THE EXORCIST III - 1990
Morgan Creek
Ratings: Australia: R / Finland: K-18 / France: -16 / Germany: 18 / Hong Kong: III / Ireland: 18 / Netherlands: 18 / Norway: 18 / Sweden: 15 / UK: 18 / USA: R |
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Novelist and screen writer, William Peter Blatty, was nursing a grudge. When the
director of the original THE EXORCIST, William
Friedkin, gave the author an advance showing of the movie, Blatty was
impressed. Everything that he hoped would make the transition from his
novel to the movie was there. Then, after Friedkin had another discussion
with the studio bosses, some extra editing was done at the last minute
and what was shown to theater audiences, while powerful and successful,
was different enough from what Blatty saw, to make him feel betrayed.
Then THE EXORCIST II: The Heretic, came out in 1977. It was directed by John Boorman
who'd had a hit five years ealier with DELIVERANCE. It also had an all
star cast for its time including, Richard Burton, Louise Fletcher, Paul
Henreid, James Earl Jones and the return of Linda Blair and Max von Sydow.
No matter, the movie tanked and tanked hard. Now THE
EXORCIST as a franchise, was a joke; box-office anethema, and Warner
Bros. would have nothing to do with it. Meanwhile, Blatty wrote his own
sequel, LEGION. By the late 1980s, Warner Bros. was ready to give THE
EXORCIST another try and in 1990, THE EXORCIST III, based on LEGION, was released.
So what do you think? Can a novelist write a good screenplay based on his
book? Can he direct a movie from his screenplay based on his novel?
Its not as easy as it might seem. For one, its very difficult for a novelist to know
where to edit. What scenes and even entire characters - which may be strong
in the book - need to be deleted for the flow of the story. What scenes
need to be re-arranged, what characters must now take on the actions or
personalities of several of the book characters so that the movie makes
sense. The novelist doesn't have 350+ pages anymore. He only has 120 tops
and each page roughly counts as a minute of film.
THE EXORCIST III starred then fading actor, George C. Scott (FIRESTARTER) replacing the late Lee J. Cobb
as Lt. William 'Bill' Kinderman. Television Actor Ed Flanders (SALEM'S
LOT [TV], THE NINTH CONFIGURATION) replaced William O'Malley (an
actual reverend) as Father Dyer. Now this should have set warning
lights at Warner Bros. The two lead characters are played by people who
have no connection to the original and Linda Blair is nowhere to be seen.
The movie opens in 1990 Georgetown University, near Washington, D.C. A college town
and so much more, Father Dyer walks along and comes to the stairs that
Father Damien fell down to his death.
Lt. Bill Kinderman sits alone at his desk at home, thinking about Father Damien
(Jason Miller: THE EXORCIST) as he stares at an unlikely photograph of the two.
Unlikely because they met during the possession of Regan MacNeill so it's
unlikely that the two ever hung out, laughing over a good time photo.
Then a series of street shots lead to a Catholic church where a statue of Christ, for
some ungodly reason, opens its eyes. Growls are heard and stuff blows
around. The effect is meaningless so there's no scare there. Evil is approaching
apparently. We move down a sidewalk and pass by a boy holding a rose.
Then we hear a voice tell us that this is a dream they are having. Then
they fall down the stairs that Father Damien fell down.
Both Dyer and Kinderman are feeling especially morose this day because it marks
15 years since Damien died.
Then Kinderman gets more bad news. A kid he knows winds up murdered and his own detectives
botch the investigation. Kinderman goes home to his family, where some
grumpy levity occurs. Not the smiling kind. The interactions do nothing
to flesh out any of the characters so Bill and Dyer get together later
at an art house to see an old movie, It's A Wonderful Life.
After the movie, a bit of grumpy levity about a fish. No grins to be had.
Then a meal where Kinderman argues the cons of God on the flimsiest of examples and
Dyer gives his weak pro opinion based on empty faith.
At this point its 16 minutes into the freaking film so sleepy time sets in. Blatty throws
in a Gotcha to keep us watching.
Kinderman comes to investigate the end result of the gotcha. He walks down the church
aisle between the pews toward a sheet covered body. A minor argument with
his incompetent detective, then he lifts the sheet on one side of the
body and looks. Then he slowly walks around it to the other side, lifts
the sheet again and looks at the different angle. Kinderman ponders tiredly.
Then the ambulance drivers come and take the corpse away. Kinderman ponders
with apparent disinterest. A few establishing shots and zooms later, and
he enters the confessional booth, plays with the partition door a bit,
and prepares to go to sleep when his only good detective intrudes.
Kinderman goes to the hospital to visit his friend, Dyer, in the hospital. No reason
the priest is there outside of a check-up. Some more grumpy levity. Not
so much as a smirk. Kinderman yells at a nurse. The actions of other nurses
make it clear that the hospital has some seriously unprofessional staff.
More conversation that goes nowhere. But in the subtle background its becoming apparent
that these two men are too wrapped up in their problems to notice ugly
things going on around them. Statues of religious figures with their heads
removed, for instance.
Eventually Kinderman has a dream where he's in some odd type of Heaven where male
model, Fabio, is an angel and Dyer is dead.
He wakes up to a phone call to find his dream was prescient.
On a personal
level I'm falling asleep again because this movie is SO SLOW! It's
such a freaking DRAG!
I'm all for the slow build up of a movie but only if the movie is progressing, not
just aimlessly meandering. You keep waiting for the story to kick in,
and it does eventually, but only after an hour of the movie is gone.
Kinderman raises the sheet on his dead friend, comes close to tears, drops the sheet
and instantly regains his composure. Dyer was murdered and by a message
the killer left, he knows much about Kinderman and Dyer.
As Kinderman starts questioning the hospital staff, we find that everyone there has
some kind of psychosis: nurses and doctors alike. The center point
of all of this, it seems, is that there is a patient in the hospital,
locked away where the criminally violent are kept. What's more, the patient
looks like Father Damien.
Except its only the shell of Father Damien, what's inside him is much worse.
But it will take us another 20 minutes to find out what. And once we do, we are treated
to the rest of the movie filled with exposition. Lots and lots of exposition
delivered by both Damien and the executed killer, James Venamun (Brad
Douriff: CHILD'S
PLAY [all of them, he's Chucky!], ALIEN:
RESURRECTION, LORD OF THE RINGS:
THE TWO TOWERS). Don't get me wrong. The monologues by Miller
and Douriff are quite well done, chilling and effective, at first. But
they just go on and on and on for far, far, far too long!
AAGH!
And you know what else? Everything that happens in the last 45 minutes of the movie
has nearly nothing to do with the first 60! It's nearly as punishing to watch THE EXORCIST III as it is to write the review as it must be for you to read it so I'll
stop right here!
Two tiresome Shriek Girls.
This review copyright 2004 E.C.McMullen Jr.
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