If there’s one thing an Exorcist movie, be it a sequel, prequel, remake or sequel, needs to be, it’s scary. David Gordon Green’s 50-years later requel, The Exorcist: Believer fails that most fundamental test. The very celluloid of William Friedkin’s The Exorcist hums with tension and terror – each shot more possessed with unspeakable dread than the last. It’s the original nightmare-inducing horror film, a palpable shock to the system that stands up half a century later. It’s especially remarkable when you consider the context: just five years earlier, filmmakers were ensnared in the strict confines of the Hays Code, a moral guideline that prohibited profanity, suggestive nudity, graphic or realistic violence, and sexual persuasions. The thought of a 14-year-old child actor old uttering lines like, “Your mother sucks c*cks in hell” was plain unthinkable just a few years prior. It’s also pretty unthinkable today. Read More
