Why THE EXORCIST: BELIEVER Became the Most HATED Horror Movie of 2023
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Creating a sequel to arguably the most iconic horror movie ever made is a daunting and questionable task, but it's one that Universal made when it acquired the right to The Exorcist and went about giving the franchise the requel treatment. With the very controversial David Gordon Green at the helm after his Halloween trilogy divided fans, The Exorcist: Believer became one of the most hated movies to release in 2023, and today we're taking a deep dive into the movie and going over why it simply doesn't work. Blumhouse is having a rough go at the moment...
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"Two men died to save my daughter but that's just the patriarchy"
"the damn patriarchy!"
She’s woke
Woke is code for marxist
I heard that and I knew they went woke. But also when they only let the black girl live and that they tried to used ever culture to participate in this exocism and the idea that they brought up abortion as well. We go to the movies to escape the world not be reminded what we are going back to after we shut it off
THAT line from Chris is an outrage that Burstyn should have refused to utter. Not only did both Merrin and Karras die helping her daughter, but they were only involved BECAUSE of Chris! She outright begged Karras for an exorcism that he was reluctant to perform! The fuck?! Idiotic, utterly disrespectful writing!
Agreed. Just such horrible writing. Makes no sense and it's just so obviously shoehorned in there for some useless reason. Disrespectful and demeaning to legacy characters for no reason. 🙄
Yep. Gotta have "current day" crap thrown in. That line alone cost the movie.
Thank god there´s another exorcist-themed movie on the way.... #LaExorcista ...this movie looks more like a worthy adaption!
The Exorcist-Believer is pure PG13 brain-diarrhea
to be fair, from what I heard she was sick of them begging her to join on and that's a factor to why she agreed to do this movie despite how bad it was. the production could have stepped off and respected her initial response. bonus, I also heard Burstyn disliked the script so much that she donated what she was paid for this movie to an acting school so that at least it would do some good for the industry. I hope the latter is true.
@@KennethBlum-sl6rxThat line is not an example of “current day crap”. That line is an example of studios overdoing the pandering.
I hardly comment on videos, but I stumbled on your channel this past week and have been binging every video! I was shocked your channel isn’t bigger. Love your breakdowns, keep it up!
Wow thank you so much! Really appreciate it
Since it sounds like she didn't want to be there, I think she did it because she knew the movie was a turd and knew this was another thing that would help it fail.
Saaaame! Been jonesing for these lol. The conjurings would be sweet :p
Ok sandra probe it
Doing the same thing now.
William Peter Blatty didn't consider The Exorcist horror. In many interviews he stated it was a psychological thriller and his intent wasn't to scare people, but to make them think about the possibility of demonic possession as it happened in the Bible. Especially since in his story, the mother of the possessed girl was an atheist who became so desperate to help her daughter she reached out to the church for help. William Friedken and William Peter Blatty gave us a well written script, actor's who embodied their characters and made The Exorcist one of the best movies ever. I think most movies about demonic possession try too hard to make it scary and don't flesh out the characters. To me the line about the patriarchy was a slap in the face to the original movie and what the priests endured helping Reagan. Karras and Merrin knew it would be risky to let Chris be in the room. The demon got to Karras by mimicking his mother and both priests knew that the demon would taunt and tell lies to get them to stop. Chris wouldn't have been able to mentally handle that. It had zero to do with patriarchy. That line should have never been uttered.
The patriarchy line was absolute BS, and pandering. If you're going to check a box then be intentional and genuine. What a mess of a line.
Which makes no sense !!! Go talk to a priest sometime, One of the first things they try to weed out of people besides a obvious history of mental illness, is religious conviction or lack thereof. If an open athiest came to them asking for religious intervention, it would be really hard for them to OK it --- the church won't baptize your kids if your don't affirm your belief, so why would they undertake something that has the potential to go wrong and potentially be held liable >> "Anneliese Michel" Case.
I agree with him. I don’t see The Exorcist as a horror movie but a psychological thriller with heavy religious overtones.
Refusing to approach an exorcism film as a horror film is why my favorite will always be The Exorcism of Emily Rose, which is for the most part a courtroom drama that isn’t even really about the exorcism (although the film does feature one of the best exorcism sequences ever) but moreso about abandonment.
"It's cause I'm not a member of the damn patriarchy."
How that line made it all the way from the original screenplay to release is mind-boggling. We're talking dozens of people that had to sign off on that.
