About the film (courtesy of Universal Pictures):
Since the death of his pregnant wife in a Haitian earthquake 12 years ago, Victor Fielding has raised his daughter, Angela on his own. But when Angela and her friend Katherine disappear in the woods, only to return three days later with no memory of what happened to them, it unleashes a chain of events that will force Victor to confront the nadir of evil and, in his terror and desperation, seek out the only person alive who has witnessed anything like it before: Chris MacNeil.
The Exorcist: Believer is a direct sequel to the Oscar-winning 1973 hit, The Exorcist, based on a 1971 novel penned by William Peter Blatty. The original created quite the uproar fifty years ago. From production mishaps leading to many believing this film was truly cursed, to scores of viewers falling ill, fainting, etc., this possession horror film proved that even negative publicity can have a definite positive impact on the fiscal strength in the box office. A young Linda Blair would become a household name just like split pea soup became synonymous with projectile vomit!
David Gordon Green, director of the most recent Halloween trilogy, tries his luck in the continuation of another very famous horror franchise. In an attempt to create a close tie-in with the original, The Exorcist: Believer sees the return of Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), as she has more experience than just about anyone in dealing with a familiar foe with its eyes set on ripping another family (or two) apart.
Leslie Odom Jr., Lidya Jewett, Norbert Leo Butz, Jennifer Nettles and Olivia Marcum make up the two families featured in this sequel. The acting is decent throughout with any glaring weaknesses. That said, there aren’t any real standout performances either. Ann Dowd and Raphael Sbarge are another couple of familiar faces lending a supporting hand. David Gordon Green gives his performers ample screen time to make their presence known, it’s just that they really didn’t.
The Exorcist: Believer brings with it a few jump scares to audiences slightly on edge. The overall atmosphere is nicely done while providing a slight uncomfortableness and sense of pending doom throughout. The score is also somewhat unsettling as well. And what is an Exorcist movie without musical staple, Tubular Bells? As I eluded to earlier, David Gordon Green keeps one foot firmly planted in the past, which provides a few treats.
The Exorcist: Believer struggles with its pacing, as the overall story does feel a bit drawn out and less than original. In all honesty, it’s about as predictable as can be. In addition, the exorcism scenes were nothing groundbreaking and were slightly underwhelming.
Even with the few knocks on this feature, The Exorcist: Believer did garner enough interest to make it an entertaining option to recommend for those that are fans of genre and/or exorcism movies in general. While it won’t escape the shadow of the original film, it is chilling and sporadically suspenseful in just enough places to earn a slight recommend.
The Exorcist: Believer is Rated R for some violent content, disturbing images, language and sexual references. You can see this horror film only in theaters this Friday, October 6th with early showtimes Thursday evening.
