Summary
- The Exorcist: Believer received abysmal reviews and failed to live up to the reputation of the original film, lacking originality and purpose.
- The film falls short in the horror genre and fails to be ambitious or scary enough, not living up to the fear factor of the original classic even 50 years later.
- The return of Ellen Burstyn to the franchise is underutilized, with her casting feeling transactional and passionless, contributing to the overall disappointment of the film.
Considering the abysmal reviews for The Exorcist: Believer, the main takeaways of the mass criticisms center around one common theme: it isn’t good. The Exorcist: Believer is hardly the first attempt at implementing an entertaining and reliable horror franchise out of the celebrated 1973 original film, often heralded as the ‘scariest movie of all time’. Believer was created with the intention to compete with modern independent efforts in the horror genre such as M3GAN and Talk to Me but mainly fell flat because of its lack of originality and purpose. Even with successful franchise revitalizer David Gordon Green at the helm (Halloween), most critics have lost their faith in The Exorcist franchise.
The original 1973 Exorcist still holds up as a terrifying movie that has unsettled audiences for some 50 years. The direct sequel The Exorcist II: The Heretic was released in 1977 under the new direction of John Boorman but failed to capture the prominence of the first film. 1990’s The Exorcist III is arguably the best installment of The Exorcist franchise but still couldn’t hold a match to the classic. Hollywood already got the hint that TheExorcist sequels were doomed, resorting to two even worse prequel films in 2004 and 2005 that seemed to have buried the franchise for good. Unfortunately, The Exorcist: Believer continued the trend of the woefully uninspired horror sequels.
8 The Exorcist: Believer Brings Nothing New To The Horror Genre
Most critics agreed that The Exorcist: Believer was simply an unnecessary venture because it doesn’t push the envelope on the already progressive state of the modern horror genre. In a time where many great horror films are finding innovative ways to terrify the masses, particularly due to standout auteur directors like Jordan Peele, Ari Aster, and Robert Eggers, The Exorcist: Believer goes in the opposite direction. The film is full of familiar horror tropes and similar situations to those found in the original movie, resulting in what feels like largely a paint-by-numbers movie which would hold up better if it weren’t cast in such a monumental shadow.
7 The Exorcist: Believer Is Not Ambitious Or Scary Enough
Director David Gordan Green surely knew what he was up against when taking on The Exorcist: Believer, considering the original film’s reputation as a landmark of horror. With this in mind, the one major requirement for any sequel of The Exorcist should undoubtedly be its overall fear factor, an aspect that feels like it was overlooked with 2023’s Believer. Similar to The Exorcist III, which notably did not feature a single exorcism on screen, Believer’s story feels like it was forced to fit under The Exorcist umbrella more than it was inspired by its actual legacy. The Exorcist III was based on a novel titled “Legion” and rebranded as an Exorcist movie, which feels like the case in parts of Believer.
6 The Exorcist: Believer Underutilizes Ellen Burstyn’s Franchise Return
Ellen Burstyn was wise to not reprise her role as Chris MacNeil, mother of the infamous Regan character from the original, until five decades had passed. Her big return to the franchise was effectively underwhelming, as Green and Blumhouse didn’t utilize her as much as they should have in their attempts at revival. The 90-year-old Burstyn only agreed to return to The Exorcist franchise if Blumhouse agreed to increase her salary and donate it entirely to the charity of her choice. Burstyn’s casting was evidently transactional and passionless, used by Blumhouse for the sake of continuity credibility and hardly any other reason besides that.
5 The Exorcist: Believer Suffers Inevitable Comparisons To The Original
One of the most challenging considerations with The Exorcist franchise is how impactful the original film was and how difficult as a result it is to produce something greater than one of the best horrors ever made. Several other successful and decades-spanning horror franchises didn’t start out with such a high standard to live up to, such as Friday the 13th, Saw, and Child’s Play. At times, the original Exorcist appears somewhat like an art film with profound, intentional cinematography, religious symbolism, and sophisticated themes of psychiatry in the face of supernatural phenomena. For anything to actually compare to the original, it would essentially have to be a modern masterpiece.
4 The Exorcist: Believer Fails To Set Up A Modern Exorcist Trilogy
Much like Green’s modern Halloween trilogy, The Exorcist: Believer was designed to be the first of a 21st-century Exorcist trilogy, which still might be the case. It’s too early to tell whether Green would still be involved in that if Blumhouse decided to stick to that original plan. However, he is a talented enough filmmaker to possibly turn the franchise around with a redemptive Exorcist sequel. The Exorcist brand name will still always turn heads and catch the eyes of fans of the original movie, so not all hope is lost for the franchise that, by most critic’s assessments, should have never started.
3 The Exorcist: Believer Completely Disregards Linda Blair’s Regan
Linda Blair was handed a script by Green and was prompted to become a part of The Exorcist: Believer cast. Blair declined despite studio excitement and willingness for her to reprise her role as Regan alongside Burstyn’s Chris, which might have produced a more appealing film. This fault can’t really be attributed to the film itself, as they at least tried to get Blair on board but were unable to convince her. Blair was a consultant on the film, primarily with the intention of creating a safe space for the child actors on set. Believer could have done more to explain Regan’s absence but elected to chalk it up to her becoming estranged from her mother over time.
2 The Exorcist: Believer Feels Like A Soulless Hollywood Cash Grab
At the end of the day, most critics see The Exorcist: Believer exactly for what it is: a flat and predictable horror movie hiding under the guise of a cinematic landmark. This is made even more clear by the sheer lack of imagination in the movie, almost identically hitting every beat of the original without properly building the suspense or believability to at least give it a chance of holding up to the original. Believer ultimately plays it too by the book to the point where it nearly feels like Green wants the audience to see the direct links to the original film but in formulaic structure, not in craftsmanship or effect.
1 The Exorcist Sequels Have All Been Consistently Disappointing
The Exorcist: Believer only substantiates the argument that was already made clear with 1977’s direct sequel which was equally disastrous. None of the three sequels or two prequels in The Exorcist franchise are any good. Believer should hit the nail on the coffin on a franchise that just wasn’t meant to be. William Friedkin himself walked away from talks of The Exorcist 2 for the simple fact that he had no other story to tell with the material. Unfortunately, Blumhouse and Green did not have much of a story to tell with The Exorcist: Believer despite its potential, resulting in yet another disappointing installment of The Exorcist franchise.
This story originally appeared on Screenrant