Exactly 👏🏼
I love when my mom tells me her story about The Exorcist. She said people were screaming in the theaters, barf bags were handed out, and the real life scenarios in the movie were eerily disturbing. My father to this day will not watch this movie in the dark. I saw it at a young age and now at 28 it's still one of the scariest and best horror movies I've ever seen
This is so funny to me because I watched it a couple of years ago and I didn’t find anything about it scary! There were some weird and disturbing parts sure but I kept waiting for something scary to happen. I think some of people’s fear of the movie is the memory of how scary it was to them almost 40 years ago.
if I had seen it way back then I probably would have thought it was scary too, I watched it when I was a teenager in the 2000s and I was laughing the whole time so, I guess it depends on how many horror movies you had seen up until then!
@@Fuzzysea693your childhood was probably traumatic that's why fiction can't scare you
Even William Friedkin didn't have faith in David Gordon Green. And expressed his disagreement before he dies, you know that something is wrong when the director from the original considers you an idiot.
David Gordon Green is a hack. I did not even bother watching Halloween Ends after the ridiculous Kills ("Evil dies tonight" repeated by the crowd over and over was so stupid!) and I didn't like much his first Halloween either. I didn't have high hopes for Believer. The first 30 minutes were fine, then it became a laughable mess, zero scares, zero entertainment, the worst movie I've seen in 2023 for sure.
The movie sort of tells on itself. She throws out that line about the “patriarchy” but when she tries her own exorcism she gets stabbed in the eyes and fails… later she assembles the avengers and one of the girls dies… just makes it seem like exorcisms should be done by a certain group of trained people.
when i was talking to a coworker who asked me how it was and i pretty much described it as the woke religious avengers assembled for an exorcism lol
@@HuffinStufff What? Because they say Patriarchy??? That's what the heads are called in Catholicism, though, the patriarchy. She isn't talking about patriarchy as in men holding down women, she is talking about the heads in Catholicism. This movie is bad, but that has nothing to do with WOKE.
@@HuffinStufffYou should’ve told her the truth and told her you didn’t watch the movie cause there wasn’t anything “woke” about it. One line about the patriarchy and y’all lose your minds and immediately get triggered. You’re one of those that calls anything remotely out of your comfort and ignorance “woke” to justify your delusion and it shows.
@@darktheories1758 You're thinking of papacy, not patriarchy. Patriarch is an Orthodox position, not a Catholic one.
Feminism written by Men, doesn't always work.
Chris wasn't in the room during the exorcism because literally every time she'd been in the room for the previous hour she was attacked by her daughter, the scene pans to her and everyone else anxiously waiting in the hall lol. She's literally scared of her daughter by that point and almost doesn't even go to Reagan's side at the end when she's crying out for help.
I'm a mother and my daughter was in a horrific accident, internal bleeding, she was dying! I rushed her to E.R and 2 male surgeons took her in straight away and with their quick work saved her life! I wasn't allowed in the surgery while the operation was happening, because I'm not a member of the damn patriarchy
definitely is a valid example of hating a wokism for sure.
Sure, Jan. That's why.
@@FleatoYou must be one of those that hates the word woke and doesn’t t even know what it means nor what it stands for. Try having an original thought once in a while.
But you could have perform the operation yourself, because training and understanding what you are doing is apparently not a thing in Gordon's universe.
@@MovieHeretic oh yeah good point 😀
First thing that doesn't work -- honeymoon in Haiti.
Good point 😂 I didn't even think about that.
Yeah that raised an eyebrow 🤨
RIGHT!!!???
I would love to see a video on your thoughts on the Exorcist TV series, especially thr first season. I feel like it got very little attention when it was on air, and even less since then, but it felt - to me at least - like a genuinely good sequel. Again, especially the first season.
Season 1 was surprisingly good. The Captain Howdy character was generally scary.
Like you have Ellen Burstyn and Ann Dowd. Two of THE greatest actress’s of our time and this is what you give them!
It's Disgusting what they did with Ellen Burstyn. Totally Wasted Her. She should have Bowed OUT.
The character assassination of Chris in this movie is up there with Luke Skywalker in TLJ. The last thing Chris would do is publish a book chronicling the events of the first film. She'd never bring it up again and do her damnedest to forget it ever happened. The scene where she's being all badass, parading around like God's gunslinger to exorcise one of the girls? Yeah Chris would never involve herself with anything like that ever again after what she went through.
Speaking as a radical feminist, when she uttered "patriarchy," i got so pissed off and offended. It felt shoehorned in, it felt pandering and it felt unnecessary. Tha k you for agreeing not as an anti-feminist but as one. (Or as someone that I at least assume to be one lol.)
When I watched the movie, I thought she said Patrixsit.
