i didnt really like the 3rd one but then again it was on tv so idk

but i still wanna get the box set its only $15 at best buy

Exorcist III (Legion) is a great, straight horror film.

Genuinely scary in places, and with a grim nastiness throughout.

George C Scott, Brad Douriff... even Fabio!

the prequel is horrible. stay away from it and the 2nd one.
As I have stated in other threads, the first one is great because, to me, it is the only movie that, if you took away all elements of "horror" in it, it would still be a great movie. There is way more going on with this movie than just a horror film about a possessed girl or any sort of cheap shock moments. This film's main character is obviously Father Damian, not the girl or her mom or even dat bad ol debbil. It's about one man's struggle with his own faith and how he reacts when confronted by real proof of the supernatural.
In other words, there is only one word for the first Exorcist: genius.
And if you don't agree, you need to go back to watching Rush Hour 2 and leave the real films to the people who can appreciate them.

I don't agree. The Exorcist just doesn't exist without the horror elements.

Mainly what I was referring to was that the Exorcist's main thematic elements were not horror-related at all. What the viewer has in the possession of young Regan is a metaphor for the loss of relationship between mother and daughter. Mom is away a lot with the movies, little girl is left with a nanny all the time, Mom feels like she "just doesn't know her little girl anymore" and this feeling is personified in her daughter suddenly, quite literally, becoming a different person. The possession can also be viewed as a slightly fucked up metaphor for little Regan going through the metamorphosis of puberty. I won't even get into all the metaphors this possession represents for poor, doomed, Father Damian.

So, in my opinion, if you take the possession and horror elements out of the Exorcist, you are left with a drama about parent/child relationships and about how different people with different backgrounds deal with the question of faith. Father Damian's struggles with his faith, his subplot with his mother dying and his attempts to understand the "human condition" in relation to that faith, and the real life scariness of the breakdown of the nuclear family are enough to make an interesting enough movie on its own. But throw in a demon possession and the movie aggressively "ups the ante" for other movies to perform and to startle the audience into the realization of the complexities of everyday life.
While I agree, and have basically stated, that the Exorcist would not be near as compelling if you were to take out head spinning 13 year olds, crucifix masturbation, or subliminal frame shots of Glenn Danzig, I still believe that it would be able to hold water on its own without it.

Yep. And if you take Jason out of Friday the 13th, at least you still have a summer high jinx movie full of kids fucking and smoking weed.....right?

i agree totally .. a very compelling film .. even the extensive dialogue.

It has 2 of the best moments in horror ..
concerning a long hallway shot and an old lady dressed as a nurse.

I'm talking about a movie that would actually still have some substance. Plus if you took everything out of the movie about the possession, it would still be long enough to be a feature film. If you took Jason out of Friday the 13th, or Freddy out of Nightmare, or Mike out of the Halloween movies (besides 3), what would you have left? A 30 minute short film about absolutely nothing.

Like I said, if you took the possession out, it would still be a GOOD movie, not "Poison Ivy."

Hey!

What's wrong with Poison Ivy?

dirty nasty naked little drew .. whats not to like :)