I still think The Exorcist III is a better overall film, even with the flaws and the ending feeling forced. I’m not saying you have to like it more because this is what Blatty wanted. The same people who complained that the over-the-top and out-of-place ending in The Exorcist III ruined the film are now saying the same of the subtle, nonchalant, no-frills climax that was always meant to be there in the first place. If you’ve read anything from Blatty over the years in regards to this film, you’ll know that’s what he wanted. There are more than a few blink-and-you’ll-miss-it shots. The story as a whole is a fast-paced, quickly edited production. But it falls in line with the rest of the film. It’s abrupt with no dramatic build-up whatsoever (or was there more footage lost that would have helped this aspect?). Honestly, is the ending a bit underwhelming? Yes. There was no exorcism or heavy special effects in his vision because it did not tie into his story. There wasn’t anything close to that in Blatty’s book. There wasn’t a Jason Miller as Karras character in the original. As for the ending, it is what we expected. So to knock the release because of quality is not exactly fair. This was a project 20+ years in the making, and we are lucky to even get something of this magnitude to begin with. Some of it actually retains HD value and looks fine while most looks like the direct scan off the VHS dailies they came from. The new footage inserted into Legion is of (mostly) a poor quality. The question that comes into the equation is do we judge it in comparison to The Exorcist III or as a standalone film that still seems incomplete because of the way that extra footage was handled? The latter gives those disappointed a chance to still wonder about “what might have been” and the former can claim the studio was right in demanding changes. To me, judging and reviewing Legion is actually a bit of a tricky task. Yet if you read the forums, you will see people are complaining about those two things. We also knew the ending would be a subtle one, the antithesis to the special effects bonanza the studio made him tack on in what became The Exorcist III. We knew that if the footage was ever found, it would be of a lower quality because it had been sitting in storage over the years. Like many people, I had been waiting many years to see William Peter Blatty’s vision of Legion put to film.

They did the best they could with what they had. The message before the start of the film explaining the process they undertook.

Legion william peter blatty review