The Exorcist III
Movie • 1990 • Horror
ReportSet fifteen years after the original film, The Exorcist III centers around the philosophical Lieutenant William F. Kinderman who is investigating a baffling series of murders around Georgetown that all contain the hallmarks of The Gemini, a deceased serial killer. It eventually leads him to a catatonic patient in a psychiatric hospital who has recently started to speak, claiming he is the The Gemini and detailing the murders, but bears a striking resemblance to Father Damien Karras.
This movie contains 48 potentially triggering events.
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Your Triggers
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Unanswered Triggers
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Abandonment
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Abuse
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Is there domestic violence?
National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233)
52 supporters
Add comment
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10
Does the abused become the abuser?
National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233)
18 supporters
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gayle
yes, a 12 year old is drugged and decapitated while conscious
1 comment | Add comment
Addiction
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hermitcrab
A character is said to have been killed offscreen after the killer injects him with a drug that will paralyze him, but no recreational or addictive use.
1 comment | Add comment
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9
Does someone abuse alcohol?
7 supporters
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gayle
Many of the priests are shown drinking a lot. I guess it depends on your idea of abusing alcohol
1 comment | Add comment
Animal
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gayle
yes, an injured bird that a priest had in a box with a bandaged wing is shown moving then dead when a cross and Jesus statue fall.
1 comment | Add comment
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Are there snakes?
12 supporters
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hermitcrab
Toward the end (about 1:37:00) there are multiple snakes just sort of hanging around. They disappear soon after.
1 comment | Add comment
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4
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Assault
Does a woman get slapped?
National Domestic Violence Hotline (1-800-799-7233)
10 supporters
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Is someone restrained?
13 supporters
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SiRenfield
Brad Dourif basically spends all of his scenes in a straitjacket
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Bodily Harm
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Does someone struggle to breathe?
16 supporters
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hermitcrab
A scene where a possessed woman tries to strangle a man, but this does not last very long.
1 comment | Add comment
Is there decapitation?
15 supporters
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Dr.Teatime
Off-screen but talked about in some length.
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Is there amputation?
14 supporters
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hermitcrab
The killer decapitates many of his victims, though we never see this happen onscreen. There is an attempt we do see of a character to decapitate another, but this is prevented. SPOILERS: There is one scene toward the end where we see a character with his decapitated head replaced with the head of a statue.
1 comment | Add comment
Does a head get squashed?
35 supporters
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gayle
they show the original scene of the priest being thrown out the window of the original Exorcist house and falling down a long staircase (besides going out the top floor or the apartment).
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Is there finger/toe mutilation?
29 supporters
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hermitcrab
There is one moment where we see (not from very close up) that a murder victim's finger has been cut off. Otherwise just descriptions of the killer's modus operandi involving cutting off fingers.
1 comment | Add comment
Is someone tortured?
57 supporters
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gayle
well, the murders include a drug that paralyzes them so they can't scream while being crucified and decapitated. I count that as torture
1 comment | Add comment
Does someone fall down stairs?
4 supporters
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mrflatwoods
A point of view shot of a character falling down the stairs is shown.
1 comment | Add comment
Does someone fall to their death?
8 supporters
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hermitcrab
Two "recaps" of Damien Karras' death in the first film, one from his point of view, the other actually showing his body falling down a flight of stairs.
1 comment | Add comment
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Children
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Does a kid die?
28 supporters
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hermitcrab
One kid dies during the course of the film and we later see his body. Another kid dies before the events of the film and the killer recounts her death in some detail. There is also one scene where the main character dreams that he is in a place resembling heaven, full of people who have died, and some of them are children. You would not know they had died just from looking at them.
1 comment | Add comment
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Creepy Crawly
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Death
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Disability
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Drugs/Alcohol
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Family
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Fear
Are there jumpscares?
