Cheap The Exorcist III (DVD) (George C. Scott, Ed Flanders, Brad Dourif) (William Peter Blatty) Price

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Customer Reviews of The Exorcist III

Blood Curdling Horror Not to be Missed or Underestimated
As someone who reviewed the dvd for this film said, this is probably the best horror film of the 90's. Gothic, startling, and genuinly creepy with one of the all time greatest movie scares. Besides many of the same actors this movie bears many resemblences to another Blatty movie TWINKLE TWINKLE KILLER KANE (also known as The 9th Configuration). The tone of both movies is similar but I digress. It's a tour de force for all the actors involved. George C Scott gives a fantasticly human performance as Kinderman, taking over for the late Lee J. Cobb. Of particular note is the sequence when Kinderman has lost someone very close to him. His breakdown during the investigation is one of the best pieces of work in his career. This film also has an amazing dream sequence featuring George Scott walking through the way station to heaven. Another favorite goose bump inducing sequence is the confession by the old woman in a church confession booth. Most people I talk to about this movie about laugh when I tell them how great it is. The answer when I ask if they've ever seen it is always "no". One of my favorite pastimes has become converting people to appreciate this picture...it works every time :) It's a shame that it didn't get the following it deserved when it was released but I'll bet 20 bucks right now that in another 10 or 15 years this movie will be looked back on quite favorably. It's only drawback is it's ending which is why I give the movie 4 stars and not 5. In fact it's so out of tone with the rest of the movie i have to assume that Blatty had nothing to do with it. Of other particular note is a monologue Scott has regarding a fish in his bathtub. Classic Blatty. The movie deals with questions of faith and god in ways that are human and true. Exorcist 3 is NOT like the first movie, in tone, gore, or scares. This movie, while taking place in the Exorcist universe, creates it's own reality and vision. Watch it with an open mind and the lights off. What I would really like to see is a full blown DVD treatment with a Director's cut, Blatty's commentary, a behind the scenes and any thing else they can put in. I'm holding out for that version...hopefully my patience will pay off. I've seen the movie many times. If you havent seen it yet I highly recommend purchasing the video or dvd.

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Nothing can beat the original
This one sucks, and I never even seen it, The first one was the best, its declared as the scariest movie ever. none of these even comes close.

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Wonderfully directed, but a little too "talky"
I really tried hard to find something--anything--to push this film over into the 4 star territory, but I just could not do it. That would be dishonest of me to give the impression that it was of film of such classic status.
Don't get me wrong, this is definitely a worthwhile movie and not a waste of time to watch by any means. Blatty's directing is very unique and at times extremely artistic in its creepiness. He is incredibly talented at creating an eerie vibe by using bizarre camera shots and borderline psychedelia, and personally I think he should have directed more horror films. The story, within the world of the Exorcist films, is believable and not necessarily a "roll your eyes in disbelief" kind of plot. Bringing back Jason Miller lends credibility to it that may not have been given otherwise.
My only gripes are the confused acting of George C. Scott--not his typical kind of role and I just don't see him meshing with the strange behavior of Kinderman all that well--and the extraordinary amount of dialogue. Blatty likes to really bash us over the head with conversations, especially between Scott and Brad Dourif. These seemingly endless rantings get very tiresome after the first five minutes of sitting there watching these guys go back and forth, not to mention having to deal with Dourif's constant overacting. Blatty wants us to know just how clever he can be (as well as how nonsensical he can be, considering some of Scott's lines), but this is overkill.
Aside from those points, it is certainly a very visually enthralling film. I remember reading about TE3 in Fangoria before it came out and, upon seeing the final product, noticed that some of the gorier scenes--which had clearly been filmed--were left out. One scene I recall from a photo in the magazine showed the priest in the confessional holding his head in his lap after the old lady got to him. Removing that was probably a good decision since this sort of film leaves the horror to your own imagination rather than shoving it in your face.