Summary
WhileMike Flanagan ’s addition toThe Exorcistfranchise sound exciting , I do n’t think any movie could realistically live up to the original movie ’s impingement , so his remaking has me a bit worried . Director David Gordon Green ’s 2018Halloweenreboot was a critical and commercial success , spawning a new trilogy that continued with 2021’sHalloween Killsand 2022’sHalloween Ends . These follow - ups failed to earn the same acclamation as 2018 ’s reboot in what turned out to be a have-to doe with sign of the theatre director ’s revulsion output . Gordon Green’sThe Exorcist : Believerdidn’t workand fail to impress critics , resulting in its sequels being dispute and the franchise being reworked .
At first , I was emotional to hear aboutdirector Mike Flanagan ’s upcomingExorcistmovie . Rather than trying to salvageThe Exorcist : Believer ’s ending , Flanagan ’s “ radical new take ” will reportedly see the experienced repulsion music director take the series in an wholly new direction . However , the franchise still faces one trouble that is unique to the series , and I dread even a conductor as experienced and acclaimed as Flanagan ca n’t work around this proceeds . The Exorcistwas genuinely transgressive in its prison term and , while it may not be as scary for contemporary spectator , it remains an untypically perturbing Hollywood horror .
The futurity of The exorciser ’s reboot trilogy front uncertain , and it ’s prove the harsh truth of the 2018 horror revival that made it possible .
No Exorcist Sequel Has Matched The Original Movie’s Sheer Shock Value
The Cultural Impact Of The Exorcist Is Tough To Overstate
Put simply , you really could n’t makeThe Exorcisttoday .
Growing up as an Irish Catholic , I live multiple grown adults who were afraid to watchThe Exorcistin its entirety . It ’s easy to forget when so many picture show have borrow from , built upon and parodied the original , but I ’d argue that no mainstream studio hit has ever depicted anything as horrifying as the original movie ’s possession vista . Moreover , no modern movie could best the original . For all ofFlanagan ’s well - earned Rotten Tomatoes successes , the director ’s decisive acclaim does n’t convert this inconvenient fact aboutThe exorciser ’s unique place in movie house history . Put only , you really could n’t makeThe Exorcisttoday .
This affirmation is throw around about many movies from Hollywood ’s earlier epoch , and unremarkably , I think it is far-right nonsense . However , seeing the kind of relatively painkiller content that has earned backlash and boycott threat tells me that a mainstream studio flick that featured a nipper mutilate herself with a crucifix would n’t fly in 2024.The Exorcistis way more shocking than viewers give it quotation forand trying to equal its strength , rent alone outdo its seismic disturbance factor , would almost for certain precede to public shout . That ’s not even accounting for decades of gory moving picture and idiot box raising interview tolerance .
Making An Exorcist Movie That Matches The Original May Be Too Much, Even For Flanagan
Few Movies Have Come Close To Matching The Exorcist’s Impact
A major issue cite in most ofThe exorciser : Believer ’s spoilt reviewswas that the sequel did n’t match the original movie ’s panic attack factor , but this is an inherently unrealistic expectation . The Exorcistexposed audiences to genuinely upsetting scene of shaver endangerment , profanity , and blasphemy at a time when fucking violence had only been seen onscreen for a few year . Bonnie and Clyde , Spaghetti Westerns , andThe Wild Bunchwere just about introducing the public to gory , explicit violence when theatre director William Friedkin offered them one of the most mercilessly shocking moving-picture show ever produced within the studio system of rules .
In contrast , modern audience have go through decades of gruesome violence in movies and TV as censorship norm relaxed , and that ’s without me even mention the existence of the Internet . The Exorcist : Believercouldn’t even total close to matchingThe exorciser ’s jounce value , and nor couldThe Pope ’s Exorcist , Late Night With the Devil , The First Omen , orImmaculate . Any recent picture that has essay to even followThe exorciser ’s step betray since the original movie push the boundaries of what could be depicted onscreen . Despite some standout shocks in his early film , Flanagan is n’t heavily invested in controversy - bait repulsion .
Mike Flanagan’s Upcoming Exorcist Sequel Still Has A Lot Of Potential
As someone also raised Catholic , I ’m certain that Flanagan can capture the dark side of the religion ’s opinion likeThe Exorcist ’s original author William Peter Blatty did throughout his oeuvre .
That said , I ’m still looking onward to what Flanagan does with the franchise . After all , while 2021’sMidnight Masswas a Stephen King sexual love letter , it was also a chance for Flanagan to testify that his fascination with faith makes him a perfect fit forThe Exorcistseries . As someone also arouse Catholic , I ’m certain that Flanagan can catch the sorry side of the religion ’s beliefs likeThe Exorcist ’s original source William Peter Blatty did throughout his oeuvre . Flanagan’sExorcistreboot could complicate the serial as whole via his thoughtful review article of organized religion , already highlighted inMidnight Mass.
Flanagan’sExorcistmovie could offer a more virtuously ambiguous portrayal of the church , something that earlier movie in the series miss . The exorciser : Believer gestured at this one-half - heartedly with its infamously corny throwaway line about patriarchy . However , Flanagan ’s film could propose a characteristically learned commentary on Catholicism ’s exchange ethnical aspect since the original flick ’s handout . Flanagan ’s colored , comical Netflix seriesThe Fall Of The House of Usherproved that his versatility , so hisExorcistmovie stay an exciting view . Still , I ’m not convinced that anyone will produce a motion-picture show as genuinely lurid as the original anytime soon .
If Anyone Can Save The Exorcist, It’s Mike Flanagan
Mike Flanagan’s Exorcist Sequel Still Has A Lot Of Potential
One of the biggest failure ofThe Exorcist : Believerwas its lack of imaginativeness .
repeat the encroachment of the originalExorcistwould be an almost impossible task in 2024 , so there is an disputation to be made thatMike Flanagan’sExorcistmovie should offer viewers a wise view of the enfranchisement . One of the magnanimous bankruptcy ofThe Exorcist : Believerwas its want of imagination . Gordon Green repeated the advance he brought to 2018’sHalloweenwith the reboot , bring back a few bequest character but mostly accompany the original movie ’s plot beats with a few pocket-size changes . This succeeded thanks toHalloween ’s slasher moving picture apparatus but failed deeply when he could n’t equalThe Exorcist .
AlthoughDoctor Sleep ’s Baseball male child scene and the most scandalous consequence inGerald ’s Gameprove Mike Flanagan can push audience , I do n’t think the film director would be wise to essay outdoingThe Exorcist ’s commove elements .
In dividing line , The Exorcist ’s underrated idiot box adaptationaccepted early on that it would never feel like the original motion picture due to its average shift , the passage of clip , ethnical changes , and telly ’s tighter censorship . As a consequence , the show was gratis to succeed modestly on its own condition . AlthoughDoctor Sleep ’s Baseball son scene and the most shocking consequence inGerald ’s Gameprove Mike Flanagan can push audiences , I do n’t think the director would be wise to try outdoingThe Exorcist ’s upset elements . Instead , Mike FlanaganandTheExorcistmovie should play into his intensity by offering viewers something totally different .