30 supporters
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PJT
Depending on your viewpoint, it has one of the best or the one the most traumatizing jump scares of all time. It's the "hospital corridor" scene with Nurse Keating. Anyone who's seen the movie won't forget it. It is nearly 4 1/2 minutes of slowly torturing the audience with the question: When will something horrible happen? The gruesome act is never actually seen -- and the victim never knows what's coming -- but when the jump scare occurs with bloodcurdling SFX, there's no uncertainty about what will take place off screen. To punctuate the point, the movie quickly cuts to a shot of a headless religious statue. (About half way through the scene, there is a fake-out jump scare in a hospital room intended to fray nerves for the ultimate scare.)
When I saw this in the theater, several people jumped up and bolted through the double doors and never returned. Other people were audibly sobbing -- I'd never experienced this level of terrified shock watching a horror movie. And again, you never actually see the event -- you are just completely jarred by the jump scare. I could not concentrate on the movie for the next 10 minutes because I was so freaked out.
A bit later in the film there is a scene in which a possessed elderly patient from the hospital disguised as a nurse attempts to kill the main character's daughter using the same horrifying implement. I would qualify this as a jump scare as well.
When I saw this in the theater, several people jumped up and bolted through the double doors and never returned. Other people were audibly sobbing -- I'd never experienced this level of terrified shock watching a horror movie. And again, you never actually see the event -- you are just completely jarred by the jump scare. I could not concentrate on the movie for the next 10 minutes because I was so freaked out.
A bit later in the film there is a scene in which a possessed elderly patient from the hospital disguised as a nurse attempts to kill the main character's daughter using the same horrifying implement. I would qualify this as a jump scare as well.
2 comments | Add comment
Is someone possessed?
8 supporters
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gayle
duh, of course
3 comments | Add comment
Are there ghosts?
5 supporters
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hermitcrab
Not really, but there is a scene in which the main character has a dream where he is surrounded by dead people in what looks like heaven, and another scene in which disembodied voices are heard and objects move on their own in a very ghost-y way.
1 comment | Add comment
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Gross
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Does someone spit?
9 supporters
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PJT
The killer in solitary confinement has some raging monologues where he is frothing at the mouth. For that matter, so does George C. Scott in the final climax scene.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
6
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4
Large-scale Violence
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Law Enforcement
Is there copaganda?
14 supporters
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7
3
socratesgonemad
The protagonist is a cop, but it isn't super pro cop.
1 comment | Add comment
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1
LGBTQ+
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Loss
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Medical
Is electro-therapy used?
15 supporters
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9
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gayle
Its not shown, but it's referred to
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
9
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0
Is there a mental institution scene?
16 supporters
Yes
13
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3
SiRenfield
A good chunk of the movie takes place at one
2 comments | Add comment
Is there a hospital scene?
7 supporters
Yes
11
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hermitcrab
Many scenes take place in a hospital.
1 comment | Add comment
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Mental Health
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Yes
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Is there D.I.D. misrepresentation?
13 supporters
Yes
1
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3
1
SiRenfield
…sort of, there’s no DID but a group of psychiatrists try to apply this as a more rational explanation for a demonically possessed person
1 comment | Add comment
Does someone attempt suicide?
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255)
50 supporters
Add comment
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Does someone say "I'll kill myself"?
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255)
17 supporters
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5
Are there anxiety attacks?
19 supporters
Yes
1
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1
gayle
that's debatable. The lead detective is definitely troubled, and rightfully so
1 comment | Add comment
Is there a claustrophobic scene?
14 supporters
Yes
1
No
8
1
Squarmpo
The cell where the talks with the killer and the climactic exorcism happens is quite small.
1 comment | Add comment
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10
Is there autism specific abuse?
30 supporters
Yes
1
No
8
1
SiRenfield
There’s mentions of autistic patients being held at the institution but no actual abuse is depicted
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
14
No
0
2
hermitcrab
SPOILERS: A man uses a needle to inject himself with something lethal. We see his dead body in his office, eyes open and gazing out.
