It was only on a recent rewatch that I noticed Samuel L. Jackson’s tiny cameo in The Exorcist 3. While the original Exorcist is clearly the better movie – and one of the best horror films of all time, period – I’ve always preferred watching the third movie.

Exorcist 3 has one of the best jump scares ever conceived, amazing performances by George C. Scott and Brad Dourif, and a genuinely eerie, unsettling atmosphere. It was famously compromised by the studio though, who insisted that writer and director William Peter Blatty reshoot the sequel to include an overblown exorcism finale.

These reshoots also added back Jason Miller from the first entry in the Exorcist movie franchise, reprising his role as Father Karras. The third film was a solid hit (grossing $39 million, according to Box Office Mojo), but its reputation has only grown in the years since.

Not only is Exorcist 3 recognised as the best sequel in the series, but it’s considered one of the 1990s’ most underrated horror films. The film is also filled with unusual cameos, including Fabio, Larry King and Patrick Ewing.

Samuel L. Jackson Appeared In The Exorcist 3

Jackson was still a few years out from Pulp Fiction

Most of these cameos take place inside a dream that Scott’s protagonist, Lieutenant Kinderman, is having. Kinderman dreams he is wandering a version of purgatory, where angels comfort the souls of the recently deceased, including the murder victims of the Gemini Killer.

I usually found this dream sequence kind of silly on previous viewings of The Exorcist 3, but this time it worked for me. It’s over the top for sure, but there’s an unsettling undercurrent to it. This viewing was also the first time I spotted Samuel L. Jackson, credited as “Dream Blind Man.”

Kinderman spots Jackson’s character listening to a radio, as another character tries to talk to the living. Jackson’s irritated blind man responds to her efforts with, “The living are deaf!“ This is his sole line in The Exorcist 3, and it sounds weird because instead of hearing Jackson’s iconic voice, he was dubbed by another actor.

Samuel L. Jackson Has Only Appeared In A Few Horror Movies In His Career

Deep Blue Sea is Jackson’s horror apex

Jackson has appeared in just about every genre imaginable, but for such a prolific actor, he hasn’t appeared in many horror films. Prior to The Exorcist 3, he was in cult horror movie Def by Temptation, and in the years that followed, starred in genre efforts like Snakes on a Plane and Stephen King adaptations 1408 and Cell.

Naturally, Jackson’s shock death in Deep Blue Sea is his standout moment in the genre, where his character is brutally devoured by sharks in the middle of a rousing monologue. Compared to that, his scene in The Exorcist 3 is mighty disappointing.

His appearance is so fleeting, it’s little wonder I never noticed Jackson before, and the dubbed voice sounds nothing like him. Jackson was also working constantly when Exorcist 3 was released, also appearing in Goodfellas and Mo’ Better Blues that same year, but he was still a few years out from his career-changing role in Pulp Fiction.

Source: Box Office Mojo