Reviews of The Exorcist (1973) and related work
- Sequel: Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)
- Sequel: The Exorcist III (1990)
The Exorcist (1973
)
An accurate representation of puberty.
References here: Mother Joan of the Angels (1961), Night of the Living Dead (1968), Aliens: Nightmare Asylum (1989), Rec (2007).
‣ Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)
Seen in 2016.
Schlock. The exoticizing portrayal of Africa, with its terrible special effects, takes a sharp secular turn for the better.
‣ The Exorcist III (1990)
Seen in 2016.
In Blatty’s own hands the story is clearly at its most polished, and the special effects are a massive improvement over the previous sequel, but the emotional punch suffers. Given the absurdity of Christian belief, taking the premises seriously has its drawbacks, and pinning it all on a serial killer puts the whole thing rather too close to a mundane mystery with a cartoon supervillain. On the other hand, placing Dourif so near the center can never be a bad thing.