As some one who's very left leaning I felt the same way and that's because it was shoehorned in. Political story telling works, but only when there's an actual story behind it and the writers aren't trying to score some imaginary points. No idea why anyone involved felt that was a good idea.
The original Exorcist is more haunting and psychological, which makes it scary in another way. The idea of invasion of your body, a guy who’s not prepared going up against the ultimate evil.
Well, I know what I’m planning to watch when I get the chance
When l saw The Exorcist, l came away knowing that, after tremendous suffering and great sacrifice, evil was defeated, good was triumphant, and faith and hope prevailed and were restored.
And after seeing The Exorcist: Believer, l came away feeling that, after tremendous suffering and great sacrifice, good was weak and defeated, evil was triumphant, and faith and hope were crushed and destroyed.
I absolutely agree with you, 100%, about that stupid throwaway line which added nothing to the plot (in fact, I agree with you on every part of your critique of this movie). The line which was shoehorned into Chris MacNeil's mouth only to come tumbling out like a 10 lb. lead weight, thudding on the tabletop beneath her face with no actual resonance within the story. It was the worst kind of bad, clunky, wannabe-clever-and-observational-and-oh-so-very-relevant writing.
Dammit, I'm a writer myself, I know these things! 🤣
100% agree. I'm a writer myself, and I can't believe how lazy writing like this gets made into a film.
That had nothing to do with bad writing and everything to do with politicizing the movie and being 'trendy'.....ie....weak.
Everything David Gordon Green and Blumhouse touch they ruin. They ruined the Halloween 🎃 franchise (it started with Resurrection) and now they have ruined the Exorcist franchise. Don't have high hopes (Amityville horror reference) for the next 2 Exorcist movies.
Halloween Resurrection is ten fold worse than anything in DGG’s trilogy in my opinion
The exorcist 3 is amazing
Agreed
I love how much care and thought you put into reviewing horror movies. I was so surprised that you don’t have more subscribers with your production too. You deserve more subscribers!
This movie is garbage! My wife and I were utterly appalled by the factor that a child should be dragged to hell for any decisions forced upon by the parents by demons! Bullshit! That makes God uncaring!
Please, someone, keep Green and Mcbride away from making ANY movies!!!
The Exorcist II was only slightly worse than Believer. If they want to have any chance at recovering for Deceiver, however small that chance may be, they'll have to replace DGG. That guy sucks. It's like he never watched the original Exorcist. And shame on Ellen Burstyn for accepting this crap.
I wouldn't say shame on Ellen. She declined over and over again but eventually accepted to fund a passion project of hers.
Hire me
@@mremerald8586 what idea do you got?
@@aryandguy I was going to do this tomorrow cause 1:11am I’ll have nightmares but I’ll help me paint better. Ummmmmm we they fucked up the old OG characters. So I say along the lines of original demon that got cast out, with some kind of bloodline to Regan cause she was back for the last one just to salvage that shit show. Plus she was old so who knows how many people she fucked and her kids fucked and etc. CGI is great nowadays so a good storyline with no bullshit, lore from the lesser and greater keys of Solomon, Dante’s inferno and with that history make a good last one. The deceiver, one of the fallen angels themselves, Regan says take me instead like halfway through the movie, then action. Like a two part movie, non stop action with a story that makes sense biblically, better camera work too. I’m drunk I’ll be back later to edit this
When I first saw the trailers, I immediately rolled my eyes when I saw it was now TWO possessed girls. It just seemed like a cheap attempt to squeeze more horror out while doing the same thing twice. And I don't know if it's Green or the studio doing it, but they seem to keep chasing the formula they had with Halloween (ignore sequels, bring back lead, repeat) and not giving much though anywhere else. I agree, there were good ideas and performances here, but nobody gave it enough thought or time to make it work.
And I agree, whatever good the term 'woke' was originally intended for has been lost because of everyone misunderstanding and overusing it. This is just another example of lazy writing and trying reach for an audience that doesn't exist or doesn't want to see the movie anyway.
Just discovered your channel bc of this video, and looking at your instagram and the history of Rocklin Graves and your dad made me almost shed a tear. I love all *aboot* horror films and you're just too good, hope you grow fast.
Thank you very much. I really appreciate you saying that
that dumb ending monologue felt like it belonged in a halloween movie 😭
Probably one of his halloween movies ha ha.
I appreciate how much more balanced and fair you are than a lot of other reviewers. Much respect for this approach, and I agree with you wholeheartedly with this film. Immediately subscribed.
