One filmmaker who has taken that brave step is David Gordon Green. Green came onto the radar of most film fans when he teamed up with the kings of horror, Blumhouse Productions, to make the 2018 film Halloween. It was a brave decision, horror fans are known for being vocal when it comes to people messing with the classics ‒ and not only was Green scheduled to make one film, it was going to be a trilogy.
To many’s surprise, Green pulled it off – all three films were praised by horror fans and it seemed like the unthinkable could happen… there was a way for modern-day filmmakers to use original source material and bring franchises alive in today’s cinema. Well, it seems like Green is not a man to rest on his laurels because he is back and this time he is taking on perennial horror favourite The Exorcist with his latest instalment – The Exorcist: Believer.
Like he did with Halloween, Green and his co-writer Peter Sattler (Broken Diamonds) ignore subsequent The Exorcist sequels and go back to the source material – William Friedkin’s 1973 classic. From there they tell the story of Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom Jnr. – Murder on the Orient Express), a gifted photographer who finds himself the single father of Angela (Lidya Jewett – Feel The Beat) after his wife died in an earthquake years earlier.
Victor and Angela have a healthy father-daughter relationship and he feels like he knows his daughter quite well until she and another girl who he didn’t even know she was friends with, Katherine (newcomer Olivia Marcum), go missing and then reappear three days later.
When the girls return there is something seriously wrong. While Katherine’s family turn to their church for help, Victor is left fending for himself until his neighbour and nurse, Ann (Ann Dowd – Compliance), comes to him saying she believes that the girls are possessed as the symptoms are very similar to what she has read in Chris MacNeil’s (Ellen Burstyn – Requiem for a Dream) book chronicling the events years earlier.
For the most part The Exorcist: Believer does work and pays true respect to the original film – but having said that there are some downsides to the film. First it feels like Green lets everything in the film run too long. It takes ages to get into the bulk of the plot and then when it does scenes such as the exorcism themselves run too long ‒ and given that there is nothing ‘new’ that audiences haven’t seen in other exorcism films over the years it feels like it never capitalises on the suspense that it should.
What the film does do well is tie into the 1973 original with ease. Bringing back the character of Chris MacNeil in a meaningful and believable way is a stroke of genius from Green and Sattler – whether hardcore Exorcist fans are happy with the outcome remains to be seen. Her inclusion, and a late twist, does provide perfect plot fodder going forward though.
The other surprising turn with this film that actually adds power to its storyline is the way that it embraces religion just like the original film did. With the world turning its back on religion more and more these days, most people could have understood if Green had decided that it wouldn’t play an important part in The Exorcist: Believer.
Instead, he seems to go the other way. The film explores the fact that Katherine’s parents find solace in their Baptist church family, even using their Pastor (Raphael Sbarge – Risky Business) as one of the catalysts of the events that occur in a bid to save the girls.
Green also explores Catholicism’s beliefs on exorcism with the inclusion of a renegade priest, Father Maddox (E.J. Bonilla – Gemini Man), but to be truthful that storyline is not explored as deeply as it should have been and in the end the character is completely wasted.
As a film The Exorcist: Believer does have its good and bad points. On the one hand fans of the original film should embrace the fact that Green has entwined the two plots so well, but on the other hand the film feels like it runs too long and brings nothing new to the exorcism sub-genre. Some will view this as a good fresh start to the franchise while others might see it as a wasted opportunity.
2.5/5 Stars
The Exorcist: Believer is currently screening in Phuket and is rated ‘15’.
David Griffiths has been working as a film and music reviewer for over 20 years. That time has seen him work in radio, television and in print. He is also an accredited reviewer for Rotten Tomatoes. You can follow him at www.facebook.com/subcultureentertainmentaus