Passes the Bechdel test
The Exorcist III
1990. Directed by William Peter Blatty, written by William Peter Blatty.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
16 women characters. 11 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 4 scenes out of 128. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In those scenes, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Not rated bechdeltest.com readers haven't rated this film.
The film
Georgetown, Washington D.C. Seventeen long years after the execution of the Gemini Killer and the fateful night of pure terror in The Exorcist (1973), a spate of grisly killings bearing the trademark of the mass murderer terrorizes the district. And as the death toll keeps rising, skeptical police officer Lieutenant William F. Kinderman is still obsessed with solving the baffling case. In the meantime, in the city's high-security psychiatric institution, a cryptic inmate bearing an uncanny resemblance to the late Father Damien Karras emerges from his deep catatonic state, claiming he has all the answers Kinderman needs. But who is the mysterious Patient X? Does the same unholy force that tormented Regan MacNeil have something to do with the brutal demonic murders?
- Released
- 17 Aug 1990
- Genres
- Drama, Horror, Mystery
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6.5 / 10
- Metascore
- 48 / 100
- Awards
- 2 wins & 5 nominations total
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Kinderman 292 lines, man
- Dyer 78 lines, man
- Allerton 33 lines, woman
- Mary 28 lines, woman
- Temple 25 lines, man
- Nurse Merrin 18 lines, woman
- Stedman 15 lines, man
- Shirley 13 lines, woman
- University President 13 lines, man
- Freedman 12 lines, man
Full cast, 66 people
- George C. Scott as Lt. William 'Bill' Kinderman
- Ed Flanders as Father Joseph Kevin Dyer
- Brad Dourif as James Venamun / The Gemini Killer
- Jason Miller as Father Damien Karras / Patient X
- Nicol Williamson as Father Morning
- Scott Wilson as Dr. Temple
- Nancy Fish as Nurse Allerton
- George DiCenzo as Stedman
- Don Gordon as Ryan
- Lee Richardson as University President
- Grand L. Bush as Sergeant Atkins
- Mary Jackson as Mrs. Clelia
- Viveca Lindfors as Nurse X
- Ken Lerner as Dr. Freedman
- Tracy Thorne as Nurse Keating
- Barbara Baxley as Shirley
- Zohra Lampert as Mary Kinderman
- Harry Carey Jr. as Father Kanavan
- Sherrie Wills as Julie Kinderman
- Edward Lynch as Patient A
- Clifford David as Dr. Bruno
- Alex Zuckerman as Korner Boy
- Lois Foraker as Nurse Merrin
- Tyra Ferrell as Nurse Blaine
- James Burgess as Thomas Kintry
- Kevin Corrigan as Altar Boy
- Peggy Alston as Mrs. Kintry
- John Durkin as Elderly Jesuit
- Bobby Deren as Nurse Bierce
- Jan Neuberger as Alice
- Alexis Chieffet as Counter Attendant
- Debra Port as Waitress
- Walt MacPherson as Police Sergeant
- David Dwyer as Second Police Officer
- Danny Epper as Police Driver
- William Preston as Old Man in Wheelchair
- Chuck Kinlaw as Attendant
- Demetrios Pappageorge as Casperelii
- Nina Hansen as Little Old Lady
- Samuel L. Jackson as Dream Blind Man
- Shane Wexel as First Dream Boy (uncredited)
- Ryan Paul Amick as Second Dream Boy (uncredited)
- John Coe as Old Man in Dream (uncredited)
- Jodi Long as First Dream Woman (uncredited)
- Kathy Gerber as Second Dream Woman (uncredited)
- Jan Smook as Radio Man (uncredited)
- Amelia Campbell as Young Girl in Dream (uncredited)
- Cherie Baron as Nurse
- Larry King as Larry King
- C. Everett Koop as Everett Koop
- Patrick Ewing as Angel of Death
- Clinton Brandhagen as Young Boy in Dream (uncredited)
- Michael Criscuolo as Mental Patient (uncredited)
- Cindy Cullom as Nurse (uncredited)
- Colleen Dewhurst as Satan (voice) (uncredited)
- Fabio as Angel (uncredited)
- Randy Aaron Fink as Student (uncredited)
- Jeff Henry as Angel (uncredited)
- Patt Noday as Hospital Ward Priest (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
- Manley Pope as Angel (uncredited)
- John Thompson as John Thompson - Georgetown Hoyas Basketball Coach (uncredited)
- Michael Tove as Man in Purgatory (uncredited)
- Brad Waller as Asylum Inmate (uncredited)
- Gary Wheeler as Crime Photographer (uncredited)
- Teresa Wright as Penitent (uncredited)
