My review of the criminally underrated sequel,
The Exorcist III(
1990) starring
George C. Scott,
Ed Flanders,
Brad Dourif,
Jason Miller,
Nicol Williamson,
Scott Wilson,
Nancy Fish,
George DiCenzo,
Don Gordon, and
Lee Richardson.
Directed by
William Peter Blatty.
Trivia
Asked how he is able to get in and out of jail without being seen, The
Gemini Killer (Brad Dourif) replies: "
It's child's play." The camera cuts to a young, red-headed boy who looks a lot like the
Chucky doll. Dourif provides the voice of Chucky in
Child's Play and its sequels.
The Gemini Killer character was inspired by the real-life serial killer, "
The Zodiac."
The University President claims that his favorite movie is
The Fly. Lee Richardson, the actor who plays him, starred in
The Fly II.
William Peter Blatty wanted the film to be titled simply "
Legion", just like his novel of the same name.
The producers, however, wanted the title to be "The Exorcist III" for commercial reasons. Blatty even tried to convince them to alter it to "
Exorcist 1990" in order to distance it from
Exorcist II:
The Heretic, which he despised, but had to settle for "
Exorcist III" notwithstanding.
William Peter Blatty made the film based on his novel "Legion," which was published in
1983.
Morgan Creek decided to call it "Exorcist: Legion" even though the screenplay and novel featured no exorcisms whatsoever. After principal photography was completed, the misleading nature of the title was noticed, and the producers determined that additional scenes needed to be written and then added into the film in order to made it a more recognizable sequel of
The Exorcist. The last third of the movie had to be entirely redone, with the insertion of a new character,
Father Morning, and of an exorcism scene that cost nearly 4 million dollars.
William Peter Blatty offered directorial responsibilities to
John Carpenter.
Carpenter turned him down, and Blatty ended up directing the picture himself.
Some lobby cards show scenes that were cut from the film, such as a scene with a beheaded priest.
William Peter Blatty had hoped to recover the deleted footage from the Morgan Creek vaults so that he might re-assemble the original cut of the film which he said was "rather different" from what was released.
Unfortunately for Blatty and for the fans who had been clamoring for such a release, the footage was never found. On 28 June
2007, Blatty's wife sent the following comment to a fan site: "My husband tells me that it is Morgan Creek's claim that they have lost all the footage, including an alternate opening scene in which Kinderman views the body of Karras in the morgue, right after his fall down the steps. What a shame."
William Peter Blatty came up with the idea for the movie right after the success of The Exorcist, deciding to set it in a hospital after hearing about a priest who entered a health facility without his surplices and caused havoc among the patients. Since he could not convince director
William Friedkin' to film that story, he went to write a book about it, which was to become "Legion", to be adapted and directed by Blatty himself.
Without Blatty or Friedkin,
Warner Brothers went on to produce Exorcist II: The Heretic instead.
- published: 09 Nov 2013
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