The Exorcist III

"Do you dare walk these steps again?"

1990 1h 50m EN

😐

6.3

MID

★6.3TMDB · 903

Horror

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

On the fifteenth anniversary of the exorcism that claimed Father Damien Karras' life, Police Lieutenant Kinderman's world is once again shattered when a boy is found decapitated and savagely crucified.

“Do you dare walk these steps again?”

WhatsApp X Facebook Telegram

Where to watch · US

Amazon Prime VideoSubscription

fuboTVSubscription

Peacock PremiumSubscription

PhiloSubscription

Night Flight PlusSubscription

Amazon Prime Video with AdsSubscription

Peacock Premium PlusSubscription

Shout! Factory Amazon ChannelSubscription

Amazon VideoRent

Apple TV StoreRent

Google Play MoviesRent

Google Play MoviesBuy

YouTubeBuy

Fandango At HomeBuy

Cast

George C. Scott
Lt. William 'Bill' Kinderman
Ed Flanders
Father Joseph Kevin Dyer
Brad Dourif
James Venamun / The Gemini Killer
Jason Miller
Father Damien Karras / Patient X
Nicol Williamson
Father Morning
Scott Wilson
Dr. Temple
Nancy Fish
Nurse Allerton
George DiCenzo
Stedman

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: William Peter Blatty
Writers: William Peter Blatty
Languages: Volapük, English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.5× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

36 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Volapük, English.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "The Exorcist Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by William Peter Blatty, shot by Gerry Fisher. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Barry De Vorzon. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Peter Lee-Thompson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

CAST

Did you know

George C. Scott and Ed Flanders and Brad Dourif carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

William Peter Blatty directs. Gerry Fisher behind the camera. Barry De Vorzon scores. Peter Lee-Thompson cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in Volapük, English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 3.5× over at the box office.
236 years old — old enough to be someone's favourite childhood film.
3Dialogue crosses 2 languages: Volapük, English.
4Part of the "The Exorcist Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
5Directed by William Peter Blatty, shot by Gerry Fisher. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
6Original score by Barry De Vorzon. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
7Editor Peter Lee-Thompson shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
8George C. Scott and Ed Flanders and Brad Dourif carry the top of the cast.
9Marketing tagline: "Do you dare walk these steps again?".
10IMDB entry: tt0099528 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
11Classified under 29 themes, including "death penalty", "based on novel or book", "religion and supernatural", "suspicion of murder".
12Released under 16 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Gerry Fisher
Original score: Barry De Vorzon
Editing: Peter Lee-Thompson
Production design: Leslie Dilley
Costume design: Dana Lyman
Makeup / hair: Del Acevedo
VFX supervisor: Mat Beck
Sound: Steve Maslow
Runtime: 110 min · 1h 50m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $11,000,000
Box office: $39,024,251
Return: 355% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: The Exorcist III (1990)

Part of

The Exorcist Collection

A horror anthology series focused on fictional accounts of demonic possession, and the efforts of religious authorities to counter it with various acts of faith. Inspired by the literary works of William Peter Blatty.

Also by

William Peter Blatty

The Ninth Configuration
1980 · ★ 6.4

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

talisencrw2016-10-07
★ 8/10
Very good sequel retains the high standard Blatty's original screenplay set! In going through the original 'Exorcist' trilogy (I have the DVD 6-pack, with the two versions of the remarkable original, as well as the two recent prequels, so far unwatched), I was intrigued of seeing Oscar-winning writer William Peter Blatty's second stint behind the camera (for the record, I adored his 'The Ninth Configuration', done a decade prior), especially for the franchise that became his bread-and-butter (though I loved two films he earlier had co-wrote: 'A Shot in the Dark' and 'The Omega Man'). He once again does quite a credible job--both with the writing and in helming the picture. To me, it didn't matter much that Linda Blair wasn't involved--I like how it became a search for an already-dead serial killer--and I have been a great fan of George C. Scott in genre films since the likes of 'Dr. Strangelove' and 'The Changeling'. The scares and shocks were genuine, and the suspense and interest were there. It made me wish that even more sequels had been made, it was THAT good.
tmdb280390232022-08-25
★ 6/10
What's good in this film we can attribute to William Peter Blatty's script and direction and to the casting, especially Brad Dourif and George C. Scott; what's bad, to Executive Meddling – in particular the last minute exorcism performed by a last minute priest; it says a lot that Burton's Father Lamont from Exorcist II: The Heretic is more memorable than Nicol Williamson's Father Morning. Unlike The Heretic, III looks and feels – except for a bizarre dream sequence featuring cameos by Fabio and Patrick Ewing as angels – like it belongs in the same world as The Exorcist; that is to say, it knows the words and the music. There are haunting visuals that stay with you long after the film is over (the crucifix opening its eyes, the old woman crawling on the ceiling, Scott's daughter's near decapitation). At the same time, the film has a sense of humor that I would call shakespearean; Father Joseph Dyer (Ed Flanders), whose dialogue includes a reference to Mel Brooks's Spaceballs, is akin to the gravedigger in Hamlet or the porter in Macbeth. What bothers me about III is the same that troubles me about The Heretic – though to a much lesser degree –, and it's the 'how.' Specifically, how Patient X, alias Father Damien Karras (Jason Miller), ends up in a cell in a hospital's psychiatric ward for the past 15 years. It's a good thing that Blatty decided to have X played by both Miller and Dourif – more so the latter than the former –, because Dourif, as James 'The Gemini Killer' Venamun, has a long, expository, loose-end-tying monologue which proves that sometimes you can indeed polish a turd; it doesn't, even after allowing for supernatural intervention, make a lick of sense (the corpse of a beloved local priest bursts out of his "cheap little coffin" and goes missing, and no one is the wiser? Yeah, right), but it's all in the delivery. Dourif turns in a blood-curdling, bone-chilling campfire tale (at one point he even briefly reflects "is this true?", as if he finds it hard to swallow himself). Now, I'm not saying Miller couldn't have done this, but in retrospect I don't see how he or anyone else could have; I only know Dourif did it because I watched him do it in a movie-stealing performance that doubled the considerable respect I already had for him and his craft.
GenerationofSwine2023-01-12
★ 5/10
This was the best sequel to The Exorcist they made, and that isn't really saying much. The second one was horrible and the ones that followed were horrible. In fact, I think they were so bad it was instantly remade. But, this one was decent, it felt the most like an actual sequel to the Exorcist, it was unsettling, it was intelligent, it was pretty memorable in its own way. But it still was a bit too much, not underplayed enough to really feel like the one that started it all. And, honestly, compared to what we have in the theaters today it is a great film