The Exorcist III

George C. Scott is aptly cast in this adaptation of William Peter Blatty’s novel Legion, the follow-up to his original Exorcist and the story we are all familiar with. After seeing this movie, I think it’s safe to say that the first sequel just shouldn’t exist—period.

John Boorman’s film was boring, full of bad effects, and featured a pointless backstory in Africa. It also had nothing to do with any of Blatty’s source material, and I won’t spend any more time relaying the miserable aspects of Exorcist II because it simply isn’t worth it.

Scott plays Kinderman, the police detective from the original film, who once again becomes involved with mysterious goings-on with the Catholic church after the Gemini Killer murders a couple priests. His detective work leads him to a mental hospital where he suspects Father Karras (Jason Miller reprising his role) resides. Even with heavy police surveillance the hospital acquires while Kinderman interrogates its doctors and nurses, people are still getting brutally killed off.

While not a classic, this is a much better sequel than the one that came before, and a lot of that has to do with Scott’s performance. He has a commanding presence on screen and fills the role with the same charisma and attitude that made Lee J. Cobb so great in the first movie.