This Day in Horror History: THE EXORCIST III Was Released in 1990
Mike Sprague
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On this day in horror history, writer-director William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist III with George C. Scott and Brad Dourif was released in 1990.
The third installment in the Exorcist series, the flick is an adaptation of Blatty’s 1983 novel Legion. It opened in first place opening weekend with $9.3M and grossed a total of $26M in the US and $39M worldwide.
During production, the film went under various titles, including The Exorcist: 1990. Morgan Creek insisted on including the word Exorcist in the title, which Blatty protested. Blatty attributed its poor box office performance to the title imposed by Morgan Creek.
The Exorcist III is set 17 years after the original film and ignores the events of Exorcist II: The Heretic. It follows a character from the first film, Lieutenant William F. Kinderman (George C. Scott) notices similarities between his current murder investigation and the methods used by the “Gemini” killer (Brad Dourif) who was executed 15 years before. He soon discovers a hospitalized mental patient (Jason Miller) claiming to be the dead serial killer, but who looks uncannily like a priest Kinderman knew who died during an exorcism. As more bodies are found, Kinderman looks for connections between the two supposedly dead men.
The film sports a 59% approval rating over on Rotten Tomatoes with a Critics Consensus that reads: The Exorcist III is a talky, literary sequel with some scary moments that rival anything from the original.
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