A religious horror that becomes the most terrible example of the plundering of franchises
Although the numbers are always favorable to franchises, one of the advantages that horror films have is that they do not need to constantly draw on old titles or intellectual properties to go generating hits or cult films. But we already know how Hollywood is, the most visible numbers rule, so it’s time to squander money on the old stuff.
But of course, it doesn’t always work out, because the horror viewer also has a strong youth base to whom it may be impossible to sell the importance of adding a new title to a franchise started 50 years ago. With ‘Halloween’ there was a momentary success that has been decreasing with each installment of his trilogy, but with ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ we have truly seen the limitations of the strategy.
Believe or not believe
Like the recent Michael Myers reboot, this revival of William Friedkin’s classic came from Blumhouse’s partnership with director David Gordon Green. Supposedly connected only to the original tape, the film It received atrocious criticism and unsatisfactory revenue for the investment made. (400 million just to get the rights). Now it awaits a second chance with its arrival on streaming through SkyShowtime, while the promised twist arrives in the sequel with Mike Flanagan.
50 years after the chilling and demonic event that Regan MacNeil and her mother Chris experienced, a modest American population experiences the same presence of evil. Two teenagers disappear one day in the forest, and when they return to their families they begin to show angry behaviors that medical science cannot explain. So a more spiritual solution will be resorted to.
The original ‘The Exorcist’ was a triumph because, in addition to being totally terrifying due to its combination of atmosphere and scares, it was capable of keeping you intrigued during the first hour of human drama, where it begins to suggest the existence of absolute evil. Green is clearly going for the same effect, but completely fails in his attempt.
‘The Exorcist: Believer’: faltering legacies
Absent here are the attempts at cynical yet mindless social commentary through evil that marked his ‘Halloween’ trilogy, but he offers nothing more in return. His narration is as neglected as its visual aspect that it does not even reach direct production to streaming with maximum file compression. The lurches of its history, marked by the use of a legend like Ellen Burstyn, who are of absolute embarrassment.
‘Believer’ is a disappointment even for those who were little fans of David Gordon Green’s previous adventures in horror. Here any hint of personality completely disappears, trying to carry out a story of religious plurality that not even she herself seems to believe. Certainly a low point when it comes to exploitations of horror classics, which practically should have marked the end of the entire company. But, hopefully, Flanagan still shuts us up.
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