The Exorcist III (1990)

Exorcist 3 starts 15 years after the original Exorcist where cops are investigating an elusive serial killer known as the Gemini Killer. The police chief is a good friend with a local priest who's close to the case and who also knew Father Merrin, the main priest from The Exorcist who killed himself after being possessed by Pazuzu.

One Gemini victim, the focal point of this movie, was a black guy who was decapitated and crucified. In place of his head was the head from a Jesus statue, painted in black face. Gemini's next victim was a priest, murdered him in his confessional in the middle of the day. The next was another priest, killed in the hospital and drained of every ounce of his blood. But the thing is, Gemini had already been fried in the electric chair 15 years prior. So what gives? 30 minutes in and this movie is already more exciting than both The Exorcist and Exorcist 2.

The investigation surrounding the murders and the hunt for Gemini make up the bulk of Exorcist 3. But the mounting dread and constant presence of the supernatural make it feel like an Exorcist movie and firmly root it in horror.