Ah man I appreciate that. Thank you
I wished they spent more time with the slow burn of them being possessed. From the time they were found to the time they were obviously possessed was far too quick. The child actors were the best part of the movie and the creepiness of “realizing something is wrong” should have been played out for a lot longer.
Great video!
While many beliefs of many ethnicities DO have rituals for Exorcism, they may not call them that. It was very poorly represented in this movie. I also feel that line from Chris was out of order, given that she was grateful that both Priests saved her daughter's life. There wasn't any anger held over the situation. She just wasn't in the room because she had no idea what the hell was going on really. The actress herself and the character of the original film were also injured in the process of being in the room while her child lashed out with demonic strength. So for them to turn the narrative into 'Screw the Patriarchy!' was WAY wrong. It never happened that way so to build it up to that wasn't right.
The film needed to show more of what happened in the woods. It was left way too vague. Like we know how Regan was possessed, she played with the Ouija Board, and didn't know the etiquette for it and never closed the session...something got through. It looked like the girls in Believer were Scrying. Which literally only gives you Yes/No questions. A narrower channel for something to come through. While the girls gave a great performance, the movie as a whole was terrible. The way things were cut, certain things that weren't necessary, scenes left out that WERE necessary and never happened. It was a poor representation of its predecessor.
Amazing thoughts on the original movie. I don't consider it just a horror movie. It is quite simply a phenomenal movie. Direction, writing and acting make or break a movie. This movie has it in spades. I still get chills during the first possession scene after the angiogram when Regan's eyes turn white. I love that Friedkin directed it in a way that it feels more like a documentary.
I so badly wanted to like Believer. I saw it in the theater on opening day. I thought it was pretty good. I have watched it two more times since and unfortunately, it has gotten worse for me. I am so disappointed that bringing Ellen back didn't help. The directing and writing were not good. I thought the girls and the dad were good. The exorcism scene was a jumbled mess. The whole idea of using multiple religions was just a mess to me. What a weird direction to take. I would love to see what a great horror director could do with it. I'm on the fence either way.
Love your channel! Keep it up!
Agreed.... it doesn't rewatch all that well
Look at how positive Nefarious was received. Father Carlos Martins has a podcast called the exorcist files, he’s a world renowned exorcist himself and relic collector. Anyway, he said Nefarious is the most accurate possession movie ever made in fiction. Just do a comparison of these two films and it’ll make you a believer.
Watched the original and still can't find the bit where Chris asked to be in the room during the exorcism.
And I remember the book very well.
Green is an idiot.
This is exactly the kind of channel I've been looking for! How you manage to churn out this much high quality and insightful content I can't understand. Thank you!!
Wow thank you! Very kind of you to say
In the book Chris was in the room during the exorcism, at times anyway. So was her assistant Sharon.
Such a joy to see a new video of yours ! Keep it going and much success !
Subscribed midway through this episode. So well done. Can’t wait to watch several of your other videos. Your feelings about this film mirror mine.
Thank you!
Great video.DGG should stick to comedy he wasn’t the guy for this OR Halloween. Neither were his friends as writers.
I LOVED the Halloween trilogy honestly, but I get why most people didn't
I think my favorite part of this movie was doctor beehibe. I wish we got to see more of the voodoo (hope I'm using the correct word) combat a demonic possession. I was absolutely livid that they bring back a legacy character and take her out instantly. I'm sorry I can't believe Chris would willingly walk into a room with a possessed child with no one else or anything to use as a weapon. I'm not saying give Chris a whole Laurie h40 badass makeover, but you can't tell me something someone going through something traumatic would basically forget it
This is somewhat off-topic, but did you see a movie called Resurrection starring Ellen Burstyn? It was released in 1980, and aside from The Exorcist and Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore, is an excellent example of how fine an actress she is.
Hey man I just stumbled across your channel and this? This is what I need lol these break downs are awesome I’m binging them now lmao keep up the great work my friend!
Ah thanks man I appreciate it
An absolute insult to the original classic, especially with what was done with Ellen Burstyn’s Chris McNeil. I was hoping for a legit 50 years later legacy sequel with both Ellen Burstyn and Linda Blair front and center. A missed opportunity.
You always have so much nuance in your commentary, i love that about your content, and this one video is no exception. Great channel!
What a true gem of a channel. I was so shocked at seeing that youre a small channel! Youre awesome!
Thanks so much for saying so! That means a lot
I feel like if they had split this movie into the trilogy they could’ve better executed what they wanted to with this one.
