Director David Gordon Green’s The Exorcist: Believer did not turn out to be a very good film and a lot of the reviews have not been kind. As a fan of the original movie, I was actually kinda looking forward to this new trilogy, but this first film was a huge disappointment as the story it told was completely uninteresting. It was like the color by numbers of horror films.
Green recently told the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ A.Frame magazine that he was excited to share his film with The Exorcist director William Friedkin before he passed away:
“I was looking forward to showing [Friedkin] the film, because I never communicated with him. My understanding was that he didn’t want involvement in the film production, but he would give us his thoughts after the movie.”
Well, before Friedkin passed away he did share his thoughts on Green reviving The Exorcist franchise. Writer and film critic Ed Whitfield recently shared an amusing story on X about a conversation he had with Friedkin before his passing. He said:
“William Friedkin once said to me, “Ed, the guy who made these new ‘Halloween’ is about to make one to my movie, The Exorcist. That’s right, my signature film is about to be extended by the man who made Pineapple Express. I don’t want to be around when that happens. But if there’s a spirit world, and I come back, I plan to possess David Gordon Green and make his life a living hell.”
So, now we know what Friedkin thought about the film project! I just thought that was hilarious. Regardless, of that, Green and Blumhouse definitely missed the mark on The Excorist: Believer. That was a hard movie to get through because of how bad it was. Also, I was the only person in the theater when I saw it! Not a good sign.
