Review: ‘The Exorcist III’ One Great Scene Doesn’t Save this Garbage

“The Exorcist III” contains a scene thought by some to be the scariest moment in movie history. Even if I were to agree, one single scene doesn’t make up for this God awful picture.

It does feature the great George C. Scott as Lieutenant William F. Kinderman; a hardened detective bent on stopping a serial murderer known as The Gemini Killer. There are some creepy images of statues opening their eyes. Oh yeah, and the aforementioned scariest scene ever.

Those facets are not nearly enough.

“Exorcist III” stumbles into the same pitfall as “Exorcist II” namely it isn’t scary. It’s as if they didn’t even try. Like they forgot the name of the movie, or something. As if they – gasp – used the name The Exorcist as a simple ruse to get people to go and see it. Sure there are some forced references to the original, but it could and should just be its own murder mystery movie. Which would still suck but at least it would be honest.

I first saw George C. Scott in the 1997 remake of “Twelve Angry Men.” He’s a storied actor and Academy Award winner. Here, you can see why. He has a knack for playing cantankerous jerks. His voice lends itself to being angry, and we do get that quite a bit in this movie. He’s a cop who doesn’t believe in mythical stuff. His best friend is a priest (Ed Flanders) but he isn’t religious. He’s fun to watch on screen and makes dull scenes almost tolerable on his acting prowess alone.

Its 110 minutes that plod along like a glacier. There’s a lot of talking. I mean a LOT. The entire second act – which occurs in a hospital where the epic scene takes place – is literally George C. Scott’s character going around interviewing people. Yawn.

And they commit the cardinal sin of horror. They include a dream scene. And it literally has Fabio in it.

The scene

So let’s get to the scene. It’s good. I’ve watched better, but this one does belong in the upper echelon. It’s framed perfectly. It includes tension, fake-outs, and a chilling atmosphere. Never mind that it doesn’t make any sense with the rest of the story. It’s quite good. You can either watch this entire movie (hoping you don’t fall asleep) to see it, or watch it on YouTube. Hint – YouTube is a better option.

“The Exorcist” has its place in horror movie history. Both sequels are worthless. I hear they are talking reboot. Sigh.

“The Exorcist III” is currently only available to watch in theaters.

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