On Oct. 3, the AMC theater in South Boston held an early screening for “The Exorcist: Believer.” The film, which is set to officially come out on Oct. 5, is a sequel to the 1973 Cult Classic “The Exorcist,” which to this day remains one of the most highly regarded horror films in history.
There are many expectations that come with making a sequel of such an iconic film, especially when it is set to come out on the original film’s jubilee and when all other sequels are box office flops. However, the writing team of Scott Teems, Danny McBride and David Gordon Green, who brought us the latest Halloween films, found a way to make a masterpiece out of what could have easily been a mistake.
The new film is set in suburban Georgia and revolves around two girls, Angela and Catherine, who wind up getting possessed by the same evil spirit that possessed Regan MacNeil in the original film after trying to communicate with Angela’s dead mother. The possession bonds the two girls together spiritually, and there is much screaming, crying, begging and you guessed it, projectile vomiting.
There are several aspects to the genius of this film, such as the choice to use two girls. The spiritual bond, sharing of pain and overall creepiness of the concept make the film very compelling. The way they act when they are near each other is so thrillingly unsettling that it is sure to capture the attention of all horror fans who come to see it.
Another special aspect of the movie was the make-up and special effects. Make-up artists managed to gradually disfigure the girls’ faces as the movie progressed, allowing even a smirk to help build suspense. The images in certain scenes were so beautiful that you could buy posters with images taken from the film to use as art pieces. Additionally, the quintessential vomiting and head-spinning scenes were so realistic it was terrifying.
The most exciting thing about this film was the message of peace and coexistence between all religions it proposed. The story’s resolution revolves around a ritual that takes a group of characters from different religions such as Catholicism, African-root culture and even atheism and forces them to band together despite their religious differences.
Now, this movie is not perfect. In fact, the writers dropped the ball when choosing an ending — going with a horror cliché — which was too predictable to be scary or even sad. It also does not really feel like a horror film, but something in a category all its own, similar to what we have come to expect from directors like Ari Aster and Guillermo del Toro.
Despite this drawback, the film boasts an amazing cast of actors such as Leslie Odom Jr., and will appeal to a much broader audience than its predecessors. I highly recommend checking it out as soon as you can.
Rating: 4/5