Exorcist 3 Legion - the best horror movie no one ever talks about

[GordoBarraBJJ]

BTW saw this in the theatres way back.

Many creepy scenes - the old lady in the confession booth, old lady at the house.

could go on - this is what horror movies should be (as someone said Unsettling) - nowadays too many rely on CGI, Jump Scares, Gore to make up for a lack of actual story telling.

The cell scene in which he describes why he cuts off a victims head is chilling.

 

[moreorless87]

BTW saw this in the theatres way back.

Many creepy scenes - the old lady in the confession booth, old lady at the house.

could go on - this is what horror movies should be (as someone said Unsettling) - nowadays too many rely on CGI, Jump Scares, Gore to make up for a lack of actual story telling.

The cell scene in which he describes why he cuts off a victims head is chilling.

Sadly it wasnt too long after this film that mainstream US horror started to shift into slasher jump scares, the same way comedy shifted into fratboy humour.

Its an easier/simpler way to target a not very demanding market I'd guess, you can garentee decent income from people who will happly lap up this stuff time and again but your also not going to see films that really break into the mainstream either the way Exorcist 1, Halloween, Alien, etc did.

Genuinely unsettling horrish cinema really moved into the arthouse scene IMHO, most obviously David Lynch but the last decade stuff like Under The Skin, Killing of a Sacred Deer, Highlife, Personal Shopper, Bliss, etc.

 

[raty tat tat]

It's the most overrated underrated film out there.

Solid.

What's the most underrated overrated film?

 

[LEWIS540]

What's the most underrated overrated film?

Short Circuit 2, obviously.

 

[Prefect]

Sadly it wasnt too long after this film that mainstream US horror started to shift into slasher jump scares, the same way comedy shifted into fratboy humour.

Its an easier/simpler way to target a not very demanding market I'd guess, you can garentee decent income from people who will happly lap up this stuff time and again but your also not going to see films that really break into the mainstream either the way Exorcist 1, Halloween, Alien, etc did.

Genuinely unsettling horrish cinema really moved into the arthouse scene IMHO, most obviously David Lynch but the last decade stuff like Under The Skin, Killing of a Sacred Deer, Highlife, Personal Shopper, Bliss, etc.

Exorsist 3 does use jump scares but not how they are used now. When a jump scares happens it cuts away before your brain can process what it saw. For example, in the hospital hallway when the white wrapped ghost thing crosses the hallway with the head clippers, you can barely process what you saw but you knew the nurse died. Most, jump scares in movies don't add to the tension. Like a cat jumping onto a bed. Once you realize what it is the tension is gone. On the otherside, you have the ending of the Blair Witch Project were you know something weird happened by the 2 seconds in the basement but no one knows what it is. Jump scares are much better when the audience knows something happened but has to guess as to what exactly happened.

 

[Brodels]

I finally watched it a month ago and thought it was pretty underwhelming/boring.

 

[GordoBarraBJJ]

Sadly it wasnt too long after this film that mainstream US horror started to shift into slasher jump scares, the same way comedy shifted into fratboy humour.

Its an easier/simpler way to target a not very demanding market I'd guess, you can garentee decent income from people who will happly lap up this stuff time and again but your also not going to see films that really break into the mainstream either the way Exorcist 1, Halloween, Alien, etc did.

Genuinely unsettling horrish cinema really moved into the arthouse scene IMHO, most obviously David Lynch but the last decade stuff like Under The Skin, Killing of a Sacred Deer, Highlife, Personal Shopper, Bliss, etc.

I was excited to see Antlers but I guess it's pushed back to next spring.

Hereditary had it's moments (the telephone pole scene - the whole thing - kinda of stuck with me for a few days.)

The opening of Midsommer - in the family house - was disturbing as well (then the movie went downhill IMO).

 

[Highway99]

Psycho II must be mentioned

 

[HARRISON_3]

agreed, its a good one

 

[HARRISON_3]

Hey, I like Texas Chainsaw 2!

Me too

 

[Prefect]

I finally watched it a month ago and thought it was pretty underwhelming/boring.

I am not going to fault you for your taste. It is a slow paced burner by today's standards. Most of the movie is building around the few minutes they actually show a paranormal event. I don't know if anyone would make a movie now where you always saw the result but never what happened. Seven is kind of like this I suppose. The movie is very different from the first Exorcist. What did you think of that one?

 

[moreorless87]

Exorsist 3 does use jump scares but not how they are used now. When a jump scares happens it cuts away before your brain can process what it saw. For example, in the hospital hallway when the white wrapped ghost thing crosses the hallway with the head clippers, you can barely process what you saw but you knew the nurse died. Most, jump scares in movies don't add to the tension. Like a cat jumping onto a bed. Once you realize what it is the tension is gone. On the otherside, you have the ending of the Blair Witch Project were you know something weird happened by the 2 seconds in the basement but no one knows what it is. Jump scares are much better when the audience knows something happened but has to guess as to what exactly happened.

The effectiveness of a jump scare is generally much more in the buildup as well, I mean here there are very few of them so you have tension build up for a very long time and in that scene specifically atmosphere is built very well.

Other classic jump scares like the Alien reaching for Dallas in the air ducks, the shark lunging as the bait is being throw in Jaws, the twins and the flash of their dead bodies in The Shining, the hobo behind the dumpster in Mullholland Drive etc are all the product of how well tension and atmosphere has been built up before they happen.

Its why horror is IMHO arguably the most demanding genre in terms of the skill of the director, you can't really fall back onto the script, its generally all about building atmosphere whether you have jump scares or not.