember (I think it's 5 now) and it still doesn't bore me despite clearly being slow-paced in contrast to more modern cinema. Still trying to find the definitive Director's Cut called "Legion" on a device I can play it on though.