Last night's movie was "Exorcist 3: The Director's Cut"(1990), also known as "Legion". I hadn't heard of this version but when it came up in a YouTube recommendation I decided to give it a shot. I saw "Exorcist 3" in the theater when it was released, and at the time I thought it was very good, especially compared to the debacle of "Exorcist 2" thirteen years earlier. I think the main complaint I had was that there was no exorcism, and only minimal connections to the first movie. I was also surprised that it was more or less a crime story set within a supernatural context, rather than a full-on horror film like The Exorcist was. Still, I left the theater thinking it was very good, and I remember saying to my friend Pat, who went with me, that I was very startled by the jump-scare "hospital shears" scenes toward the end.
Those oversized silver shears later figured in a 1989 memory, one I told my Mom about, and which she used to remind me of from time to time. So the movie made an impression, even if it wasn't what I expected.
On watching it a second time, however, 33 years later (and I can't freaking believe that 1990 was a third of a century ago!), I've lowered my regard just a tad. For one thing, William Peter Blatty should've hired a director. There's waaaayyy too much of the snarky Blatty Banter in the first 30 minutes between George C. Scott, who replaced Lee J Cobb as "Lt. Kinderman" (Cobb was better), and Ed Flanders, who plays "Father Dyer" (who in the first movie was played by a real priest). Their jocularity gets tiresome in this day and age and probably did in 1990 also, but I didn't notice it then or wrote it off. After some initial set-ups to establish that a gruesome serial killer is at work, the first 30 minutes are Scott and Ed Flanders gabbing and joking and going to see "It's a Wonderful Life" together, all based on the movie-fan friendship of Kinderman and Father Karras in the original film.
But that one was directed by the great William Friedkin, using Blatty's script. Thus, Friedkin could trim Blatty's witticisms, which are fine in small doses and add flavor but drag when they run on. Blatty may have seen himself, partly, as a stand-up Catholic comedian, making endless Wry Jaded Priest Jokes. But half an hours worth is beyond way too much. Then we finally settle into the murder mystery. Gruesome, random killings are happening in Georegetown. Beheadings, the draining of blood. all simulating the work of the Gemini Killer, but it can't be him because he was executed 15 years ago.
When Father Dyer goes to the hospital for tests related to a nagging cough, Kinderman visits, to ask him questions about a priest who's been murdered during confession. "Everything about these killings says the Gemini, Father. But how is that possible?" Kinderman interviews the head of the hospital's mental ward, "Dr. Temple" (Scott Wilson) to ask about recently released patients. But then Father Dyer is killed in his room, drained of blood. The killer must be inside the hospital and the rest of the movie is set there. There's a "dangerous patients" crazy ward in the basement, and one cuckoo bird in particular interests Kinderman; a catatonic played by the nutjob's nutjob: Brad Dourif. Is it any wonder he never had a bigger career? You were too convincing, buddy! But an interesting thing about the scenes between Scott and Dourif, in his cell, is that they predate and predict both "Silence of the Lambs" and "Seven", two serial killer movies where the murderer is influenced telepathically.
In retrospect, however, the Dourif scenes need editing. They go on way too long. He does a great job, but Blatty (not a real director) doesn't know how to tighten him up. Thus, you can feel the strain, even though Dourif is pulling out all the stops. Also, Scott is good, but.......he's George C Scott; maybe not the best choice for a Satanic movie (though it must be said he was classic in "The Changeling", a truly scary film).
Overall, the main problem is the lack of directorial rigor. In one ill-advised "dream sequence" (filmed in gaudy 1980s production values), you have what looks like a Broadway show set in a mental hospital, with NBA star Patrick Ewing as an angel. It may have seemed like fun at the time, in the freewheeling 80s (as they turned into the 1990s), but this scene distracts from any horror thus far built up, because you're going "There's Patrick Ewing. Why?" Also, there are casting problems. An actress named Nancy Fish plays the head nurse on duty in the hospital, and she doesn't project any continuity in her character, jumping from one level of defiance to another, with a stiff delivery. It's like she's a reanimated corpse in a bad mood. Terrible acting, not just bad but awful. I think I noticed how annoying it was the first time, but you let these things go because it's The Exorcist franchise and you want it to be a great movie, but the actors took over from Blatty. All told, it's still a pretty good flick. On IMDB, there's a quote from Blatty (among many), in which he says it's scarier than The Exorcist. As if! And that's the main thing, there aren't many scares, because it doesn't play like a scary movie. There's horror, at the murders, and in Brad Dourif's overdrawn performance, which could've been an All Timer with Friedkin directing, but basically you've got a George C Scott police procedural with a psycho. Scarier than The Exorcist? What the heck was Blatty smoking? Let's give "Legion" (or "Exorcist 3" if you prefer) Two Big Thumbs Up with a recommendation to definitely see it if you are interested in the Exorcist franchise. The restoration is of course razor sharp except for scenes recovered from Blatty's version that were only available on old videotape copies, and are thus soft focus. Give it a look if you will. ////
The previous night we found yet another TV Movie classic: "The Dead Don't Die"(1975). I'd have been in 10th or 11th grade for this one, depending on the month it aired. George Hamilton stars as "Don Drake", a sailor on leave in 1930s Chicago, who is visiting his brother on the eve of his execution. "Ralph Drake" (Jerry Douglas) is about to sit in Old Sparky for the murder of his wife; a crime he swears he didn't commit. The execution scene is carried out with all due gruesomeness, and then Don sets out to find the real killer, to fulfill Ralph's final wish. His first stop is the dance hall where the murder occurred. Don talks to the proprietor "Jim Moss" (Ray Milland), as a dance marathon contest plays out in the background. Exhausted dancers, barely standing after 21 days on the floor, resemble the zombies Don will soon be at war with.
