Reviews: The Exorcist III (1990) Movie Review
Genres: Horror, Thriller, Drama, Mystery, Fantasy, Demons, Serial Killers
Subgenres: Demons, Featured Supernatural, Possession, Supernatural, Cult Classic, Exorcisms, Religion
Our review of The Exorcist III (1990) dives into the story, the scares, and whether it truly delivers the horror fans crave.
William Peter Blatty (writer of The Exorcist (1973), Fox’s The Exorcist Season 1) directed The Exorcist III (1990) which plays out entirely different than what we have seen before. This close to the Exorcist trilogy ties back to original film by including the priest who threw himself out the window as a sacrifice to save Regan (young Linda Blair). That priest never died and spent ten years in an asylum but has awakened with a legion of demons to wreak havoc in the small town.
The Exorcist III plays out more like a crime mystery but with enough scares to keep horror fans hooked. Those of you, like me, when I first saw this film, will feel bored during the detective moments because we want to see the scares all the time.
This flick seems like it was trying too hard to ground the film in a more realistic setting and focus more on creeps and thrills than upfront demonic scares. The performances from Kinderman (George C Scott) and The Gemini Killer (Brad Dourif) do an excellent job of keeping the audience glued to the screen. This Exorcist film is hard to rate for the masses because many either call it a scary sequel or a huge mess of a film. I disliked the film even though I watched it throughout the dull and frights, but wanted more of what I enjoyed so much from The Exorcist (1973). Heck, I would have even rathered more expansion on the backstory like in The Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), but I understand why they chose to return to the present time to conclude what happened after the events in the original. Tried hard not to spoil many of the scenes as this is a murder mystery horror film essentially. Make sure you can replay the famous nurse scene as it is the one scene that everyone, whether they like the film or not, always remembers.
Some guest appearances include Zohra Lampert, Viveca Lindfors (Creepshow (1982)), Samuel L Jackson (Cell (2016), 1408 (2007), Unbreakable (2000)), and even Patrick Ewing as the Angel of Death.
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Sources Used to Shape This Review
Insights in this review are drawn from director interviews, fan commentary, production notes, and long-form breakdowns across genre-specific platforms. Content is written uniquely and reviewed for accuracy.
- The Exorcist III Rating Scores
- Our Score: 4/10
- Overall Score: 5.11/10
- IMDB: 6.5/10
- MetaCritic: 4.8/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 5.8/10
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