The Exorcist III (1990)

After the bad taste that Exorcist II: The Heretic left in my mouth, I decided to check out the next Exorcist film, appropriately titled The Exorcist III. Surprisingly, The Exorcist III is a decent flick and left me with that minty-fresh taste I was looking for.

Lieutenant Bill Kinderman (George C. Scott) is investigating a serial killer stalking the streets of Georgetown. The killer has a habit of decapitating his victims and leaving behind religious iconography. The lieutenant believes that somehow the Gemini Killer, who was executed for his crimes 15 years ago, is back and responsible for the murders. He discovers a mental patient, Patient X, that looks exactly like his friend Father Karras (who died falling down that long flight of stairs in the first film, with Jason Miller reprising his role) who has been locked in a padded cell for 15 years, but claims he is James Venamun, The Gemini Killer (Brad Dourif), and that he is killing again. As the body count climbs, Lt. Kinderman comes to realize that something much more demonic has taken over Father Karras’ body…

Some might say that any sequel after Exorcist II would be like a breath of fresh air, but I found that even as a stand-alone film The Exorcist III works. Let’s just try and forget that Exorcist II was ever spawned.

Exorcist III starts off like a crime drama or a serial killer movie, but it’s got some nice touches of horror that will keep you on the edge of your seat! The movie unfolds slowly, building momentum with creepy dream sequences featuring religious iconography (Jesus is watching you!), howling winds and some character interactions that really pull you into the story. It also features two of the most startling scenes you’ll witness in a horror film! One involves a prolonged, tension-filled scene involving a nurse late at night in the hospital while the other shows an old woman crawling on the ceiling. Both are genuinely shocking, scary and come out of nowhere!

The film’s dialogue is sharp and witty, especially between Lt. Kinderman (George C. Scott) and Father Dyer (Ed Flanders). It is truly a joy to see these two characters, who are old friends, make delightful verbal jabs at each other. The dialogue gets a whole lot darker when Lt. Kinderman visits with Patient X/The Gemini Killer (Brad Dourif), but it’s no less intriguing. The chemistry between George C. Scott and Brad Dourif is fantastic and their scenes together are very eerie. The actors are definitely at the top of their game here, as the script gives them plenty to work with.

The script was written by William Peter Blatty and adapted from his book Legion, the sequel to his popular The Exorcist novel. Blatty also directed this film and should be proud of the damn fine horror film he’s created. It doesn’t rely on blood and gore to gross the audience out, but instead a creeping dread that permeates your very core.

Of course, the film isn’t perfect. On the onset, things are a bit confusing when Patient X reveals himself alternately as Father Karras (Jason Miller) and Gemini Killer James Venamun (Brad Dourif). While the film explains that the Gemini Killer took over the Father’s body as he died, the vacillation between the two is distracting. The ending wasn’t my cup of tea either. After slowly building dread and tension, the finale just seems over the top. The silly inclusion of exorcism priest Father Morning (Nicol Williamson) didn’t help either, as he doesn’t really serve a purpose in the film until the end.

Overall, though, The Exorcist III is an excellent, underrated horror flick that is a proper successor to The Exorcist. Now, if we could just imagine that Exorcist II was never made…

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Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)

Some movies have a reputation that precedes them, a reputation that has marked them as being “bad” movies. Most everyone you talk to about these movies tells you they are awful…The Exorcist II: The Heretic is one such movie that is loathed by most horror fans and critics (oftentimes called “the worst sequel ever made”), but I was curious to see if it was really as horrible as everyone claimed.

The verdict?

Yes, it is as bad as everyone claims!

It cinches its title as one of the worst sequels ever made with a ridiculously unbelievable script, horrible dialogue, bad acting and taking itself way too seriously. The result is a self-important but tiresomely dull movie.

Four years after a demon was exorcised from Regan MacNeil (Linda Blair), Father Lamont (Richard Burton) is put to task by the Catholic Church to get to the bottom of Father Merrin’s (Max von Sydow) death during the exorcism.

Meanwhile, Regan has grown into a chipper chubby-cheeked teen with no recollection of the exorcism, or at least that is what she claims. Her psychologist, Dr. Gene Tuskin (Louise Fletcher, who looks uncannily like Ellen Burstyn), thinks those memories are locked deep within her and wants to get to them. She introduces Regan to synchronized hypnosis (a process that involves little more than a tabletop machine with flashing lights that’s connected to electrodes), which will allow her to see into Regan’s subconscious (gee, sounds like a whole lotta unbelievable crap to me!).

Father Lamont comes to visit Regan and gets put in “synch” with her mind. He can see what happened that night and that the demon Pazuzu is still dwelling inside Regan. He then travels to Africa to hunt down Kokumo (James Earl Jones), the only known survivor (besides Regan) of an exorcism at the holy hands of Father Merrin. Add mumbo-jumbo about “good” and “bad” locusts, psychic connections that span continents and a big locust explosion at the finale and you’ve got an idea about the absurdity of the plot.

It’s sad, really, because director John Boorman, who wanted to create something wholly different than the first Exorcist, succeeded, but at the horrible cost of making a pompous, meandering and boring film. Visually, the film has its moments, with eye-catching aerial shots of red, rocky cliffs, plains and fields in Africa and the swarms of locusts, but those small moments do little to alleviate the pain of watching the remaining 95% of the movie.

The acting is cringe-worthy, with Linda Blair coming off as horribly annoying and the other actors faring no better. Of course, the source material, written by William Goodhart, could be the root of all the trouble. The dialogue (“When the wings have brushed you… is there no hope once the wings have brushed you?”) is atrocious and the situations and circumstances are just ludicrous. Not even the score, by the great Ennio Morricone (whom I usually love), is any good. It’s tribal sounds and demon-screeching just serve to grate nerves, very much like the rest of the movie.

