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Cory Angen
The Exorcists
Similarly to how I approached the Halloween and Crow franchises, the original Exorcist is one of my favorite movies and I'd been meaning to finally watch the various sequels even though I haven't heard much in terms of good things.

And like with the others, each entry here will get my overall thoughts and some musings along the way. Enjoy!


Rankings*
*as of January 2025

The Exorcist

I apparently have a soft spot for original horror movies, because Halloween and this movie are two of my favorite movies of all time. Some of the acting is a little over-the-top at times, but it was the early 70s, so it's mostly forgivable. I used to think it had a bit of a slower build up, but I don't necessarily believe that to be true after watching it for the first time in a while. Some of those earlier "slow" scenes – while maybe not the most attention-grabbing ones – are a lot more interesting to the building of the story than I'd previously picked up on. While we've obviously been very desensitized to the genre, it's clear to see how this was the one that got the ball rolling.

Notes:
  • Take a shot every time Chris says "for Christ's sake" and you'll be drunk in the first half hour.
  • The abrupt cuts are jarring but do a good job of adding to the tension in the early scenes.
  • In classic 70s fashion, women aren't listened to and poor mental health is incredibly stigmatized.
  • The homicide detective was always a nice little bit of comedic relief, but I think appreciate his character more and more with each watch.
  • "The power of Christ compels you!" bit will never get old.
  • For how much of a major figure he is, Father Merrin isn't around very long and doesn't actually seem to help very much.
  • I'm not much of a movie tourist, but if I ever make it to DC I would like to see those stairs.
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    Ranking: 1/6

    The Exorcist is one of my favorite movies and I've been meaning to finally watch the the sequels (even with their given reputations). I probably won't be live posting like I used to, but you'll probably get a few musings and I'll try to keep the thread tidy.

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    — Cory Angen (@justcory.com) January 10, 2025 at 6:07 PM

    Exorcist II: The Heretic

    For it only being four years after the original and having a pretty solid cast, it's amazing how horribly this did. All of reasons the first one was so good are nowhere to be found in this story. The original was relatively simple and straightforward, whereas this one is far too convoluted for what it needs to be and things really go off the rails in the second half. It's a mess and doesn't hold a candle to its predecessor but does deserve all the panning it's received over the years.

    Notes:
  • The pseudo science involved and the futuristic lab it's done in make this feel like a lame sci-fi version, but those installments don't usually show up until we start nearing the double digits. Bold for the direct sequel.
  • It's truly a bummer that they got Linda Blair and Max von Sydow to come back for this. I'm sure James Earl Jones isn't thrilled about it either.
  • I know it was the 70s, but there's no way a balcony that high up would have  a place to just walk off, right?
  • All the locust stuff is really odd.

    • Ranking: 4/6

    Jumping right back into Exorcist II: The Heretic. Only 4 years removed from the original and with a pretty impressive cast on paper, it'll be interesting to see how this one goes so wrong that it's generally panned.

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    — Cory Angen (@justcory.com) January 10, 2025 at 9:38 PM

    The Exorcist III

    Going into this one with basically no knowledge of what the story is but seeing that it's written and directed by the guy who wrote the original novel gives me some hope it'll be better than Heretic. It focuses on the detective and priests from the end of the original and doesn't mention the happenings of the last sequel, but doesn't outright disregard them either. Definitely feels more like a detective movie than a full horror flick. It's good, but it's tough to look at it objectively even with the all of the connections to the original.

    Notes:
  • Nice to hear Tubular Bells again. It wasn't featured in any way in The Heretic.
  • They had to get a new actor to play Kinderman because the original actor died in a few years after The Exorcist and I'm not sure it was a great casting decision.
  • Fabio and Patrick Ewing make cameos as angels in a dream sequence.
  • This very easily could've gotten turned into a bad Hellraiser sequel, so I'm thankful that it didn't come to that.
  • I'm not sure if I've just overdone it with these types of movies, but it all felt pretty predictable and familiar. Which isn't to say it's bad, but it was a little underwhelming from what I was expecting from it's generally favorable reputation.

    • Ranking: 2/6

    Picking things back up with 1990's The Exorcist III. I know absolutely nothing about this one, but seeing as it's written and directed by the guy who wrote the original book, I'm optimistic.

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    — Cory Angen (@justcory.com) January 12, 2025 at 7:39 PM

    Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist

    Starting with what would be considered the Director's Cut of the two versions of the prequel movie. Reading a little about it prior, it's the usual situation of a studio disagreeing with a director and essentially reshooting the whole thing with a different one. I saw the other version when I was in high school so I don't remember much and I've never seen this version before so I truly didn't know what to expect. It's never really very scary and it takes forever to get going, but it does hit all of the major tentpoles of being Merrin's backstory with the demon in Africa. It's all there, it just feels like fanfiction rather than any kind of (at least semi-) official connection. 

