Well folks, there you have it, the entire “Exorcist” franchise reviewed film by film.
Like many people the original film is my favourite of the series, it’s just too damn good! The film has so many memorable scenes and provides an atmosphere that will never be recreated in any film, EVER, no matter how hard you try. I still get stories from fans telling me how it scared them so badly they refuse to watch it again because of how badly it affected them. Of-course some people find it not scary at all but I think those people are missing out on something. It was no surprise to me when in 2010, the Library of Congress selected the film to be preserved as part of its National Film Registry.
There is also the ‘curse’ legend of the film. William Peter Blatty has stated on video some strange occurrences. The interior sets of the MacNeil residence, except for Regan’s bedroom, were destroyed by a studio fire and had to be rebuilt. Friedkin has claimed that a priest was brought in numerous times to bless the set. Other issues include Blair’s harness breaking when she is thrashing on the bed, injuring the actress. Ellen Burstyn noted she was hurt when Regan throws her across the room. Actor Jack MacGowran (Burke Dennings) died during filming.
Of-course it’s not all about the original film, who can forget the abysmal sequel “Exorcist II: The Heretic”, oh what a shambles of a film that was. It had so much potential and was highly anticipated, I haven’t heard of a film being laughed off screen since Ed Wood released “Plan 9 From Outer Space”. But lets not dwell too much on that car wreck, things did pick up in number 3 and what a film that was. I make it a priority to watch every few months, just to remind myself how much I actually enjoy it.
We also can’t not talk about the final 2 films and like I stated in my review if they had found a middle ground between the two films that could’ve been a great film and it was a shame the franchise had to end on a sour note. I blame the studio for messing the directors about but at-least we had Stellan Skarsgård who put in an oscar worthy performance as Father Lankester Merrin, it’s a shame he never got the accolade he deserved.
In today’s cinema there are so many ‘exorcism’ films around and as much as I have appreciate some of them it’s hard to fully be entertained by them when while you’re watching it all you can think is “It’s good, but not as good as “The Exorcist”. Don’t get me wrong there have been some amazing films released dealing with the same nature but none have ever gripped me in the same way, I think it’s safe to say that the film ruined this sub-genre for me before I even got started in Horror
Yes “The Exorcist” franchise is up and down but when it’s good it’s really good. I’ve always said the original film is in my top three and by the review I did of it you can tell it has left a mark on me that will never go away, it’s still a hard film to watch after all these years and I hope that never goes away. I’ve always said that if “The Exorcist” gets the remake treatment then my faith in the Horror genre will hit an all-time low and I may have to reconsider my writing duties…..
But for now I’ll leave you with one of the greatest theme songs in film:
If you enjoy all the Horror stuff I do for SomeWhatNerdy then make sure you like the ‘Raz’s Midnight Macabre’ or even better head to my blog page itself and sign up:
Raz’s Midnight Macabre Facebook page (HERE)
Raz’s Midnight Macabre Blog page (HERE)
