A police lieutenant uncovers more than he bargained for as his investigation of a series of murders, which have all the hallmarks of the deceased Gemini serial killer, leads him to question ... Read allA police lieutenant uncovers more than he bargained for as his investigation of a series of murders, which have all the hallmarks of the deceased Gemini serial killer, leads him to question the patients of a psychiatric ward.A police lieutenant uncovers more than he bargained for as his investigation of a series of murders, which have all the hallmarks of the deceased Gemini serial killer, leads him to question the patients of a psychiatric ward.
- Awards
- 2 wins & 5 nominations
- Stedman
- (as George Dicenzo)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaWilliam Peter Blatty offered directorial responsibilities to John Carpenter, who liked his script, but backed out when it became clear that Blatty really wanted to direct the movie himself.
- Goofs(at around 42 mins) The gruesome head cutting scissors were made for the movie and do not exist in real life. It is said in the movie that the scissors are spring loaded, so it takes very little effort to open them, but they produce a vicious force when being closed. This is not possible: the spring cannot produce more force when closing as it would take you to open it.
- Quotes
Kinderman: This I believe in... I believe in death. I believe in disease. I believe in injustice and inhumanity, torture and anger and hate... I believe in murder. I believe in pain. I believe in cruelty and infidelity. I believe in slime and stink and every crawling, putrid thing... every possible ugliness and corruption, you son of a bitch. I believe... in you.
- Alternate versionsSome European prints are rumored to include a scene depicting the violent killing of a priest, removed from the US version after unsuccessful sneak previews. A shot from this scene, showing the beheaded priest sitting on a bench and holding his own head in his lap, can be seen in the French publicity stills.
- ConnectionsEdited into The Exorcist III: Legion (1990)
- SoundtracksGloria
Liturgical Chant
Performed by Burleigh Seaver
The film follows the friendship between Father Dyer and Detective Kinderman. Meanwhile a serial killer is running around Georgetown gruesomely murdering the city's residents. Kinderman is called into duty and is puzzled by the brutal slayings. That is until he follows the clues and they lead him to a very unlikely place. Kinderman's faith in man is tested as he continues on through out this bizarre and seemingly never ending case.
George C. Scott is excellent as Kinderman. he plays the role of the detective as if he was tailored made for the part. Ed Flanders co-stars as Father Dyer. Nicol Williamson has a guest star spot as a Father Merrin type priest (his scenes seemed to have been added during post production because they don't fit in with the rest of the movie). The ending felt rushed and it has "post production" stamped on it. Word has it that the film was indeed tampered with during the post production. I think so to because the book's ending was far different than what was put out on the silver screen.
Is the movie worth watching? Yes it is because it's a worthy follow up to the Exorcist. Even though it was fiddled around with during the final phase of production, scenes seem to have been added and the ever presence of the producers looking over the director's shoulder, it's still a great film. I'm probably one of the few people who are actually satisfied with the movie. I wished Blatty could have the original version of this film restored. I enjoyed the book and the movie as well.
Highly recommended!
A majority of people hate intellectual horror films. What's wrong with having to think once in a while?
- Captain_Couth
- Oct 25, 2004
- Permalink
Details
Box office
- Gross US & Canada
- $26,098,824
- Opening weekend US & Canada
- $9,312,219
- Aug 19, 1990
- Gross worldwide
- $39,024,251
- Runtime1 hour 50 minutes
- Color
- Sound mix
- Aspect ratio
- 1.85 : 1