    Notes:
  • It's weird having a movie from 2005 that's set in the 1940s because it's a prequel to a movie set in 1973. 
  • I know it was only 2004, but the CGI hyenas are truly awful. And then there's one later that looks like a poorly working animatronic.
  • The black and white face that flashes in the original has made an appearance. Other than Stellan Skarsgard playing a young Merrin, there's been no real connections made prior to that.
  • The British soldier victim looked too much like Skarsgard when crucified upside down. That was a casting mistake for sure.
  • When it's the British Empire vs the Roman Catholic Church we all lose.

    • Ranking: 5/6

    Going to do a back-to-back screening of the two versions of the prequel from 2004/5 starting with the version I haven't seen. Technically the director's cut, we're off with Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist.

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    — Cory Angen (@justcory.com) January 14, 2025 at 5:24 PM

    Exorcist: The Beginning

    And now on to the more widely released version. I know that I saw this movie when it first came out because I had already fallen in love with the original, but I didn't remember anything about it going in. It's essentially the same movie but with a few interesting differences and more gore and jump scares that leave it feeling very early 2000s. I do think that it's a more entertaining movie than the other version, but I'm not sure if it's really any better. Either way, it still doesn't live up to the story it's the precursor to.

    Notes:
  • The CGI budget was clearly higher, but that doesn't mean any of it is much better. The hyenas are still around and somehow look even worse.
  • The rest of the film quality looks immensely better than the last outing though.
  • There aren't many, but it's fun catching a scene that was clearly filmed during the other production. 
  • They're supposed to be at a sanitarium in Nairobi but you can see their breath. I'm not great with geography, but I don't think Kenya usually gets that cold.
  • Bringing in the British Army being a bad idea seems to be one recurring theme over both versions.
  • The extra gore does make it feel more like a horror movie than Dominion, but it's definitely a little heavy-handed and overdone at times.
  • We get a "the power of Christ compels you!" moment, so that alone is worthy of a better ranking than Dominion.

    • Ranking: 3/6

    And like I said I would, we're going right from that one into the version the studio wanted (that did equally poorly). It technically came out first in 2004, but it was made before the previous one which eventually saw a release in 2005. Anyway, here's Exorcist: The Beginning!

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    — Cory Angen (@justcory.com) January 14, 2025 at 7:31 PM

    The Exorcist: Believer

    I wasn't a fan of this movie when it came out in October of 2023 and my thoughts haven't really changed after this marathon. It starts off decent and has some of the same vibes the original did, but the finale goes pretty far off the rails and there are just some really odd choices made that kind of ruin the rest. I still contend that if it didn't have any of the ties to this franchise, the movie itself probably would've been better received. But as it is, it's just another disappointing entry in a franchise that hasn't had a lot of wins over the decades. I was honestly still willing to give this a chance if they had gone ahead with the other two movies that were planned, but seeing that it's all been scrapped is an fitting end to this story too. I wouldn't be surprised if we get some other version of a reboot/sequel down the road, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it.

    Notes:
  • I understand that I don't have kids, but these parents all kind of suck so far.
  • Both girls do a great job of being creepy, though.
  • The slow build into a more orchestral version of Tubular Bells was pretty cool.
  • Honestly surprised they got Ellen Burstyn to return for this after not being in any of the other sequels over the years.
  • The CGI and other effects in the final exorcism are so incredibly bad. It really ruins most of the build up that was actually decent.
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    Ranking: 3/6

    It's only been about a year and a half since the latest entry came out and I wasn't a big fan on my first watch, so we'll see how I feel on a second go around with all of the others fresh in my mind. Here we go with The Exorcist: Believer.

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    — Cory Angen (@justcory.com) January 16, 2025 at 8:07 PM

    The Exorcist

    I actually give this one a little more credit than most. It follows what would be Laurie's granddaughter being tracked by The Shape and the cult he's amassed that was teased in the awful last one and made it kind of work (until the ending). Again, it would've been interesting to see where they would've taken it without the soft reboot of H20. I understand why this one isn't looked at favorably and why they veered from this storyline, but I enjoy it more than I probably should. It finally seemed to understand the level of camp was warranted and played to it nicely.


    Notes:
  • The feature film debut of a young Paul Rudd as an adult Tommy Doyle!
  • There are 2 different cuts of this one and both are equally confusing and bad.
  • Some of the worst men in the series are included in this one.
  • They gave Loomis a storyline of getting plastic surgery so they didn't have to save him from having to put on make up for his burns.
  • Why anyone associated to Michael still lives in Haddonfield, let alone America, baffles me.
  • Last of the original timeline and last featuring Donald Pleasance as Loomis. RIP.
    • Hellraisers
    The Crows