First things first, let’s address the demon in the room.
To approach this movie on the same level you do THE EXORCIST isn’t fair. Let’s get that out there. Much like Green’s HALLOWEEN was not a 1:1 to the original.
The original HALLOWEEN hit at the right time, with the right approach. It’s a masterwork of subtlety and craft. It was a blending of the older cinema of Hitchcock and modern meanness of a post-Vietnam world without the graphic violence.
It was a statement that the suburbs were not safe and neither were our children.
Violence, like war, was faceless and struck without thought or care.
EXORCIST was a film from a seasoned veteran and an author who had tapped into religious fear, and guilt. It was a movie about faith in a world that was asking if God was dead. Again, it was the right film at the right moment.
Both of these films are classics.
Neither the new HALLOWEEN, nor BELIEVER are classics.
At all.
And that’s OK.
I will say that adding to these stories isn’t necessary, at all.
You can leave HALLOWEEN as a solo piece (if you wish) and same with EXORCIST (thought three is darned good).
Hollywood is Hollywood though so here we are.
SAYING ALL THIS.
This is not a film that stands beside EXORCIST as a classic.
It is instead a film that stands behind it but with its head up because it respects the original and tries, very hard, to tap into that same fear.
In some regards it’s successful.
In others it isn’t.
BELIEVER is the story of two young girls who disappear for several days after school. When they are found the girls have obvious trauma and harm but cannot remember what happened to them. It’s decided that they just got lost and cannot recall what happened. As the days pass the girls begin to exhibit signs of deep trauma and stress and are not acting like themselves. The parents, concerned, look for answers, and as things worsen, it becomes clear that something dangerous is afoot and more extreme measures must be taken to help the girls.
BELIEVER is similar to the first film in that it is a story about faith and the differences in the faith we each carry with us. It doesn’t posit that THIS faith or THAT faith is better but that you need belief in SOMETHING in order to fight the powers of evil. The belief serves as sword and shield against darkness.
The story is a good one, touching on ideas we’ve seen but blending them with cultures and religions we often see as villainous or dangerous. The use of a call-back character is done with care and thought but still feels a little haphazard. It leads to a wonderful moment late in the film, but the movie, wisely, doesn’t hinge on this character. This is the story of two families, but specifically of a father wrestling with his faith or lack thereof.
The film does show more vulgar displays of power than with the original, and here’s where you have to reckon with the fact that the original is a film out of time. It is nearly fifty years old now and audience faith is different, as is the culture of cinema and storytelling. Would a film without some of the bigger scenes and shots of demons do as well today?
Maybe.
But audiences expect certain things now and this movie is a product of that.
It’s well made, very well filmed, with some great sets. The acting is very good and you do feel for these parents. Credit to the young actresses because that has to be hard to ‘go there’ and keep it up for this much of a film. The biggest loss is that the intimacy of the first film’s struggle with faith for a priest on the precipice isn’t matched in the way they handle the father. There is a sort of surrogate to Karras but we’re not given enough time with her to feel that same pull. What they give you is interesting but not as impactful as his struggles with his dying mother and his faith.
The climax is effective, if inelegant. I am not sure it would/could happen logistically (hard to get into that without spoilers), but it is compelling and creepy. There feels like there’s SO much going on in the film, and so many moving parts that it needed more room to breathe and more of the girls showcasing their possessions.
One thing you can’t fairly knock it for though is that the possession of these girls isn’t as horrifying because, well, we’ve seen it now. When Regan was possessed we’d never seen something like that, nor how extreme it gets. It truly was shocking. They don’t go as far here, but I am not sure it matters.
We have seen what it looks like.
Overall, this is a good, creepy movie with some good scares. It becomes a bit of an action-y mess towards the end, but where it goes is worth the journey. I appreciate that this is not left as a big cliffhanger to force the announced two films to come. This leaves them to do what feels best. I hope they have a plan, but we’ll see.
Was it needed?
No.
Did it add to the legacy of the original?
Nope.
Is it a decent, creepy ‘scary’ movie?
Absolutely.
It is handled maturely, with care, and with the hope to honor not besmirch the original classic. I am not offended, nor angered that they made this.
People need to take a breath.
It’s good.
It ain’t great, but it’s good.
Green did a good job.
I’d love to have seen one of the more fringe directors of today tackle it but they seem set on their own film fetishes and don’t want to play in other sandboxes.
I give it to Green, he’s got guts to tackle two big franchises as he has.
He hasn’t been wholly successful but he didn’t fall on his face either. A big problem is that people want to light every movie based on a classic on fire, whether they revere that classic or not. It’s just what we do. There have been so many movies about exorcisms that I am not sure we’re scared by them anymore. Again, it ain’t perfect, but it’s a fun ride. Sheesh, chill the beans a little. The edgelord OMUHGAWD sort of reviewers and social pundits burning this down are also heralding movies that aren’t very good but they are ARRRRRRTY.
Oooo!
Whatever man, whatever.
3.75 out of 5
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The Spooky World of Chris Ringler 