It has now been 50 years since The Exorcist shocked the world and rebooted mainstream horror and with the release of the sixth film in an extremely variable franchise we thought we would take a look at all of them. So here is The Exorcist films rated starting with the worst to the best
So when it comes to The Exorcist films rated we find ourselves in the unusual position of placing three films in the joint worst place and we start with ….
- Dominion : Prequel to the Exorcist (004)
In keeping with the delayed time between the second and third film this fourth it was 14 years before it arrived and yet it would have been out a little earlier if the studio had not baulked at just how awful it was. Actually it’s not awful it’s just painfully dull. Co –written by William Wisher who had Terminator 2 to his credit the film would be helmed by Paul Schrader, himself an enormously respected screenwriter whose work had a strong subtext of theology reflecting his own Calvinist upbringing and the this fourth film focused on Father Merrin and details his first encounter with the demon Pazuzu in East Africa in turn forcing the priest to re-evaluate his own faith. It’s an earnest exploration of faith but it was far from what the studio wanted from the brand and they were horrified for all the wrong reason when it was delivered immediately shelving it and quickly green lit another ‘fourth film’. However that new fourth film was equally awful and the studio relented to see if they could at least recoup some costs and allowed Schrader to complete the film and released the film in 2005. They need not have bothered as the film bombed earning a paltry £251k on release as audiences ignored it
- Exorcist The Beginning (2004)
So having canned Dominion the studio greenlit a second ‘fourth’ film again co-written with William Wisher and original writer William Peter Blatty which again dealt with a young Father Merrin battling the demon Pazuzu in East Aftrica. This time the horror was ramped up but was rendered with poor CGI and now rather being dull was just daft as helmed by director Renny Harlin, an odd choice who was far better versed in action with excellent blockbusters such as Die Hard 2 and Cliffhanger under his belt. This Exorcist fared better than Schrader’s film and earned $78m worllwide but to derisory y reviews which put an end to any further films until 2023.
- The Exorcist II : The Heretic (1977)
The original film had been such a huge success both critically and commercially that a sequel was inevitable but director William Friedkin had gone on to new projects. Instead the film fell to British director John Boorman who had gained kudos with Deliverance that made a creditable actor of Burt Reynolds until he decided to blow it all with with Smokey and the Bandit type films. But Boorman had made the truly bonkers ‘Zardoz’ with Sean Connery in a giant red diaper and The Exorcist II would be little better. Boorman’s big mistake was that he was having none of the theology that grounded the first film and instead took his crew back to Africa (albeit built in a studio) with a giant locust headed monster. This first sequel saw Regan ( Linda Blair) being investigated under laboratory conditions with a number of other ‘disturbed’ youngsters whilst at the same time the death of Father Karras in the first film is investigated. It was a catastrophic shoot with Boorman almost dying from a serious lung infection from the soil the production had used to build an African desert set in a studio. The film wasn’t helped either with some unintentionally hilarious dialogue notably when Regan is asked what happened to her nonchalantly replies , ‘Oh I was possessed by the devil’ much to the hilarity of the audiences. Friedkin was apoplectic about the film and was openly critical of it as indeed were audiences who were either bored or laughed at it …..but mostly bored. The original film had been an enormous box office success but The Exorcist II The Heretic struggled to make $30m and is generally regarded as one of the worst sequels ever made killing the hopes of any further sequels for a further 13 years.
2. The Exorcist III (1990)
The abomination of the first sequel had mostly been forgotten by 1990 and the author William Peter Blatty who had also written the screenplay for the original film had turned out another novel titled Legion which the studio optioned to make with Blatty taking the director reins in what was only his second film in 10 years. The film followed a police lieutenant investigating a series of grisly murders with the hallmarks of a dead seral killer which leads him to a psychiatric ward. This was a massive improvement on The Heretic but the studio had a problem with it because with the film now retitled the Exorcist III there was no exorcism in it and a new ending was shot to incorporate a sort of exorcism that saw Jason Miller return momentarily. It was not the version that Blatty had intended but he coalesced to keep the studio happy and to get the film released and it’s a decent watch with a scene in a hospital ward and a nurse being one of the greatest jump scare moments ever committed to celluloid. However the film didn’t perform as well as hoped earning only $39m but in 2016 the footage that was dropped and thought lost was recovered and Blatty was allowed to put together his cut of the film which is well worth searching out and arguably better than the 1990 theatrical version
And finally and obviously The Exorcist films rated can only mean that the best film is….
- The Exorcist (1973)
Of course this was always going to be the top rated film in the franchise. Based on Blatty’s own novel and scripted for the screen by himself it redefined horror in the early 1970’s. Partly inspired by a true life story it came out when Watergate was ripping the US apart and the break up of the family unit was on the increase. It’s as much about the challenge and impact of outside influences impacting on society as it is horror and reflected a deep felt exploration of Batty’s own faith. The horror on screen by make up genius Dick Smith ( and a fledgling Rick Baker) shocked audiences as they watched an innocent young girl desecrated spouting potty mouthed obscenities, perpetrating atrocities on herself when she wasn’t vomiting pea green soup on others. It was a tour de force the like of which audiences had never seen before and garnered both crucial and commercial success earning a massive $441m worldwide unheard of for a horror film and earning 10 Oscar nominations of which it would win 2 again unheard of for a horror film. Its effect on the industry was huge, making horror credible and acceptable and spawning a barrage of similarly themed theological horror films most notably, The Omen. The films set pieces were parodied to death and yet the film still has an impact that still unsettles the likes of which we’re unlikely to ever see repeated.
So that’s The Exorcist films rated!
related feature : William Peter Blatty obituary
related feature ; William Friedkin obituary
related feature: John Rhys Davies talks supernatural horror, ‘The Gates’ plus ‘Indiana Jones & the Dial of Destiny’
instagram: our invite to a special screening of The Exorcist Believer
