MovieChat Forums > The Exorcist III (1990) Discussion > LEGION novel

LEGION novel

posted 8 years ago by strangenstein
5 replies | jump to latest

I just finished reading Blatty's LEGION novel last night (for the first time) and wanted to share a few thoughts. There may be spoilers.

This is only the second time I can recall that I liked the movie version better than the book. (The other was JAWS.) So many things that made the movie utterly terrifying are toned down here. The movie's famous 'hospital hallway' scene is nowhere to be found in the book, although Nurse Keating is killed. The scene with the 'nurse' going to Kinderman's house is similar in the novel to the movie version, but the movie takes more time to ratchet up the mounting suspense. Seeing that nurse in the back of the car, with the ominous music and growling sounds, really frightened me.

Kinderman's interactions with the Gemini killer were interesting in the book, but didn't produce the fear the movie did. (I admit, it was hard to read the novel and NOT see the corresponding movie events in my head.) Much of the dialogue from the book during these passages is used in the movie. One BIG difference, though, is in the novel the Gemini killer is simply inhabiting Karras's body; the movie actually has Karras's spirit still in his body, along with the evil Gemini. (From a Christian perspective I don't think Satan would have the power to do this. Fr. Karras was definitely a believer and his faithfulness and belief would've been rewarded at the time of his death, i.e. his soul went to heaven.)

Having Karras's soul still in his body, suffering under the weight of the Gemini killer (and the evil controlling said killer) makes for a more powerful message. This draws Kinderman closer to Karras, his friend. The book's version of events is missing this dynamic.

It was interesting in the novel to have the Gemini's background fleshed out. The Gemini of the novel almost elicits a touch of sympathy (almost), but no such sentiment is found in the movie version. I prefer him as an enigma, although the movie does make one referencing to him "shaming Daddy".

Overall, I really enjoyed the novel although, as I mentioned at the outset, I prefer the movie version (exorcism and all). I did find myself wondering how scary the novel would be if I HADN'T seen the movie first? It's hard to say, since the movie is and was so powerful for me, but I think the novel would've raised a few goosebumps. Nothing like the movie did, but the shudders are definitely there.

One last thought regarding LEGION: sometimes long soliloquies on the meaning of life, where we came from, why are we here, etc., can be stimulating. And, sometimes, they can simply be long-winded. I found most of Kinderman's pontificating to be long-winded.

Your mileage may vary.

[–] bastasch8647 8 years ago

Agreed on Kinderman's long-winded ponderings, and that's not to mention that they are heavily weighted toward creationism and/or intelligent design, which makes it look like Kinderman is not really seeking truth, but trying to fit natural phenomena into his pre-conceived and deeply-hoped for God-created world.

Granted that having Karras's soul/Karras himself present and in danger does "up the ante" - he who had once been the rescuer of Regan and Chris has now himself become the subject of rescue by Fr. Morning and Kinderman. Otoh, this scenario casts a pall on the ending of the first novel and film, where it is to clear that Karras has sacrficed himself for Regan and is now going on to his reward. To think that poor Damien, having gone through all that - only to be captured by the demon and stuffed back into his body along with the Gemini - makes the original ending unsettling and incomplete, rather than the completely triumphant and victorious ending that Blatty originally wrote. So Karras being captured in Exorcist III casts an unfortunate, unpleasant shadow over his victory in The Exorcist.

Fortunately, however, we can be thankful that although Exorcist III is Blatty's own work, on the subject of Karras' demonic captivity it is not canon. As you said, in the Legion novel, Karras has indeed gone on to his reward, and the only soul inhabiting his resuscitated corpse is the Gemini (and occasionally the Gemini's "good" twin). The sequel novel correctly agrees with its previous source that Karras did save Regan; died; and, redeemed, went to heaven. It was only because the studio demanded a Legion script re-write that Blatty changed the story in order to include an exorcism/exorcist ... and also because the studio wanted Jason Miller to return as Karras, that Blatty devised the "Karras in demonic captivity" theme.

I have come to end up enjoying both versions, but I do regard Exorcist III's over the top exorcistic climax as a better climax than Legion's. In Legion, the Gemini simply wills himself to die when he learns that his evil father has passed away - which, to me, is a denouement so understated as to be weak, especially after the buildup Blatty had given it.

[–] bastasch8647 8 years ago

*bump*

OP, and anybody else who has read the Legion novel? What did you think of it, especially Kinderman's sometimes pages-long ruminations on nature and God's existence...and other features of this strange little tale...?

[–] strangenstein 8 years ago

Like you, I also prefer the Sturm und Drang exorcism finale of the movie to the more sedate, anti-climactic ending (of the Gemini killer) in the book. Those exorcism scenes certainly create an eerie atmosphere. Blatty did the best he could with what was forced upon him.

One change that does work IN FAVOR of the movie was adding Jason Miller. If it was only Brad Dourif on screen, as was originally filmed, I'm not sure how Blatty would've made the connection that it's Fr. Karras's body Kinderman is seeing. And while having Karras's soul still in his body does change a bit of the 'happy ending' of The Exorcist, I think we can overlook that if we see the two movies as the continuation of one story. No matter how it comes together, Blatty had to do a little cheating with LEGION to make it work.

I have yet to see the LEGION fanedit done a few years back by spicediver, but it sounds like the perfect form for the movie, short of Blatty's complete and unaltered vision. In all honesty, I'm not sure Blatty's original version, with only Dourif and no Miller, is what I'd prefer.

One last thought: LEGION, the novel, took a minor character from The Exoricst and expanded upon that role. I wouldn't mind seeing a movie made today that takes that concept to the next level, i.e. a story that focuses now on Kinderman's daughter Julie. Her brush with death and evil could be expanded on and how it's affecting her now. Just a thought.

[–] bastasch8647 8 years ago

Yes, I once had a story idea where Julie K. would now be a police lieutenant like her Dad, having put ballet on the back burner to pursue a police career, but I couldn't flesh it out!

Agreed that having Jason Miller really makes the film. Like you, I have a difficult time seeing Dourif as Karras. Blatty filmed the last few minutes of the exorcism with Dourif as Karras, presumably hoping to establish this new actor in the viewer's mind as the real Damien Karras (I wonder who he got to play Regan in that scene) - and if I'm not mistaken, that's Dourif's voice from that scene which says, "Take me, damn you! Come into me!" in the Exorcist III trailer - certainly it's not Miller's voice from the original film.

As you said, Blatty had to do a little cheating to make the film work (Kinderman and Karras had been "best friends" - but I don't understand why he made Thomas Kintry a black child and his mother the discoverer of the demonic backward-speech on Karras' tapes), especially after the studio's demand for an exorcism scene. I do love Nicol Williamson's nearly wordless portrayal of the saintly Fr. Morning with his first two scenes in his room and in the chapel. He was powerful in the exorcism scene as well, even though he had to contend - unlike Merrin and Karras in the first film - with visionary serpents and flames.

[–] somesunnyday 8 years ago

I had the complete opposite experience to you. Like you, I saw the movie first, then read the novel. I found the novel to be far superior to the film for many reasons. I really like the side story of Dr Amfortas, but I can see how that would be difficult to put to film. I'm still disappointed he didn't play as big a role in the film.

I didn't mind Kinderman's rantings. Although they sometimes carried on a bit and seemed almost manic, I enjoyed them and felt them as he did.

That God awful exorcism scene in the film that was forced upon Blatty is just terrible and should not have happened (dumb ass producers!).

That corridor scene with the nurse is purely for film only. The whole setup and execution of the scene is not something that can be written and have the same effect. It's purely visual and aural, that's why it works so well.