Back in 2020, ‘Halloween’ director David Gordon Green had taken the plunge to revive the granddaddy of all horror movies – the 1973 Academy Award-winning film ‘The Exorcist’. Finally, the eagerly anticipated sequel titled ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ will be released in theatres including India tomorrow.
Although the parent film ‘The Exorcist’ is still regarded as arguably the greatest horror movie of all time, its sequels and prequels were unable to surpass the legacy created by the first film. Now that the reviews for ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ are already out, does the film live up to the virtually unattainable benchmark set by the parent film and is it a worthy tribute to the 1973 movie? Let’s find out.
We are disheartened to inform ‘The Exorcist’ fans and horror movie buffs that ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ has received underwhelming reviews so far by critics. On reviews aggregation portal Rotten Tomatoes, the movie currently holds a below average critics’ score of just 24% based on 84 reviews.
So, it looks like the ardent and loyal fans of the cult horror film ‘The Exorcist’ might once again get disappointed by another Exorcist movie. It was previously reported that Universal Pictures and OTT service Peacock had shelled out a whopping $400 million to buy the new trilogy of the premium horror franchise. Now, if ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ underperforms at the box-office also, it remains to be seen whether the makers will move forward with the next two Exorcist movies ‘The Exorcist: Deceiver’ and another untitled movie or not.
For the unversed, the original film ‘The Exorcist’ was based on William Peter Blatty’s novel of the same name and helmed by William Friedkin. The film revolved around the demonic possession and subsequent exorcism of the 12-year-old child of a famous actress. It became the first horror film to be nominated for not one but ten Academy Awards, eventually winning two for Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Sound categories.
‘The Exorcist: Believer’ follows the story of a distressed couple whose daughter has been possessed by a demonic entity. They take the help of Chris MacNeil, who had undergone similar experience many years back as the distressed actress-mother of a possessed child (played by Linda Blair). Chris MacNeil’s character was played by Ellen Burstyn in the original Exorcist movie.