MovieChat Forums > The Exorcist III (1990) Discussion > Was Pazuzu neutered or something? less p...

Was Pazuzu neutered or something? less powerful than in the first movie

posted 4 years ago by urrutiap (1086)
21 replies | jump to latest

Is it just me or that Hollywood pretty much neutered the Pazuzu demon by weakening it being less powerful or something?

[–] pazuzu9 (384) 4 years ago

Why would you think it was neutered?

It caused the death of several people in this movie and got some revenge on Father Karras

[–] DevonteHuntley (243) 2 months ago

Probably because it wasn't all outrageous with the possession and smart talk it was in the original when it was possessing Regan. The demon does come off much tame here.

[–] pazuzu9 (384) 2 months ago

The Demon seemed more aggressive to me. It's just that he was acting by proxy. He used the Gemini killer and the Gemini was able to temporarily possess elderly patients. Overall, I think he was much more active.

[–] Nanook (1951) 2 months ago

Objection! User is obviously biased. :D

[–] DevonteHuntley (243) 2 months ago

I don't think so. The demon had Regan all over the place bouncing up and down, spider walking down the stairs, spilling blood and green goo out of her mouth, stabbing herself with a crucifix, assaulting people physically and killing them, making objects fly about and move across the floor, saying the most derogatory and explicit remarks both personally and sexually, etc. here was just tame. When we did see aggressive moments, it was TGK acting that way, not the demon. The most the demon did was telepathically hurt Father Morning, cause the lie detector machine to move across the room and shut the windows, give Kinderman the allusion of his dream rising from the floor, but he did really nothing physically in Karras' body or say much explicitly as he did in the original through Regan. He was not worse or aggressive here at all.

[–] pazuzu9 (384) 2 months ago

I'm talking more about results. The demon caused more deaths in E3.

https://moviekillcounts.fandom.com/wiki/The_Exorcist_III

[–] DevonteHuntley (243) 2 months ago

Okay yes, he did but his overall behavior and dialogue was tame. That's what we're looking at here as opposed to the body count.

[–] Nanook (1951) 2 months ago

IIRC, in the book, the director's cut and even the fanedit, all called Legion, there is no demon, only the spirit of the Gemini killer.

[To tie the film in to the first Exorcist movie] the studio tacked on the exorcism ending with Nicol Williamson against Blatty's wishes, but if there is an actual reference to Pazuzu or any demon in the theatrical release, I can't recall it.

[–] urrutiap (1086) 2 months ago

yes Pazuzu is mentioned in the movie but he's called The Master. I've seen the fucking movie many times, Nanook

[–] Nanook (1951) 2 months ago

I believe you. Still, if you haven't already, I highly recommend seeing the Legion [spicedriver fanedit]*; much more faithfully follows the book.

*changed from director's cut

[–] [deleted] 2 months ago

You can't just leave Nicol Williamson out of a movie and not hurt it. Sorry but true.

[–] Nanook (1951) 2 months ago

I wholeheartedly agree in the vast majority of cases, but my response itt two days ago does attempt to make a case for this film.

[–] [deleted] 2 months ago

I liked the movie, warts and all. Even with the pasted on exorcism. By Hades, that jump scare!

[–] Nanook (1951) 2 months ago

As a horror fan who usually eschews jump scares as "low effort" or "cheap,", this is one of, if not the GoATs, and gets me every freaking time.

[–] DevonteHuntley (243) 2 months ago

Pazuzu seemed like an afterthought though since it was originally just TGK in Karras' body. They needed to give it that connection to the original to make the movie feel more like an Exorcist sequel since it was mostly just a spinoff story featuring some of the characters and Georgetown setting, but I wouldn't have even done that because of how underdeveloped Pazuzu is. He isn't even said by name here and only shows up when Father Morning comes to do the exorcism. But when that happens, then TGK becomes an afterthought, and we just assume he goes away with Pazuzu when Kinderman shoots and kills Karras.

I would have just had it be TGK all the way through and had him be the one to be exorcize. I would have had Father Riley be the one to do that since he's an established priest character here and really does nothing but give exposition to Kinderman. I never saw the point in them throwing in Father Morning when you already have a priest character who's there and does nothing important really and this would have gave him more to do in the end. Father Riley could have also been TGK's father to provide a person link between them and since TGK's father is a priest in the book, though I don't think he has an appearance there.

[–] Nanook (1951) 2 months ago

If you haven't yet seen the [fanedit by spicedriver], Legion, it is more faithful to the book and is my preferred cut, although both theatrical and director's are great.

[–] DevonteHuntley (243) 2 months ago

I have and it's alright. Seeing Dourif playing Karras does ruin it because that's three recastings the movie has undergone now. They made the right call bringing Jason Miller back for that main character consistency.

[–] Nanook (1951) 2 months ago

I had a good think about your comment and was sure Miller was in my favorite cut. Finally just looked it up and edited my above reply. My recommended cut is the fanedit by spicedriver. The guy's talented; also did a great job with Lynch's Dune.

https://fanedit.org/legion-an-exorcist-iii-fanedit/

[–] DevonteHuntley (243) 2 months ago

Okay, so there's a fan-edit of the director's cut? Interesting. But it doesn't seem like I'm able to watch it on the link you provided. Video is listed as unavailable.

[–] Nanook (1951) 2 months ago

It actually existed before the director's cut! But that's beside the point. Not sure if I can link directly to such things, but if you search for "legion spicedriver torrent" or "...nzb" [the latter if you use newsgroups/usenet] you should find it. Not sure where else the kids find stuff like this these days...

[–] DevonteHuntley (243) 2 months ago

Oh yeah, I think I've read about an unofficial cut before the Legion one. I'll check it out when I get a chance.