Audiences at the recent New York test screening for David Gordon Green's upcoming The Exorcist: Believer were less than thrilled with the latest installment, taking to social media to criticize the film and its creator.Green's Blumhouse expansion on The Exorcist has been much anticipated, with its creator plotting an entire trilogy, hoping to breathe new life into the horror classic. Detailing the strange behavior and possession of a young girl, Regan, played expertly by Linda Blair nearly 50 years ago, the original film is considered a true horror classic and one of the scariest movies ever produced. The original was followed by several sequels, including 1977’s The Exorcist II: The Heretic and 1990’s The Exorcist III, as well the more recent Exorcist: The Beginning (2004) and Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist (2005).Viewer Anon alleges audiences were less than pleased with Blumhouse's The Exorcist: Believer. Viewers reportedly leveled almost universal agreement on its shortcomings, claiming the movie is not particularly scary and is way too long. While some touted the existence of at least one really good jump scare, others compared its failure to Green's Halloween trilogy, which garnered mixed reviews, particularly the much-criticized Halloween Ends (2022). World of Reel's Jordan Ruimy says, “This is an especially concerning film from Green since it comes out at a time of exciting daring for the horror genre (Ari Aster, Jordan Peele, Robert Eggers, Jeremy Saulnier, David Robert Mitchell)."
Blumhouse's Exorcist: Believer is set to premiere just in time for Halloween. With several months to go, the studio may be able to alter the film into a higher quality, more tightly oiled machine given feedback from the test screening. With tight competition for October box office cash among a slew of horror movies released yearly, this latest Exorcist installment will have to do much better to be a hit. This year’s competition for prime spooky season dollars includes Five Nights at Freddy's, a brand new Saw installment, and the Conjuring universe's The Nun 2. October also marks the return of another 1970s evil child movie with The First Omen.
Written by Green and Peter Sattler, The Exorcist: Believer stars Leslie Odom Jr., Ann Dowd, Lidya Jewett, Jennifer Nettles, Olivia Marcum, Raphael Sbarge, and Okwui Okpokwasili. The Exorcist sequel also features Ellen Burstyn, who played Regan's beleaguered mother in the original, reprising her role.
The Exorcist: Believer is scheduled to be released in theaters on October 13, 2023 .
Source: Viewer Anon, World of Reel's Jordan Ruim