One of MoreHorror.com's all time favorite horror films, the Exorcist III is a 1990 American supernatural thriller and the second sequel of The Exorcist series, written and directed by William Peter Blatty. It is a film adaptation of Blatty's novel, Legion (1983) and stars George C. Scott, Brad Dourif, Ed Flanders, and Nicol Williamson.

Set fifteen years after The Exorcist (1973) (ignoring Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977) [1]) the film centers around the philosophical Lieutenant William F. Kinderman from the first film, investigating a baffling series of murders in Georgetown that appear to have a satanic motive behind them and furthermore have all the hallmarks of "The Gemini", a deceased serial killer.

Originally titled Legion, the film was drastically changed in post-production with re-writes and re-shoots ordered by the studio executives of Morgan Creek Productions, demanding the last-minute addition of an exorcism sequence, and the film was released as The Exorcist III in order to be more commercial. The final version differed from Blatty's vision; all of the original footage is apparently lost.

The Exorcist III Trailer

The Exorcist III Notable Movie Quotes

Lieutenant Kinderman

* I cannot believe you just said that. What kind of a world is this? Are you an animal? Do you know what Macbeth is about? I'll tell you. It's a play about the numbing of the moral sense. I tell Ryan that we have nothing to go on in this case. You know what he says to me? "Win some, lose some." You're a racist, Ryan. Did you know that?
* On the entrance exam for new policemen, they ask, "What are rabies and what would you do for them?" Ryan said, "Rabies are Jewish priests and I would do anything I possible could for them."
* I was signaling beings on Mars. Sometimes they answer.
* My wife's mother is visiting, Father. And Tuesday night, she's cooking us a carp. It's a tasty fish, I've got nothing against it. But, because it's supposedly filled with impurities, she buys it live and for three days, it's been swimming... up and down... in my bathtub. Up and down... and I hate it. I can't stand the sight of it, moving its gills. Now, you're standing very close to me, Father; have you noticed? Yes. I haven't had a bath for three days. I can't go home until the carp is asleep because if I see it, swimming... I'll kill it.

Damien Karras

* I have dreams of a rose... and falling down a long flight of steps.
* Bill, now! Shoot now! Kill me now!
* We won. Now free me.

Father Joseph Dyer

* Jesus loves you, everyone else thinks you're an asshole.
* I've been standing out there for centuries. Four new popes have been elected. That's a lot of white smoke.
* I once spent a year hearing childrens's confessions and I wound up a lemon drop junkie. The little wierdos keep breathing it on you along with all that pot. And between the two of them, I've got a feeling it's probably addictive.
* We're going to live forever, Bill. We're spirits.
* Go in peace, my child. May the Schwartz be with you.
* No, Bill. I'm not dreaming.

The Gemini Killer/Patient X

* Did you get my message? I left it with Keating. Nice girl. Good heart.
* Yes, about this body of mine. Friend of yours. Well, there I was, so awfully dead in that electric chair- I didn't like it. Would you? It's upsetting! There was still so much killing to do, and there I was. In the void. Without a body. But then along came... well, you know. My friend. One of them. Those others. They're the cruel ones. The Master. And he thought that my work should continue but, in this body. In this body in particular, in fact.
* Ooooh, let's call it revenge. The certain matter of an exorcism I think Father Karras expelled certain parties from the body of a child. Certain parties were not pleased. To say the least. To say the very least. And so my friend, the Master, devised this pretty little scheme as a way of getting back. Of creating a stumbling block. A scandal. A horror to the eyes of all men who seek 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! AND ON AND ON! HE IS INSIDE WITH US! HE WILL NEVER GET AWAY! HIS PAIN WON'T END!
* Oh. Gracious me. Was I raving?
* Where was I? Oh, yes. The Master. He was kind, you see. He brought me to our mutual aquaintance Father Karras. Not to well at the time. I'm afraid he was, passing on in the dying mode, as we say. So, as Karras was about to slip out of his body-- is this true? The Master was slipping me in. Oh, now there was some confusion when the medic said that Karras was dead-- I mean, he was dead, technically speaking. I mean, his time was up. He wanted out. But I was in! A little traumatized, true. I mean, after all, his brain were jelly. Lack of oxygen, and all that sort of thing. You understand? It took a maximum effort that at last got me out of that cheap little coffin. Vow of poverty, disgusting. Never mind. Toward the end, a slapstick comic relief. When that old Brother Faine, who was tending the bodies, saw me climbing from the coffin. [laughs] It's the smiles that keep us going. Don't you think? The little giggles and bits of good cheer.
* Catatonics are so easy to possess.