Legion

Early in this new adaptation of Blatty’s novel (the sequel to his mammoth best-seller The Exorcist), homicide cop Kinderman (Bajenski) informs his friend Father Dyer (Ward) that The Maltese Falcon is one of his all-time favorite films. Like John Huston, Sherman gives us a scrupulous version of his source text, but Blatty is no Dashiell Hammett. He saddles his detective with extended, windy meditations on mind, body and the problem of evil. Somewhere buried in here is a nifty little pulp thriller, mashing the conventions of serial-killer fare with more supernatural themes. But by the end of the first act of this lugubrious tale, a good hour-plus in, Kinderman’s investigation is still getting off the ground. It’s as if Sam Spade spent half the film debating the morality of getting together with his partner’s wife.

Later, Legion does perk up as Barsotti’s mad Gemini Killer takes center stage and people finally start getting snatched in dark hallways. Barsotti underplays his lunatic, a choice that in a higher-pressure environment might have been enormously effective. Here, though, together with Bajenski’s gruffly low-key cop and the generally glacial pace, it just seems like the effect of a set-wide Vicodin dose. Perhaps the most terrifying moment comes as the play seems about to wrap up, when Kinderman launches into an analysis of The Brothers Karamazov: Will we ever escape this man’s meanderings? WildClaw’s design is first-rate, with Scott Tallarida and Mikhail Fiksel’s sound establishing a thoroughly eerie mood. If only Sherman had been more of a slasher.

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