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ON THIS DAY IN HORROR - August 17th

"THE EXORCIST III" released in 1990

The Gemini Killer: [to Kinderman] Let's call it revenge. A certain matter of an exorcism, I think, in which your friend Father Karras expelled certain parties from the body of a child. Certain parties were not pleased, to say the least. The very least. And so, my friend, the Master, he devised this petty scheme as a way of getting back, of creating a stumbling block, a scandal, a horror to the eyes of all men seeking faith, using the body of this saintly priest as an instrument of, well, you know - my work. But the main thing is the torment of your friend Father Karras as he watches while I rip and cut and mutilate the innocent, his friends, and again, and again, on and on! He's inside with us! He'll never get away! His pain won't end!
[Abruptly calm and composed]
The Gemini Killer: Gracious me. Was I raving? Please forgive me. I'm mad.

Fifteen years after the events of The Exorcist (1973), the philosophical Lieutenant William F. Kinderman (George C. Scott) once again finds himself investigating a series of baffling murders in Georgetown, Washington DC,  that appear to have a satanic motive behind them and furthermore have all the hallmarks of "The Gemini," a deceased serial killer. His investigation will eventually lead Kinderman to a reckoning from his past in author William Peter Blattey's directorial debut, The Exorcist III!

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When Lieutenant William F. Kinderman (Scott) is called to investigate the savage crucifixation style murder of a 12-year-old boy and a priest found decapitated in his own chruch, he seeks solace with his friend Father Dyer (friends in large part due to their mutual love of the movie It's A Wonderful Life). Soon after their meeting Dryer himself is also murdered; with the words "IT'S A WONDERFULL LIFE" written on a wall in Dyer's blood. At all three crime scenes, their appears to be seperate fingerprints found at each one, indicating a different person is responsible for each murder. Kinderman however fears these murders may be the work of a copycat killer, modelling himself after executed serial killer James "The Gemini" Venamun (Brad Dourif); as each victim bore his signature of the Zodiac sign of Gemini carved into the palm of their left hand's. Kinderman later visits a Dr Temple (Scott Wilson) at a hospitals psychiatric ward, who explains the history of a man in Cell 11, that he was found wandering aimlessly fifteen years ago with amnesia. The man was locked up, catatonic until recently when he became violent and claimed to be the Gemini Killer. When Kinderman finally sees Patient X, he is shocked to discover he resembles his dead friend Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller). Patient X feigns to know nothing of Karras, but happily boasts about killing Dryer. When Dr Temple and a nurse are found dead the next morning, Kinderman begins to believe that a evil supernatural force is at work, and believes it centers on the mysterious Patient X. Joining forces with Father Paul Morning (Nicol Williamson), Kinderman prepares for one final exorcism to save more people from the returned Gemini Killer, and perhaps save the very soul of his friend Father Karras!

Patient X: I have dreams... of a rose, and then of falling down a long flight of steps.

Top:   Lt Kinderman (George C Scott) examines the murder weapon;

Above:   Patient X/Father Karras (Jason Miller) is revealed to be alive after-all!

While initially having no desire to work on a follow up to The Exorcist, auther William Peter Blattey eventually came up with a story titled Legion, featuring Lieutenant Kinderman, a prominent character in the original Exorcist novel (though played a minor role in the eventual film), as the central protagonist. Despite the poor performance of the sequel, The Exorcist II: The Heretic, Warner Bros was still enthusiastic to produce another film with Blattey and original director William Friedkin. Eventually, Friedkin would leave the project and The Exorcist III entered "development hell" for the next seven years. Blattey instead went ahead and produced Legion as a novel, the book becoming a bestseller when published in 1983. The success caught the attention of both Morgan Creek and Carolco to adapt the material into a feature, with Blattey ultimately signing with Morgan Creek (perhaps after Carolco suggested the idea that film should feature a grown-up Regan MacNeil giving birth to possessed twins!). Blattey originally offered John Carpenter the chance to direct the film, but Carpenter would pass on the project as he saw the Blattey himself really wanted to direct it himself. As per the stipulations for his deal with Morgan Creek, now that Blatty was to direct the movie himself, it was to be filmed on location in Georgetown.

With actor Lee J. Cobb (the original actor who played Lt. William Kinderman in the original film) having died in 1976, the Oscar-winner George C. Scott signed up for the role, impressed by Blatty's screenplay, explaining later, "It’s a horror film and much more... It's a real drama, intricately crafted, with offbeat interesting characters." Although Blattey and Scott didn't get along particualrily well, for the most part they were able to put their differences aside and work together without too much trouble. Several cast members from Blatty's previous film The Ninth Configuration (1980) would also appear in the Exorcist III; including Nicol Williamson (as Father Morning), Scott Wilson (as Dr. Temple), and Ed Flanders (playing Father Dyer). Character actor Brad Dourif was soon hired to play the villainous role of the Gemini Killer. With a stellar cast there also a number of notable cameos in the movie, including; basketball players Patrick Ewing and John Thompson, model Fabio, ex-Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, television host Larry King, and early appearances of Angela Bassett and Samuel L. Jackson.

