10 Sequels That Completely Ignored The Previous Film

3. The Exorcist III

Sequel to: The Exorcist But not: Exorcist II: The Heretic Here's where it gets extra confusing: Calling the alternative second part "The Exorcist III" is a little confusing to audiences that might expect III to follow II, but not half as confusing as the fact that fifteen years later there were two entirely separate prequels. Original choice of director Paul Schrader got most of the way through making his prequel about Father Merrin's first encounter with the demon Pazuzu before studio Morgan Creek decided that his version was not exciting enough and replaced Schrader with Renny Harlin. When Harlin's almost entirely re-shot film, Exorcist: The Beginning, was released and critically panned, Morgan Creek allowed Schrader to finish his version and released it as Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist to slightly less negative reviews. So which should I watch? Despite a certain amount of critical attempts at rehabilitating its reputation, The Heretic is a very poor film, whereas Exorcist III, for all that it is shambolically plotted and ultimately a compromise between original novelist and this movie's director William Peter Blatty and the studio's ideas of what an Exorcist sequel should be, is a generally effective horror. The original film, III, and, if you must have a prequel, Dominion are probably the most satisfying way to construct an Exorcist "trilogy".