A new Exorcist movie comes equipped with problems from the start. For one, can any sequel ever come close to the original or even the underrated "Exorcist III"? Would the original film's late author William Peter Blatty have shrieked in disbelief over refrying the original and adding two possessed girls instead of one? Have we seen one possession too many? Yes, to all.
There is a mildly promising start, and it is slightly overkill in execution. We are in Port-au-Prince, Haiti as a pregnant woman practically dies during a horrific earthquake. Her husband, Victor (Leslie Odom, Jr.), a photographer, has the unfortunate task at the hospital of choosing to either to save his wife or his unborn daughter. The daughter is chosen. Flash to a Georgia town thirteen years later and his surviving daughter, Angela (Lidya Jewett, a striking presence), wants to stay over at her friend's house and study. Hmmm, maybe not since the two girls, the other being a religious Katherine (Olivia O'Neil), venture out into the woods and come back three days later with burns on their feet. They attempted a seance in the woods to channel Angela's mother so I guess the moral is, don't perform a seance in the woods or the Devil will come and get you!
Aside from an amazingly scary moment that had me jump out of my chair, nothing else in "The Exorcist: Believer" will get to you in any primal way. Girls possessed by demons, with Katherine channeling a Linda Blair-likeness with a cross cut into her forehead, is only chilling for about five seconds. They speak in Mercedes McCambridge's deep vocal bass but considering how many devil possession movies we have had (we recently had "The Pope's Exorcist" for one), it is more than a cliche at this point- it has simply become a bad vaudeville routine. Leslie Odom, Jr. would clearly like to be back in his "Hamilton" musical role because he is so stone-cold in expressing emotion that I thought he was becoming possessed. Katherine's parents are so anonymous in feeling and outrage over what's happened that you forget they are parents at all. Nothing in the movie registers with any singularly true or honest emotion - it is preconceived swill that is easy to digest and just as easy to forget. Repeating visual motifs from the original classic such as a close-up of the turning on of a lamp (you'll know it when you see it), dogs violently attacking each other or subliminal demon images do nothing in its favor.
Ellen Burstyn shows up in a 10-minute cameo as a silver-haired Chris MacNeil that shows authority and steely determination, everything the rest of this snoozer lacks. Other than enduring a shockingly vile and violent act done to poor Chris MacNeil, nothing else in this overlong movie will keep you awake. The power of Christ will compel you to sleep through it.
No comments:
Post a Comment