Even if you aren’t a fan of Friedkin’s film, there is no denying the power of its iconic sequences: the arrival of Father Merrin (Max von Sydow) at Chris’s house on a foggy night; Regan’s head twisting around; the aforementioned swearing, vomiting, and crucifix misuse. Green’s film offers nothing to compare with these. There are no images you might put on a poster or a T-shirt, no scenes you might lampoon in a parody. I don’t know whether a new film could ever be as upsetting and transgressive as The Exorcist was, but it would have been nice if Green had had a crack at it, instead of serving up imitations of what Friedkin created all those years ago. It was startling to see Blair encased in pale, puffy, scar-streaked prosthetic make-up in the 1973 film. Sticking the same make-up on two young actresses today is about as startling as a trip to a high-street fancy-dress shop.
The rushed, unscary and frankly silly climax has Victor putting together a squad of multi-faith demon-busters, as if he is assembling the Avengers or picking a team for an action-packed heist movie. “Anyone else wanna leave, better leave now,” he says, looking and sounding far too badass to be an anxious dad in a horror drama. “Once we start, we’re not stopping.” And so it is that a film that was shaping up to be an intelligent and respectful homage to The Exorcist descends to the depths of a cheesy, straight-to-streaming rip-off. Viewers should do what Victor advises, and leave.
★★☆☆☆
The Exorcist: Believer is released on 6 October.
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