The Exorcist is considered the ‘totem’ of all Horror movies by most filmgoers, so when David Gordon Green attempts to resurrect that affection through a new age franchise edition, the knowledgeable should be wary
The Exorcist: Believer movie review
Film: The Exorcist: Believer
Cast: Ellen Burstyn, Leslie Odom Jr., Ann Dowd, Raphael Sbarge, Lidya Jewett, E.J. Bonilla
Director: David Gordon Green
Rating: 2/5
Runtime: 111 mins
The Exorcist is considered the ‘totem’ of all Horror movies by most filmgoers, so when David Gordon Green attempts to resurrect that affection through a new age franchise edition, the knowledgeable should be wary…especially since he has already messed up the ‘Halloween’ franchise series with bubble-headed attempts to win scares. One would in fact wonder why a guy who wrote pitiable bro comedies would be trying to ruin iconic horror franchises.
The illogical plotting has two girls disappear into the woods and return several days later with no memory of what happened to them. The father of one girl seeks out Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), who’s been forever altered by what happened to her daughter fifty years ago. Thereafter it's all pretty lame and banal stuff. The add-on characters in this re-imagining, fail to curry favor and the visuals don’t have the iconography or symbolism of the original classic. There’s a vague attempt to allude to something deeper but its all so fluffed-up and uninteresting that it's more of a shocker (for those who have seen and revere the original classic) than a horror-entertainer.
Green could be said to have completely missed the essence of the original 1973 film. The opening though, was intriguing enough with Green restraining the narrative long enough for the plot to gain moss along the way. The use of CGI effects, camera lighting, angles, saturated colors, and background noises were stereotypical attempts to make the horror come to life. The numerous filters make it look good visually but its neither compelling nor is there any discomfort to experience. The undertone of terror is missing from this exercise in futility. The Demon is the same but the voice differs. It’s not as compellingly evil or eerie enough to make your skin crawl.
The writing credited to William Peter Blatty(the writer of the original), Peter Sattler, Scott Teems, and Green himself, goes all over the place. There’s little consistency in the plotting and the lack of depth in the storytelling is a sore point. The narrative basically nose-dives into a generic wasteland. Even the jump scares are way too obvious to do the trick. This film feels like a desperate attempt to cash in on an invaluable IP.
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