As an avid movie watcher and extreme horror fan, I think “The Exorcist: Believer” was mediocre and lacked crucial elements to make it a truly scary film.
The movie follows two little girls, Katherine and Angela, who are experiencing demonic possession as their parents make immense efforts to free them from demon control. However, like most horror movies, there is a series of catastrophic events that few were prepared for, since demonic possession is never a forgiving task.
While the film’s actors were not well-known, they turned in impressive performances. I appreciated director David Gordo Green — who also directed “Halloween,” “Halloween Kills” and “Halloween Ends” — including some of the cast from the original “Exorcist” in an attempt to pay homage to the well-renowned film.
The movie was produced and distributed by Universal Pictures, one of the larger film companies responsible for the blockbuster movie “Oppenheimer” that came out earlier this year.
However, “The Exorcist: Believer” had a budget of only $30 million, which is relatively low for movies nowadays, and for that the Computer-generated imagery was remarkable.
What was even more outstanding was the professional makeup. When the girls are fully immersed in the demonic presence, their skin looks to be discolored with bulging veins. As the possession took place, it even appeared that the girls’ heads had grown in size, and the cross that was cut into Katherine looked as if I had witnessed a bloodied cut in real-time. Their lips appeared so dry and cracked, it appeared as if they had never had a touch of water and their hair was completely disheveled. In most horror movies, this demonic look is typically CGI, so the fact that this makeup was entirely authentic with no CGI required can be deeply appreciated by a movie fan.
But, in terms of fear factor, this movie was not scary. The actors did not sell the idea that they were truly scared and that I, as the audience, should also be scared. That, and the lack of jump scares, made this movie about a one out of 10 scare rating.
The CGI used was superb quality which added a level of shock, but the camera angles and cinematic choices did not make me feel as if I was in the movie. It did help that I watched it in the theater since the experience was exaggerated, however, it will be available on Peacock for streaming in the future.
While the film was rated R, the lack of gore was disappointing. There are just two scenes with lower-level gore: One character has his head twisted all the way around, and the other has her eyes stabbed repeatedly with a cross. Even though gore does not necessarily make a movie scary and is not required in horror, “Believer” could have been better with more graphic scenes.
It is important to delve into the plot of a horror movie, instead of purely relying on killing or jump scares to make a scary movie. However, the director relied on the plot too heavily, making “The Exorcist: Believer” predictable with no true horror components.
Overall, I would give this movie a two out of 10.
