The Exorcist III

Four years after the 1973 minor-classic The Exorcist there came its sequel, Exorcist II, surely the lamest, most inept Hollywood sequel ever conceived.

It wasn't until 1990 that a further sequel was attempted. This time around, the writer of the original, William Blatty, turned his hand to direction. The result bears very little connection to the original, but it is a slightly - very slightly - more entertaining movie than Exorcist II.

Forget the first movie. There's no Linda Blair here now; not even a vestige of her character remains.

Instead, we're taken to cloud-cuckoo land as detective Bill Kinderman tries to track down a killer who is committing gruesome murders which carry all the hallmarks of the notorious Gemini Killer - and Kinderman knows the Gemini Killer was executed for his crimes.

The new killer though is embroidering his morbid handiwork with details only the original Gemini Killer could know. Has the Gemini Killer somehow risen from the dead? Spooky!

Well, not really. This is a tad better than Exorcist II because the script and direction are both a notch better. And George C. Scott is always an actor to watch.

But compared to the original, this really is just a walk down Mundane Avenue. It's a detective story with a few spooky supernatural elements thrown in - and very unlikely elements they are too. In fact, the supernatural bits seem there just to bring the long and winding story through in the end to a neat finish. Don't worry if it's not believable; the 'Exorcist' name will carry the day, the makers seem to have believed.

If the original movie managed a score of nine on the Richter scale of spooky movies, then Exorcist II scored two. Exorcist III almost doubles that, to just under four. Pretty lame, but slightly better than the truly hideous film which preceded it.

This is a decent-enough 16.9 transfer, with not too much in the way of traces of wear. Colours are well rendered, but in darker scenes the relative constrast scales tend to disappear into an amorphous gloom.

It's just too undefined to stand out as a great transfer - clean but not detailed enough.

The soundtrack is clear and precise. There's not much bass extension, but none is really needed here.

There's no distortion and the soundtrack does manage to convey as much atmosphere as is needed for this B-grade horror flick.

There's a theatrical trailer, presented in decent vintage condition.

This one is for Exorcist completists only, as part of the box-set. It's certainly not worth owning in its own right, so rent only, if you're curious enough to see how the cycle panned out in the end.