Exorcist Believer: More time in the beginning to really set up Victor and Angelas relationship. Then give us more time to set up Catherine and Angela as well. Midway through or so, they go into the woods and do the seance. They go missing, and are found the same way, but instead Angela is presenting as “more possessed” than Catherine. The rest of the movie focuses on Angela getting worse, Victor looking for a solution, and putting angela into the hospital. It ends with him going to look for Chris McNeal.
Exorcist: Deceiver- Starts in the morning of the day the girls go missing, actually setting up Catherines relationships and family dynamic, speed up them looking and the girls being found. Make it take longer for Catherine to show signs, then do the church scene maybe the next sunday or so. Because catherines religious family is being “deceived” by the demon. That movie ends with the scenes prior to Catherines house being wrecked right before Victor and Chris show up.
The third one: Jumping right from where we left off, cut the scene that destroyes Chris’ character and open with her and Victor showing up to Catherines house. And then extend and add to- the final act of the movie as is. Boom, trilogy, reveals that 2 are possessed instead of 1, sets up the relationships ect. Just my thoughts though.
Handing the keys over to DGG for this franchise after his Halloween trilogy was received so poorly will never make sense to me
5:17 The original is an “air tight masterpiece” which is exactly why it shouldn’t have been touched 🚫🤷🏾♂️💯 *This remake/ reboot was doomed to fail.* An unsubtle MESS!
The opposite of misogyny isn’t misandry; both are just “being hateful”, as you say. I love your brief breakdown of this.
This, like all your video essays, was so good! You create excellent work, my friend.... Keep 'em coming!
Thank you!
You wanted one exorcism? Well, surprise! You get not one, but TWO exorcisms! Count 'em! Double the exorcisms! You heard right! Twice the exorcism action!
The Exorcist took us to the real location of Georgetown... Believer took us to the made-up location of Percy, Georgia. It might have been Haddonfield.
15:34 / I wish the writers would have understood the Chris character more and wrote her like she was in the original. Mark Kermode saw her as totally out of character after writing her book on exorcism - and I agree. Chris wouldn't have done that... nor do I think she would have been intrigued by exorcism after her own traumatic experience with it. Or known about "help me" appearing on Regan since she wasn't there to witness it (nor did Sharon want to let Chris know). Maybe, Bllumhouse wanted her in the film and the writers didn't know what to do with her.
19:00 / -not only what sounds like Bible scripture but, "In the name of my daughter Regan" - like that's going to do something.
21:22 / The character design of Lamashtu didn't seem to fit in an Exorcist nor did it make any sense to me. I haven't come across any descriptions of the demon having horns, wings and a third eye - only in the RPG games created by Paizo Publishing. To me, the demon looks like it should be in the 1985 film, Legend.
22:33/ I wasn't a fan of the depictions. It's style simply pulled away from it being an "Exorcist" film IMO. Supposedly, this film was based on actual cases (i.e. the synchronized possession) like the Exorcist novel. Idk if I buy it.
Imagine having Leslie Odom Jr and Ann Dowd in the same movie and wasting it 😭
Subscribed! Dude, I finally watched this movie last weekend… and wow. Just… just wow. I wanted to like it, but I found myself chuckling through most of it. Curious to see what the next movie will be like. 😅
We'll see....
IMO People who don’t like the exorcist or mock it for “outdated” shock moments are not watching it correctly. The film succeeds so well in terms of atmosphere, grounding/context, and building of dread and hopelessness in large part because of the well written characters of Chris and Karras.
It’s insanity to me when people laugh at the crucifix scene bc “lol so goofy to hear a girl say/do outrageous things” while somehow being immune to the context within the film which makes those “shock” moments more disturbing. It’s a symptom of a culture which wants immediate gratification and jump scares, or wants to be so post modern and disillusioned that nothing can be truly scary.
You nailed this one.as far as the future the studio wont take a 400 million dollar hit so we will see the two sequels but hopefully they will understand what they greenlit and get serious.
Priest telling them not to touch the girls then he touches the girls, like wth.
Film critic Ed Whitfield wrote on social media stating, "William Friedkin once said to me, 'Ed, the guy who made those new Halloween sequels is about to make one to my movie. The Exorcist. That's right, my signature film is about to be extended by the man who made Pineapple Express. I don't want to be around went that happens. But if there's a spirit world, and I can come back, I plan to possess David Gordon Green and make his life a living hell.'" Friedkin's own statements on the film at least support something along these lines, with him thoroughly debunking claims that he would be involved with Believer's production out of a fundamental aversion to it.
