The Exorcist III
All actors and roles (10)
All team (58)
Short description
Fifteen years after the exorcism that killed Father Damien Karras, Lieutenant William Kinderman still walks the streets of Georgetown, and he still meets his old friend Father Joseph Dyer each year on the anniversary of the priest's death. When a boy is found murdered and mutilated, the killing resembles crimes committed years earlier by a murderer who is already dead. Kinderman, a policeman who puts no stock in demons, is drawn into an investigation that points toward a psychiatric patient known as Patient X and toward the killer called Gemini.
William Peter Blatty wrote the novel and the screenplay and directed the film, his second behind the camera after The Ninth Configuration in 1980. George C. Scott plays Kinderman, with Ed Flanders as Dyer, Brad Dourif as James Venamun, Jason Miller returning as Karras, plus Nicol Williamson and Scott Wilson. The production, from Morgan Creek, cost about 11 million dollars and returned roughly 39 million worldwide.
On IMDb the film holds 6.5 out of 10 from more than 37,000 votes, while on TMDB it sits at 6.3 from a much smaller number of ratings. A critics' score of 5.7 from 46 reviews places it below both audience figures. The film runs 110 minutes and was released in August 1990.
What's left behind the scenes
- Director William Peter Blatty (1928-2017) filmed this movie based on his own novel, “Legion,” published in 1983. Morgan Creek Productions decided to title the film “The Exorcist III: Legion,” although there is no exorcism in either the novel or the script. The incorrect title was only noticed after filming had been completed, and the producers decided that it was necessary to write, shoot, and add additional scenes to the film to better match the status of a sequel to William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist” (1973). The last third of the film had to be completely redone and a new character, Father Morning, was introduced, while filming the exorcism scene cost almost $4 million.
- William Peter Blatty hoped to gain access to deleted scenes from the studio’s archives in order to re-edit the original version of the film, which, he said, differed significantly from the final released version. To Blatty’s disappointment and the dismay of fans hoping to see previously unseen footage, the scenes were lost. They were only found in 2016. And Blatty released this version of the film shortly before his death.
- The character of Gemni Killer (where 'killer' translates to 'murderer', and Gemini is the constellation and corresponding zodiac sign) was inspired by a real-life serial killer nicknamed 'Zodiac'.
- The idea for the film originated with director and screenwriter William Peter Blatty on the wave of success of 'The Exorcist' (William Friedkin, 1973). He initially tried to convince Friedkin to film a story about a priest who comes to a mental institution, but was unsuccessful, after which he wrote the book and filmed the movie himself.
- Producers demanded that scenes of exorcism be added to the film's finale, and also insisted that someone from the cast of the first film in the franchise appear in it. Jason Miller (1939-2001), who played Father Carras in Friedkin's film, was busy with another project when Blatty's film began shooting, so he was asked to appear in several scenes as 'Patient X'. Brad Dourif was already cast in this role, and since many scenes with him had already been filmed, Blatty decided to use footage of both actors. Thus, Miller plays 'Patient X' when Carras awakens within him, while Dourif plays when the personality of the killer nicknamed Gemini takes over.
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