- Charles Edwin Powell as Patient X Possessed
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 7% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 128
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | 0 | 4 |
| 4 to 6 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 to 9 | 0 | 2 |
| 10 to 12 | 0 | 5 |
| 13 to 15 | 2 | 22 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 34 |
| 19 to 21 | 21 | 14 |
| 22 to 24 | 0 | 18 |
| 25 to 27 | 3 | 32 |
| 28 to 30 | 5 | 12 |
| 31 to 33 | 0 | 6 |
| 34 to 36 | 1 | 1 |
| 37 to 39 | 3 | 59 |
| 40 to 42 | 0 | 20 |
| 43 to 45 | 1 | 3 |
| 46 to 48 | 4 | 16 |
| 49 to 51 | 0 | 17 |
| 52 to 54 | 10 | 28 |
| 55 to 57 | 0 | 6 |
| 58 to 60 | 0 | 21 |
| 61 to 63 | 0 | 17 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 1 |
| 67 to 69 | 0 | 6 |
| 70 to 72 | 2 | 10 |
| 73 to 75 | 0 | 7 |
| 76 to 78 | 4 | 10 |
| 79 to 81 | 0 | 5 |
| 82 to 84 | 3 | 24 |
| 85 to 87 | 22 | 40 |
| 88 to 90 | 1 | 7 |
| 91 to 93 | 4 | 2 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 9 |
| 97 to 99 | 11 | 27 |
| 100 to 102 | 11 | 12 |
| 103 to 105 | 3 | 0 |
| 106 to 108 | 5 | 0 |
| 109 to 111 | 0 | 1 |
| 112 to 114 | 0 | 1 |
| 115 to 117 | 0 | 0 |
| 118 to 120 | 1 | 0 |
| 121 to 123 | 0 | 1 |
| 124 to 126 | 17 | 15 |
| 127 to 128 | 10 | 14 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scenes
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
MARY: Terrific. We stopped at a diner · and instead of potatoes they gave Mama grits and she says right out loud, "These Jews are crazy!" SHIRLEY: They are! They're fahblondjet! MARY: Real loud. How was your day?
MARY: Well, like Kelly Febre. SHIRLEY: Do you hear?
SHIRLEY: It's not nice, it's the fiendish beginning! Then the next thing Doctor Feinerman will spritz up her nose so it matches the name and after th… MARY: Could- be wo:::-se. SHIRLEY: How worse?
MRS. CLELIA: I just knew you weren't really a radio repairman. MRS. CLELIA: That's a telephone I'm holding. MRS. CLELIA O: That's all right. Lots of people wouldn't know the difference either. It's all right. You have a very kind face. You'll do well.
SHIRLEY: It's beginning. There's a Storm Trooper out in the back! MARY: Billy, what is going on?
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 21 are women's.
144 lines from women, 529 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
16 women and 32 men in the cast. 11 women and 18 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 23 of 724.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 70 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 18% of the words (1,129), men 82% (5,206). Women have 21% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit E: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
13
Two men
41
Exhibit F: behind the camera
None of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 8% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- William Peter Blatty (man)
- Written by
- William Peter Blatty (man)
- From the novel by
- William Peter Blatty (man)
- Produced by
- Carter DeHaven (man)
- Shot by
- Gerry Fisher (man)
- Edited by
- Peter Lee-Thompson (gender not listed), Todd C. Ramsay (man)
- Music by
- Barry De Vorzon (man)
- Production design by
- Leslie Dilley (man)
- Costumes by
- Dana Lyman (gender not listed)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
1 women, 10 men, 3 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 7 men, 6 not listed
-
Costume & Make-Up
2 women, 4 men, 4 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Directing
0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Production
0 women, 3 men, 1 not listed
-
Visual Effects
0 women, 2 men, 2 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 52 on average. Men: 54 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Nancy Fish 52
Men
Brad Dourif 40, Scott Wilson 48, George DiCenzo 50, Jason Miller 51, Nicol Williamson 53, Ed Flanders 55, George C. Scott 62, Don Gordon 63, Lee Richardson 63
Exhibit H: the money
It made 3.5 times what it cost.
- Budget
- $11 million
- Box office
- $39 million
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 128 scenes and 724 lines of dialogue. How the test works