Whenever the topic of “scariest movie of all time” comes up, I immediately recall my high school art teacher in the mid 90’s. She said the scariest movie of all time was A Clockwork Orange. Of course my friends and I had to rent it that weekend to experience it ourselves. We all thought it was a great film, but not scary. I can see how it might have a different effect on female viewers. In my opinion, the scariest movie of all time is Requiem for a Dream. Similar to my art teacher, I think real-world horrors are far scarier than any monster or cgi baddie. I know plenty of people who have lost their lives or livelihood due to drug addiction. That shit is real.
This had the opportunity to be game changing. But like you said, the other child and family could easily be removed. If they went and focused on the characters interactions and relationships, I feel like the final act would’ve really stuck. But the ending was soooooo predictable because at no point in the film was I worried about the “main” child because the other parents were so poorly written. Even the church scene, while good shock value, didn’t have a purpose cause the viewer just didn’t really care about her. Sucks cause I was HOOKED from the first act. The pacing, tone, and camera work remindined me of “prisoners” (stellar film), but completely dropped the ball in the final act
if anyone here is just as in love with the deeper emotional and existential story to the original film as I am and hasn't yet, I genuinely recommend reading the original book. if I had watched the film first and read the book second, I'd probably love the film more...but I read the book first and was so blown away by how good it is as a story about these characters and their individual struggles that converge, and was surprised that the film felt like speedrunning the highlights of the film. I think it's a product of its time, and I think I just moreso have an issue with Friedkin's choices on the final product along with the editing of the film. (There are scenes that literally end by cutting off the dialogue of the character speaking, it feels very rushed to me in ways I think aren't intentional, but are unavoidable.) I would do almost anything for a reboot done as a mini series that takes its time with the original material and focuses it on being a thriller with deep existential story beats, like Chris' backstory, Carl's story, hell even more of Karras' personal struggles than what we saw in the original film, but only if it was done by the right people. The book is so good. Please read the book, or pick up the audiobook that was narrated by William Blatty himself.
boring movie...but that pastor neck twist was great. genuine scare
After seeing this movie, the biggest question I had was whether or not DGG had actually seen the original movie.
You and I share the same passionate appreciation for the film that is 'The Exorcist'. Thank you. Masterpiece.
I like the idea of a father trying to save his daughter and of a pregnancy-terminating novice turned nurse facing her transgressions but it never translates to the screen in an engaging way. It's so frustrating! And I hope the scholarship Ellen Burstyn funded was worth the character-obliteratiin that was Chris McNeil and her performance in this film. But where I really never cared about Halloween, I've always had immense love for The Exorcist trilogy, yes, even the beautiful disaster that is The Heretic and DGG adding his fanboy funk here just doesn't work. The two young girls were fantastic and make a meal of a virtually empty plate. But I disagree about there being any good characters. They all act like ciphers who shot there scenes on different days and were then edited together, poorly.This movie felt like a job for hire and even the worst entries of this franchise has a passion that transcends its shortcomings and failures. Still, I enjoyed your review and your even handedness. Congrats on all the new subs!
I don't know if what I was saying implied that I thought any of the characters were good, because I definitely didn't think that. Some of the performances yes, but not the characters. Thanks for watching!
@@RocklinGraves You're correct, I misheard. My apologies.
I didn’t know your channel. Watch your video on Believer. I’m now subscribed. I really like the way you explore and talk about movies. Great work. Look forward to more content. Eric
Thanks Eric!
It should not be difficult to make a worthy sequel especially since the tv series was liked by Blatty himself, so follow that route. Add symbolism, do the VOICE and sound effects properly since those were most praised anyway.
I consider the Exorcist and Jaws the two scariest films I’ve ever seen as they’re based on real events. And when they came out, they literally were groundbreaking. I’m 53 and I saw them when I was a kid and they scared the shit out of me.
Michael Peter Blatty, son of the series creator William Peter Blatty, blasted the film in a podcast interview, calling it "vulgar, uncreative and pointless... a weak recreation of the original film". He also criticized the depiction of religion in the film as condescending and stereotypical.
For sure The Exorcist is just a great story and you feel terrible for whats happening to those people. And hate that the beautiful relationship between Mother and Daughter is being tested in such a traumtic way.
If they insist on making a sequel (which the original doesn't need anyway) then they need to do something different like Exorcist 3 did or even Exorcism of Emily Rose. This just seemed like a lazy rehash of the original story but with more over the top CGI and ''modern audience'' nonsense.
I coach gymnastics. I won't even let a parent on the floor with a kid over 10 because they can get distracted and act differently when they are in their parent's presence. That's how accidents happen. The truth is, had Regan's dad been there, he wouldn't have been allowed in either.
