William Peter Blatty's own sequel to THE EXORCIST (and adapted from his sequel novel Legion) gets a 4K upgrade and a two disc release (one UHD, one Blu-ray) from Arrow.
An aging Lieutenant Kinderman (George C Scott, replacing the by then late Lee J Cobb from the original) is investigating a series of murders in which the victims have been decapitated and the head of a religious icon put in their place. The killer has the same modus operandi as the Gemini killer, who went to the electric chair fifteen years ago.
When Kinderman's hospitalised friend Father Dyer (Ed Flanders) becomes the latest victim, he learns that there's an inmate of the psychiatric ward who claims he is the Gemini killer, and also that he has connections to a certain exorcism performed fifteen years ago.
Taking a completely different approach to EXORCIST II Blatty's sequel is filled with impressive imagery and an endearing central performance. However when the film was finished executives insisted on an exorcism being included which is why Nicol Williamson's Father Morning has been rather obviously shoehorned in. It's also why Jason Miller is in here as well, apparently, as originally all the Gemini's scenes were played by Brad Dourif (and very good he is too).
Arrow's two disc set kicks off with a UHD that features a 4K UHD presentation of a 2K restoration of EXORCIST III. There's a new commentary from academics Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson, an audio interview with Blatty, and a massive making of that at 104 minutes is nearly as long as the film itself. There is also a stack of archival interviews with Blatty, Scott, Miller and others, a new interview with special effects artist Randy Moore, five minutes of bloopers and deleted scenes, a vintage making of and image galleries.
Disc two is a Blu-ray presentation of the original Blatty cut entitled LEGION, which was put together by the director and released under that title in 2016. This combines footage from the film with inserts from VHS tape, and has a different opening and ending. Unfortunately this was not provided for review but it does include a commentary track from Mark Kermode and Kim Newman.
THE EXORCIST III is out in a two disc UHD / Blu-ray combo pack from Arrow on Monday 7th October 2024
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