The Gemini Killer: [taunting Kinderman] For example, a decapitated head can continue to see for approximately twenty seconds. So when I have one that's gawking, I always hold it up so that it can see its body. It's a little extra I throw in for no added charge. I must admit it makes me chuckle every time. Life is fun. It's a wonderful life, in fact... for some.

Top:   One of Patient X's personalities, The Gemini Killer (Brad Dourif);

Above:   One of the scariest scenes in horror ever!

The tentatively-titled Exorcist: Legion was shot on location in Georgetown for eight weeks in mid-1989, with Blatty completing principal photography of the film on time, and only slightly over budget. The execution-style ending that Blatty pitched to the studio - which was in the shooting script and actually filmed - differs radically from the ending of both the novel and the first screenplay adaption developed from the novel. The novel ends with the Gemini Killer summoning Kinderman to his cell for a final speech and then willingly dropping dead after his cruel and hated father, a Christian evangelist, dies a natural death from heart attack. In Blatty's original screenplay adaptation, the ending is similar to the novel, except that the Gemini's death is not self-induced but forced supernaturally and suddenly by the death of his father. In both novel and early screenplay, the Gemini's motives for his murders are also given further context via a long series of flashbacks which portray his and his brother's childhood and their relationship with their alcoholic, abusive father.

However, four months later, Morgan Creek informed Blatty that a new ending had to be shot. Blatty said that “James Robinson, the owner of the company, his secretary had insisted to him that this [film] has nothing to do with The Exorcist. There has to be an exorcism!”. 20th Century Fox, the distributors of the film, gave Blattey an additional $4 million to re-shoot an entire third of the movie, with the insertion of a new character, Father Morning (Williamson). In addition to the demand for an exorcism scene to be included at the ending, the producers also wanted an actor from the first movie to be part of The Exorcist III. Jason Miller, who had played Father Karras in the first movie and was unavailable to shoot the movie when principal photography started, was called to shoot a few scenes as "Patient X". In order not to remove the work that had already been done by Brad Dourif in that role, Blatty decided to use footage of both actors. Thus, Jason Miller can be seen as Patient X when he's manifesting the Karras personality, and Brad Dourif can be seen when he's conveying the Gemini Killer personality. Although at the time, Blatty told the press that he was happy to re-shoot the film's ending and have the story climax with a frenzy of special effects, the truth is that this compromise was forced on him, against his wishes. One shot missing from the re-filmed climax - but which features in the trailer - shows Karras/the Gemini "morphing" through a variety of faces. It was left out of the film because Blatty wasn't happy with the special effects work.

Patient X: Death, be not proud, though some have called thee mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so; For those who think'st thou dost overthrow die not, poor death, nor yet canst thou kill me.

Top and Above:   Patient X feels the presence of the exorcist,

Father Morning (Nicol Williamson).

Fearing that Repossessed (1990), a parody of The Exorcist that also starred Linda Blair would come out first and ruin the chances of anyone taking this film seriously, The Exorcist III was rush-released ahead of the film, hijacking the latter's publicity and forcing the comedy to be released a month later than was originally intended. Morgan Creek and Fox insisted on keeping the word Exorcist in the title, which producer Carter DeHaven and Blatty protested against, with Blattey later explaining, “I begged them when they were considering titles not to name it Exorcist anything -- because Exorcist II was a disaster beyond imagination. You can’t call it Exorcist III, because people will shun the box office. But they went and named it Exorcist III. Then they called me after the third week when we were beginning to fade at the box office and they said ‘We’ll tell you the reason: it’s gonna hurt; you’re not gonna like this – the reason is Exorcist II.’ I couldn’t believe it! They had total amnesia about my warnings!”.

On release, The Exorcist III was a moderate hit at the box office and received lukewarm reviews from the critics. New York Times reviewer Vincent Canby said "The Exorcist III is a better and funnier (intentionally) movie than either of its predecessors". People writer Ralph Novak began his review with, "As a movie writer-director, William Peter Blatty is like David's Lynch's good twin: he is eccentric, original, funny and daring, but he also has a sense of taste, pace, and restraint -- which is by way of saying that this is one of the shrewdest, wittiest, most intense and most satisfying horror movies ever made." Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called The Exorcist III "a handsome, classy art film" that "doesn't completely work but offers much more than countless, less ambitious films."

Above:   Writer/Director William Peter Blattey

William Peter Blatty had hoped to recover the deleted footage from the Morgan Creek vaults so that he might re-assemble the original cut of the film which he said was "rather different" from what was released. Unfortunately for Blatty and for the fans who had been clamoring for such a release, the footage was never found. On 28 June 2007, Blatty's wife sent the following comment to a fan site: "My husband tells me that it is Morgan Creek's claim that they have lost all the footage, including an alternate opening scene in which Kinderman views the body of Karras in the morgue, right after his fall down the steps. What a shame."

ROTTEN TOMATOES SCORE:   55%