What do you mean The Exorcist is not the scariest movie ever?!?! I was so scared of that movie that I struggled to watch the intro of Scary Movie 2 for years!! 😂
I can say, honestly, until this movie I had never gone to see a film at the theaters that made me wish I was sleeping instead. This one really did that to me. I felt it was so painfully boring, and frankly it seemed like it was written by AI because there was absolutely no heart in it. I'm a huge horror fan, but I would go so far as to say that Exorcist Believer might be the worst horror movie I've ever seen. I'd rather watch Bloody Murder, Shredder, Ax 'Em, or any of those other poorly made films again than have to sit through Believer ever again, at least I'd get a good laugh in with those other films.
Confirmed : Mike Flanagan has been given the green light for his ' reimagined ' Exorcist movie for 2026.
Worst parts of the new exorcist:
-“The patriarchy”
-“The body and the blood” scene(idiotic)
-The rotten pumpkin scene (wouldn’t have been scary in the ‘80’s)
-“I’m not an exorcist” (immediately performs an exorcism).
-“I live….in the name of Jesus” (when in reality she quit nun school and became a nurse?)
-“It’s going to take all of them” (assemble the Marvel superhero team)
-The vapor leaving the girls (just….what?)
And so much more 😂
Used to watch a lot of horror commentary but sorta fell off youtube entirely. Your stuff brought me back
I really enjoyed your take on this movie. I completely agree with you about everything. The two girls did a fantastic job on this movie only to be ruined by poor choices in character development. I couldn't stand the parents of the one girl. As a huge fan of the original I was so mad at that line from Chris O'neil because anyone who watched the original knows that those men gave their lives to save Regan. I really think it was a stupid mistake and then to make it seem like Chris was somehow an Exorcist now was another big mistake with her character. You would have had a better shot bringing back Chris's assistant as a character to explain how she worked in a house where a child was possessed. Then you could have taken liberties with her opinions. Great video!!
Thanks Joe!
Did you watch the Exorcist tv show with Geena Davis? I thought it was a fantastic sequel, much better than the films have turned out. I haven’t seen the film you’re covering today but I have seen bits of it and I think it’s just gone too…complicated. The original had a smallish cast, with a lot of silence, a lot of emotion and breathing space to really feel what you’re seeing. The new one looks to me like a similar idea but with a lot more money and a “make it look big now” mission. And as you said, it looks safe. It looks less emotionally involving. Not sure I want to watch it but I’ve enjoyed finding out about it, thank you!
I saw the first season YEARS ago but never finished it. Might be time to take a look...
@@RocklinGraves I only watched the episodes with Geena, but I thought it had a lot of potential for interesting stories to continue the thread. I’d love to see what Ari Aster would do with it🤔
Genuine question for anyone who asserts that The Exorcist isn't the scariest film of all time. What is then?
To the best of my knowledge I've watched every horror movie worth watching, and nothing comes close. The first [REC], Hereditary, The Vanishing (Spoorloos) are notable mentions of ones that startled me but still nothing close.
All the noise about this film was super negative, so it's refreshing to hear you eloquently review it...I agree completely with you & appreciate your channel even more now ❤
Another great video . Loving this channel rn. Hope you blow up dude.
Thanks man
Very well scripted and presented! I also strongly agree with your take on this movie - subscribed!
Now I'm going to watch the mentioned review of The Exorcist 😊
Thank you!
I've only discovered your channel recently, i have to say though, great work dude, I find myself agreeing with much of your opinions, of course hav suscribed and every oportunity i have share your videos with friends, keep up the good work!
Thank you!
This film review is.... aargh! er, overwhelmingly fair, measured, well thought out and also entertaining? Well, now I have to go back to watch a bunch of your content... ( :
It does my heart good to see intelligent and passionate reviews like this. Glad to have subscribed! Can't wait to see what you think of The First Omen (fingers crossed they don't screw it up!)
The worst thing about this movie is how it treats Christianity as an absolute joke. Davis Gordon Green despises the Roman Catholics so it doesn’t even make sense why he was at the helm of an Exorcist trilogy.
I'm a huge fan, I've been a subscriber since you've had less than 5 000 subs; this was a great video.
I also agree in that I don't mind films being political, either to the left or to the right (I'm an anarchist, I don't agree with anyone, basically). But I do mind it when people say that other people are just trying to mask hateful opinions with their criticisms or opinions. You messed up there, cause that's really not fair.
I won't unsub, it's fine to mess up at times; but, please, don't talk about other people that way. We can disagree without calling other each other hateful.
Keep up the amazing work, though! Also, that's a "rocklin" beard, looking sharp man!