Jim Moss says "Yes, I was here that night (during a prior contest). Your brother quarreled with his wife. Many witnesses saw it. I don't know what help I can be, especially now that he's been......well, I'm sorry."
The implication is that Ralph was guilty after all. Don is dejected but understanding. "Thanks for your help, Mr. Moss." A woman in black tails him down the street to a bar, and begs him to leave town. "My name is Vera LaValle. I was sent to talk to you by a man named Varrick. You don't know him but he's aware of you. Please, your brother was guilty. Just leave and save yourself some trouble." But her worried look only provokes Don all the more. And when he leaves, he sees.....what?.....Holy Smokes!
He sees his brother on the schtreet! How in the hell can that be? Ralph just got barbecued in The Electric Chair a day ago. Don runs back into the bar to confront Vera LaValle (Linda Cristal). "I just saw my brother! How do you explain that?!" She of course says, "You couldn't have seen him. He's dead." Don then runs out again and follows Ralph down the street to a hotel run by "Levenia" (Joan Blondell), a floozy who is fronting for a ghoul named "Perdido" (Reggie Nalder). "Sorry, but there's no Ralph Drake signed in." By now, the gloves are off. There can be no more pretending, because Don isn't buying any of it. "I know my brother ran in here." Perdido then goes Full Zombie and we're off on an undead manhunt that features exhumations and more sleep-deprived dance contests. A strange black man with a West Indies accent is tailing Don also, making inquiries. Vera Lavalle then shows him her neck scar and confesses that it's all about voodoo. "I'm beholden to Mr. Varrick. I'm dead. That's why I can't love you."
Don suspected as much all along. Now, he's gonna prove Ralph was wrongly convicted. Jim Moss drives him to the cemetery to dig up his brother's grave, but Ralph isn't in his casket! Meanwhile, the dance contest drags on into it's 22nd day. "Keep going!" Moss urges. "Think of the prize money!" He ends up on a meat hook when the zombies rebel.
If this had been a good print, the movie would rate Two Huge. Several IMDB fans call it an all time zombie-job, and it does have its moments. The zombies are top notch (Perdido will give you nightmares), but the all-timer on that score is "Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things". Still, "The Dead Don't Die" is damn good. Whatever happened to George Hamilton, anyway? Boy, could we use him today. There aren't any Real Guys left. Not Real Men (and there aren't any of those either), just handsome guys with mustaches who aren't glorified boys. I mean, we all love Leonardo, but he will always be a boy, and did you know that he's been acting with De Niro since "This Boy's Life" in 1993? Both of 'em were great in that.
Aw, heck. Let's give it Two Huge anyway. Directed by Curtis Harrington of "Ruby" fame. James McEachin went on to star as "Tenafly", perhaps the first black detective on TV, and not jive, either. And, Ralph Meeker plays the police chief in this flick. How much more great can it get? George Hamilton, Linda Cristal from "High Chaparral", the great Ralph Meeker, Ray Milland, Joan Blondell, and James McEachin. You can't beat that cast. Unfortunately, the picture is very soft, but it's still watchable and you don't want to miss it. They need to quit fooling around and make great TV movies again. Not on cable, not streaming, but broadcast TV. ABC, NBC, and CBS need to reclaim their thrones. /////
And that's all I know for the moment. We are once again a half-day late. All this writing is backing me up, sorry about that. We will keep the blog on track, though. Just gotta keep typin'. My blogging music is Klaus Schulze "Moondawn", my late night (last night) was Wagner's Tristan. I hope your week is off to a good start and I send you Tons of Love as always. xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo :):)
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