History YMMV / TheExorcistIII

* WTHCastingAgency: Though Creator/GeorgeCScott beares a decent resemblance to Lee J. Cobb, the actor portraying Lt. Kinderman in the [[Film/TheExorcist original film]], Ed Flanders (Father Dyer) looks absolutely nothing like TheOtherDarrin William O'Malley. His performance ultimately more than makes up for the discrepancy in appearance though.

* CompleteMonster: [[SerialKiller James Venamun]], aka the Gemini Killer--a sobriquet he received due to his carving the Gemini symbol into his victims' hands--had his soul placed into the dying body of Father Damien Karras, but he was already evil before he was executed. While the body recovered, [[Resurrected Murderer Venamun]] ended up in an insane asylum, where he used his powers to possess comatose or feeble-minded patients, murdering multiple people in hideously ritualistic ways, including [[WouldHurtAChild a young boy]]. Venamun plans to kill forever and never cease, using Father Karras's body upon his exit to, as he says, kill the innocent and Karras's friends, all while Karras is [[AndIMustScream forever trapped within the body]], ForcedToWatch the depravities his own hands commit.

* CompleteMonster: [[SerialKiller James Venamun]], aka the Gemini Killer--a sobriquet he received due to his carving the Gemini symbol into his victims' hands--had his soul placed into the dying body of Father Damien Karras, but he was already evil before he was executed. While the body recovered, Venamun ended up in an insane asylum, where he used his powers to possess comatose or feeble-minded patients, murdering multiple people in hideously ritualistic ways, including [[WouldHurtAChild a young boy]]. Venamun plans to kill forever and never cease, using Father Karras's body upon his exit to, as he says, kill the innocent and Karras's friends, all while Karras is [[AndIMustScream forever trapped within the body]], ForcedToWatch the depravities his own hands commit.

* HeadScratchers: So how will Kinderman explain to his fellow police officers why he shot a man in a straightjacket point blank, and how a priest wound up flayed to death inside the cell? Saying a demon did it probably won't fly, so for most onlookers the most obvious explanation would be that Kinderman lost his mind and was responsible for two murders.

** The novel ''Legion'' at least gives the Gemini a FreudianExcuse for his depravity: he and his mentally retarded twin brother suffered years of horrific physical and emotional abuse at the hands of their TV evangelist father. The movie mention's the killer's hatred for his father but doesn't provide the backstory.

* {{Sequelitis}}: Partially averted. While widely regarded as far superior to the debacle that was ''Film/ExorcistIITheHeretic'', the consensus of many (but not all) critics and viewers alike is that this film was nevertheless a flawed and in many ways unnecessary sequel to ''Film/TheExorcist''.

* CompleteMonster: [[SerialKiller James Venamun]], aka the Gemini Killer (a sobriquet he received due to his carving the Gemini symbol into his victims' hands), had his soul placed into the dying body of Father Damien Karras, but he was already evil before he was executed. While the body recovered, Venamun ended up in an insane asylum, where he used his powers to possess comatose or feeble-minded patients, murdering multiple people in hideously ritualistic ways, including [[WouldHurtAChild a young boy]]. Venamun plans to kill forever and never cease, using Father Karras's body upon his exit to, as he says, kill the innocent and Karras's friends, all while Karras is [[AndIMustScream forever trapped within the body]], ForcedToWatch the depravities his own hands commit.