The Exorcist III — The Exorcist III( Blu Ray)
Released in 1990 some seventeen years after the first film The Exorcist III was, without doubt, the most effective, chilling, and well made of the four sequels the original film has spawned thus far. It’s an often brooding & tense film that blends together who/ what done it mystery, demonic possession/ body-switching, with moments of intense terror. The film is set in 1990 in Georgetown, Washington D.C- and follows aging & portly Lt. Kinderman- George C Scott in one of his greatest roles- he’s investigating a slew of brutal and deranged murders in the city that have religious connections- ie heads have been severed & replaced with those of Christ, priest are slaughtered in their confessionals, and people having all their innards removed & replaced with rosary then sewn up again. Touches of humor & depth are added to the Kinderman character by his friendship with Father Dyer(Ed Flanders)- an aging-yet optimistic catholic. On the whole it's a extremely well made and conceived film- which is often a drift with feels of dread, that go from subtle to downright chilling. It was directed by William Peter Blatty, who wrote the book the original Exorcist film was based on- and it's very well & dramatically scoped, with wonderful acted even in the smaller roles.
I can still recall seeing the film on VHS back in the early 1990’s- and it really did impress both with its unsettling mood, clever plot unfold, believable characterization, and of course moments of deep dread, sinister brood, and sudden shots of intense terror. Watching the film twenty-nine years after it’s initial release it still maintains it’s power to creep-out & shock- with little or nothing feeling dated or less impactful- which you can’t say for many films.
Moving on this new two-disc Blu Ray set- and on the first disc, we have the theatrical cut of the film. The new 2k print looks great here really bringing out both the great cinematography, good balance of color, and depth of light & shade. Moving onto the extras on this disc, and first, up we have a new commentary track from Australian critics/ genre fans Alexandra Heller Nicholas and Josh Nelson- this is the first track I’ve heard from either of these two, and I must say it’s great. They go into such interesting depth about the film- talking about details you might have missed, the clever nuances in the acting, locations, the two cuts of the film. Moving onto discuss William Peter Blatty writing & directing, and pair general passion & love for the film. It’s very much a track you could play multiple times, and I do hope Arrow decide to use these two in future releases.
Moving on the other extras on this first disc, and these are from previous releases of the film- first off we get the 2016 doc Death, Be Not Proud: The Making of The Exorcist III- this is split into five parts, and runs for a total of one hour & forty-four minutes- and as you’d expect it covers pretty much every side of the film, it's production, it’s release, and it’s legacy. Next, we get an audio interview with the director, as well as good selection Vintage Featurette & interviews too.
Moving onto the second disc and on here we find the Legion directors cut of the film. This is a recut/ edited version of the film that was created in 2016- it uses around 70 percent of the theatrical cut, and 30 percent of video elements- so as you can imagine the shift is somewhat jarring from film, to fairly lo-fi video- so this cut of the film is not like the flowing & smooth recut of Nightbreed Arrow put out.
The recut version is certainly interesting- as we get a lot more of Brad Dourif as the serial killer/ priest, we get additional dialogue scenes too. I’d say unlike a lot of recut/ directors cut versions of films, this should be watched after you’ve seen the theatrical cut of the film first.
Moving onto the extras and first up we get a brand new commentary track from respected British film critics Mark Kermode and Kim Newman. Kermode was very much virtual in getting this new cut put together, as well as interview/ spending time with director/ writer William Peter Blatty- so it’s a most fascinating track. It goes from of course discussing the new scenes & recuts, and their meaning to the story. Going onto talk about the differences between the novel and this version of the film, chatting about Blatty starting off as a comic writer & how these elements appear in the film. Later they go on talking about listening to EVP with Blatty, and how the films largely bloodless/ more atmospheric feel is influenced by the 1940 more moody & tense 1940 genre pictures by the likes of Val Lewton. All in all- a great, great track- that is a must-play. The other extra on this disc is a cut scene from the beginning of the film with Kermode & Newman commentary track- and this is great to see, and ties up elements of the film in a more clear/ defined manner.
All told this new double Blu Ray is a great presentation of this classic 1990’s horror film- with two versions of the film, two great commentaries & a great selection of archive material.