1 comment | Add comment
Noxious
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No
3
Yes
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No
5
Is there shakey cam?
23 supporters
Yes
7
No
2
2
hermitcrab
A little over 4 minutes in, we see a very shakey POV camera of a man falling down a flight of stairs.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
3
No
0
Yes
4
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0
Are there flashing lights or images?
25 supporters
Yes
9
No
1
2
hermitcrab
Around 1:42:00, lightning strikes repeatedly inside a room and a light explodes. Also some flickering lights earlier in the film, but these are not particularly strobe-y.
1 comment | Add comment
Paranoia
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6
Pregnancy
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Prejudice
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9
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10
Does the black guy die first?
14 supporters
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13
No
1
4
hermitcrab
A twelve-year-old black boy is murdered and his murder described in detail, though we do not see it occur.
SPOILERS: We see his dead body toward the end.
SPOILERS: We see his dead body toward the end.
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
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8
Yes
11
No
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hermitcrab
Characters in the beginning make derogatory jokes and comments.
1 comment | Add comment
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8
Is there hate speech?
20 supporters
Yes
8
No
1
3
gayle
anti Jewish by the cops. Calling the first victim a black boy is a but weird to me for 1990, they're not in the south. There is more anti Jewish rants from the lead detective's mother in law
1 comment | Add comment
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0
No
4
Yes
1
No
8
Is there ableist language or behavior?
27 supporters
Yes
8
No
0
4
hermitcrab
A character mentions "mongoloid babies" and a psychiatric doctor has a framed poster on his wall reading "A psychotic is someone more neurotic than his doctor".
1 comment | Add comment
Are there n-words?
18 supporters
Yes
0
No
10
2
Squarmpo
No, but a slur for Italians is used.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
5
Race
Is there blackface?
17 supporters
Yes
1
No
3
1
SiRenfield
It’s not shown but the Gemini Killer makes up a black murder victim into minstrel show-esque makeup
1 comment | Add comment
Relationships
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0
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4
Religious
Yes
4
No
0
Yes
3
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0
Sex
Is there sexual content?
35 supporters
Yes
10
No
1
3
StevenHay
A man flashes a woman in the hospital.
2 comments | Add comment
Yes
0
No
4
Are there nude scenes?
23 supporters
Yes
0
No
5
1
mrflatwoods
No nude scenes, but a pornographic photo on a wall is shown.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
5
Yes
0
No
3
Yes
0
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4
Are there incestuous relationships?
National Sexual Assault Hotline 800.656.4673
51 supporters
Add comment
Yes
0
No
9
Sexism
Yes
0
No
5
Sickness
Yes
0
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4
Yes
5
No
0
Is there dementia/Alzheimer's?
15 supporters
Yes
5
No
0
2
SiRenfield
The demon basically body surfs into the bodies of dementia patients to perform his murders at the hospital
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
3
Social
Yes
0
No
5
Yes
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5
Yes
0
No
5
Yes
3
No
0
Spoiler
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11
Yes
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3
Does it have a sad ending?
24 supporters
Yes
4
No
6
1
SiRenfield
I mean certainly for Father Karass, poor guy
1 comment | Add comment
Vehicular
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No
9
Yes
4
No
0
Yes
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9
Yes
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10
Violence
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0
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10
Is there blood/gore?
31 supporters
Yes
11
No
0
2
hermitcrab
Some blood, but not very heavy on gore until about 1:38:00. SPOILERS: Toward the end, we see a priest having to rip his skin to free himself from a ceiling, exposing his brain, and the body of a boy who has been crucified and had his head replaced with that of a statue.
1 comment | Add comment
Yes
0
No
9
Is there gun violence?
12 supporters
Yes
12
No
0
2
hermitcrab
SPOILERS: The main character is forced to shoot the possessed body of his friend.
1 comment | Add comment