This film had a grand scope when it first started, setting out to investigate exorcisms the world over from Africa to South America and beyond, but somehow its grand story became muddled and bogged down, both from the mythology laid down by the first film but also from its own preposterous storyline that became weighted with far too many questions it sought to answer. Between Father Lamont’s visits to the tribes in Africa and his “synching” with Regan’s mind, things become pretty unbelievable pretty quickly. And don’t get me started on the dream sequences!

Years of warnings from viewers and critics alike didn’t deter me from seeing this stink-bomb of a film, but hopefully it will save you the trouble. Unless, of course, you’re masochistic and enjoy being put through pain…then, by all means I would highly recommend Exorcist II: The Heretic!

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Requiem (2006)

Requiem is a German film that is based on the same events that inspired the film The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Unlike Emily Rose, Requiem is a slow, methodical study of how one woman’s upbringing and environment may have lead to her demonic possession.

Michaela (Sandra Huller) is a devout Catholic that struggles with what has been diagnosed as epilepsy. After taking a year off school, her parents hesitantly allow her to attend university as long as she keeps taking her pills. Michaela arrives at school to study pedagogy and quickly strikes up a friendship with an old acquaintance, Hanna (Anna Blomeier) and starts dating sweet Stefan (Nicholas Reinke). As the pressures of college, her home life and her religious life clash, Michaela finds herself having more frequent attacks. She sees faces and hears voices that tell her not to touch the cross and forbid her from praying. She is convinced she is possessed, but her family, friends, doctors and even her priest believe that she is descending into madness. When Michaela turns violent and confrontational, her loved ones finally allow a priest to perform an exorcism.

Requiem tells the same story that The Exorcism of Emily Rose does, but in a very different way. It focuses on Michaela’s strict upbringing and how it clashes with her new life in college. The audience is never privy to what she sees and hears. There are no creepy parts with flashes of demon’s faces and we never hear the demons speak to her. Her pain and her suffering are her own, just like it must have been in real life. Requiem is a very subtle and slow film, and most will call it art house fare.

The cinematography (by Bogumil Godfrejow) is beautiful and has a very austere, naturalistic look to it. There are many shots of the patchwork fields of the countryside, as well as gardens and trees. Yet, there is a pallor to everything that gives the film a very cold, detached feeling. There is a distance between the subject being shot and the viewer, done purposefully by director Hans-Christian Schmid to portray the story objectively and unobtrusively.

The acting is extremely well-done, with special mention going to Sandra Huller who plays Michaela with a vast emotional depth. Her transformation from devout Catholic to college student and finally to possessed woman is so subtle you might not even realize it has happened until she is spewing obscenities and breaking her mother’s china. Huller portrays both Michaela’s strong faith and vulnerability with great realism and believability.

This is a very slow-moving film that does not deliver the scares or creeps that The Exorcism of Emily Rose delivers. I do not even consider it a horror film, but instead think of it more as a character-driven drama. Many people will be turned off by its slow pace and lack of payoff at the end. I was initially disappointed that the end didn’t deliver the punch I was looking for, but I realized that this film isn’t about shocking the audience. It is about portraying the life of a girl that ended up possessed or insane. Her life and her transformation leading to the exorcism is what this film focuses on, not the demons or the exorcism itself.

I cannot easily recommend this film to the horror crowd, as it is so slow-moving and doesn’t seem to go anywhere. Heck, even I was bored watching it and almost fell asleep. Yet, it stuck in my head after I had watched it and it is a very well-done film. If you enjoy dramatic artsy films that are heavily character-focused, this is bleak German film is worth checking out. If you are looking for a fast-paced, blood-drenched, nudity-filled exorcism flick, definitely skip this one.

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Legion of the Liar (2007)

An experimental, stylistic film about exorcism, Legion of the Liar succeeds in setting up a creepy and foreboding atmosphere.

A large, bearded man is seen hacking up bloody body parts from a bucket. He asks the viewer, "What do you see?" From there, we are taken to an abandoned, heavily decaying mental institution. A cassette tape begins to play and a patient named Eve starts to speak. A priest is with her and we learn Eve is beset by demons. The priest prepares for an exorcism. While the tape plays and the exorcism is performed, we are given glimpses of Eve's past. Interspersed are scenes of the institution and strange disturbing images. There is a man shackled to a chair with a bag over his head, a ghostly girl with a bloodied face, old mourning photos, a man with his face peeled off, two bloody girls licking a lollipop, human skulls, crosses, maggots squirming in blood, ghouls, demons and of course a serpent. Here is the struggle between good and evil for Eve's eternal soul.

Legion of the Liar is a creepy, intriguing film that artistically portrays the spiritual warfare between the minions of hell and the messengers of heaven. It is shot like an art house film, which focuses more on imagery and emotions than a straight narrative. In this case, the film is very effective, creating a tense, scary atmosphere through visually stunning photography. It impresses with its gritty and grainy look, adding style to its high tension. The demonic voices coming from Eve and the subtle but unsettling noises throughout the film add to the spectacularly spooky feel, as does the minimalist score, which consists of an organ and a wonderful string section.

My only complaint with the film is the anti-climactic ending, as I was expecting something with a little more punch. The end might also be a little heavy-handed for some viewers.

If you loathe art house flicks that tend to be slower than typical horror and would rather see buckets of blood and boobies, skip this one. It is no where near what you're looking for...On the other hand, if you enjoy highly atmospheric horror and/or films dealing with exorcism, I highly recommend checking out this film. It definitely scared the beejesus outta me!