Thanks for the kinds words my dude! I'd like to clarify what I meant there, because that's definitely not how I'd intended it to come across, and I fully agree with what you're saying. What I was referring to is when the work "woke" is thrown around at media for the sole reason of having diverse characters, which is why I acknowledged that there are situations where virtue signalling in media takes away or harms an overall story so that I could differentiate between those two things. I don't want to imply that anyone's masking hate simply for criticizing something, but more so that the word "woke" very often gets used in a hateful way. Clearly I didn't explain my stance on that well enough and I do apologize for how it came across there. That being said, thank you again and especially thanks for the level-headed criticism of my video. I'm always looking to improve, so it's much appreciated.
The Last Of Us 2 was absolute garbage sir.
Agree to disagree
Slow burn build up with the girls' possession? I didn't feel that at all, and i dont think the dialogue when they are possessed is anything particularly great either.
It doesn't help that hollywood still can't get anywhere near the amazing voice work of the original
The issue with making this a franchise is that once you've been through the original, where do you go? Anytime you go for a possessed girl, with similar makeup, you're going to draw an even bigger parallel with the original and not many films can go up against that level. Exorcist 3 went about it the correct way and its why its considered the best of the sequels.
To be fair, the only thing that I Like about Believer, is that the movie had a good imagery. The way they framed some scene, is haunting and beautiful specially at the exorcist scene, the picture composition was Immaculate. But yeah, the story is too one sided when the story of two family struggles is quite interesting, they could frame the story based on that. As disbelief Angela father is he was truthfull, and they can make Catherine family in an disbelief as religious as they are. With what Cathrine father implies by his mistakes, it could make the story more interesting, he could be unfaithful to his family. It also brings a lot about faith, not just religious faith, but a family faith for one another. And it would make the punch at the end more impact full.
But yeah, the movie just only try to be a Requel. It was mouthful with preach over preach, monologue over monologue, it said so much but it said too much that it really hollow. It's like the movie just based out of ego.
The Original Exorcist benefitted from the writing of Blatty - but also the gray area of “is it real?”when it comes to the possession
Where in every sequel and subsequent exorcism film- we know the possession is real.
I won’t hate on Believer- I just wish it could have been the film I saw glimmers of. The original was a slow creep. Modern horror is fast-faced and is in debt for it.
I loved some of the creepy lines from the girls, they were break-outs.
Ellen was wasted and “the line” was… yes.. an insult. Had she delved and said I wasn’t allowed in because “ I was not an exorcist, and In spite of Karen’s saying that I knew as much about possession as most priests, he spared me the sight”… and the Having Chris study and delve out of revenge of her ignorance of the topic. More on-character and true to story
David Gordon Greene should never ever do horror!!!
Really loved your sinister movie review. Now going to smash out the rest of your videos! Subscribed as well. Good job!
Thanks David!
The Heretic for all its flaws at least can't be considered a retread. The director didn't want to simply remake the first film, but make something completely different. While being different often separates a sequel from its predecessor, this was its main problem. Rather than give people what they wanted, director John Boorman wanted to explore mysticism and what goes on in a person's mind. One thing the film does have a great soundtrack, amazing imagery and a bold choice of stories. Still, it is NOTHING like the original.
While I didn’t like this movie I really respect your opinion and how you express it. I think your critical in a good way instead of being split in two sides
This movie looked so promising. The trailer actually got me excited. Then, they went and BOTCHED IT!
What's ironic, the parodies with Linda Blair are more scarier and creepier than this.
IN THE EARLY "70's" THIS MOVIE INSIDE AN ACTUAL THEATER WAS ABSOLUTELY BONKERS.... CONSIDERING THE TECHNOLOGY THEN COMPARE TO THE TECH NOW,, IT WAS NO JOKE !!! SPECIAL EFFECTS , SOUND & MAKE UP WAS REMARKABLE.. THE SOUND WAS INCREDIBLE & THE STORY LINE WAS AMAZINGLY REALISTIC RELIGIOUSLY & SPIRITUALLY BELIEVABLE 👈🏻 BUT, ANYHOW THE NEW GENERATION WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND, BCUZ MAJORITY ARE MILLENNIALS & ATHEIST ANYWAYS... EITHER WAY THANX FOR THE CONTENT 🤜🏼💥🤛🏼💯
How come you've not done "The entity" (1982)?
Seems to me that Believer just said "Wait, our legacy can't be pro Christianity!" And went to a lot of effort to ruin the positives of the original, and then present this much more universalist and "modern" solution.
It is not so complicated. The Exorcism scene was goofy and rushed. There wasn’t enough character development.