Review of The Exorcist III (1990) by Eric H — 05 Oct 2011

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 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 scares in the movie. I'm not a big fan of the jump scare, but this movie could have used more of them.

Overall, it seems 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.