Remember what happened the last time Blumhouse and David Gordon Green decided to spearhead a brand-new trilogy of films for a horror franchise kicked off by one of the genre’s greatest-ever films before descending quite rapidly into near-unwatchable mediocrity? We got the 2018 Halloween movie, and it was pretty darn good.
Fast forward to this past weekend, where Oppenheimer moviegoers were treated to a first look at The Exorcist: Believer, sending longtime fans of the decades-long franchise into a ghostly tizzy. Whether it will find its feet the same way Halloween did is yet to be seen, but the pattern is uncanny so far, so why not take it a touch further?
Starring Leslie Odom Jr. and Exorcist legacy figure Ellen Burstyn, The Exorcist: Believer follows the plight of a pair of young girls who mysteriously vanish one night, sending crippling waves of panic through their families. Brief respite is found when they turn up seemingly unharmed, but it becomes apparent very quickly that they’ve brought something demonic home with them. After recruiting one Chris MacNeil — who knows a thing or two about dealing with possessed children — the race to purge the parasitic fiends is on.
With four straight stinkers to the franchise’s name, The Exorcist could do with something of a win here, even if the deep-seated fandom is ready to stand by it come hell or high water. Indeed, let’s hope Green and company repeat Halloween history here with a respectable return to this historic horror mythos, give or take better luck on the incoming follow-ups.
The Exorcist: Believer is set to haunt theaters on October 13.