[gumbloid]

Don't you love that line at the beginning of Exorcist III?

[epicwin123]

Yes! I love that line at the beginning of the movie! Adds all that tension!

[fatherbowdern]

Yes. That is one of the best lines written for that film. Too bad WB had to stick their noses in and ruin Blatty's intentions.

Father Bowdern

[Steve Dunlap]

D'accord, mein amigo! 🙂

[fraroc]

The Exorcist III Legion…the TRUE sequel to the exorcist.

[fatherbowdern]

There is a definitive hallmark of Blatty's writing style dispersed throughout EIII. In fact, I think his direction was excellent considering he didn't helm anything prior, at least not that I'm aware of. I believe the first few scenes of the interior of the church was written in accordance with the screenplay that Friedkin rejected for The Exorcist … which is why we see it briefly in TVYNS/EDC. Yet Blatty was able to expound on that missing link in the original with a much more eloquent and stylistic fervor and I think it was effective.

There are the incredibly disjointed parallels between the scenes of the old woman crawling on the ceiling and the decapitation of the nurse. One was sheer laughter provoking while the other brought you in for the shocking kill. For that, I’m not sure if WB played their ace by forcing another delinquent execution of script by proxy just like the final unnecessary exorcism featuring the literal Hell on Earth.

Thumbs up to Blatty and thumbs down to WB executives for spoiling the goods.

Father Bowdern

 

[Steve Dunlap]

Yes, Blatty did an excellent job for his first outing as director. 🙂

[Ceru]

I admire the continuity of The Exorcist III (with a few minor exceptions).

Especially the shot of Dyer looking down at the steps at the end of EI, then that shot replicated at the start of EIII.  Kinderman and Dyer's friendship established with the 'Wuthering Heights' exchange.  Then decades later, they're still going to the movies!

 

There's a ton of dark humor in the writing too: Q: “What is Rabies, and what can you do about it?” A: “Rabies are Jewish priests, and I'll do anything I can for them.” or the wacky grandmother's take on the possessed nurse: “So, is she staying for dinner or what?”

 

Sidenote: There is absolutely no mention in the movie (don't know about the novel) of Merrin.  None!  They did manage to sneak in a quick reference to “the MacNeil kid”, then you hear Regan's giggling in the background, the giggle just before Karras 'takes' the demon.

[Steve Dunlap]

Something else I noticed…

 

 In the original Exorcist novel, the demon liked  to use the word “incidentally” a lot…

..as did the Gemini Killer in EIII the movie. 🙂

[fatherbowdern]

Incidentally, WPB likes to use the word “incidentally” in many of his works. If you think about it, both Lt. Kinderman and Karras use the exact same word in the original script:

KARRAS
Incidentally I mention only in passing that I could tell the judge that it was a matter of confession.

KINDERMAN
Incidentally, just a chance in a million, I know; but your daughter – you could possibly ask her if she saw Mr. Dennings in her room that night?

Father Bowdern

[Steve Dunlap]

Incidentally that is indeed. 🙂

[fatherbowdern]

HA! Incidentally, I incidentally noticed the word incidentally in The Exorcist when I was incidentally watching the film for about the fourth or fifth time. It just happened very incidentally.

Incidentally, I use the screen name Father Bowdern as he was incidentally involved in the real case that film was incidentally based on.

Father Bowdern

 

[Author]

Posts