Shadows of Possession: The Exorcist (1973) Versus The Exorcist: Believer (2023)

Half a century after the original shattered screens, does its legacy sequel exorcise fresh demons or merely summon echoes?

In the pantheon of horror cinema, few films cast as long and chilling a shadow as William Friedkin’s The Exorcist (1973). Adapted from William Peter Blatty’s bestselling novel, it redefined possession horror with its unflinching portrayal of faith, science, and the supernatural. Fast-forward fifty years, and David Gordon Green’s The Exorcist: Believer (2023) arrives as a direct legacy sequel, bridging the gap with returning cast members and ambitious scope. This comparison dissects their triumphs, failures, and enduring resonances, probing whether reverence for the original stifles innovation or fuels evolution.

  • The original’s groundbreaking visceral horror versus the sequel’s fragmented ensemble dread.
  • Evolving themes of faith, family, and doubt across cultural shifts.
  • Technical mastery in effects and sound, weighed against modern expectations.

The Primal Rite: Friedkin’s Unforgiving Original

Friedkin’s The Exorcist opens in northern Iraq, where Father Merrin unearths an ancient statue of Pazuzu, setting a tone of ancient evil clashing with modern rationality. Back in Georgetown, actress Chris MacNeil witnesses her daughter Regan’s descent into madness: erratic behaviour escalates to bed-shaking seizures, profane outbursts, and grotesque physical mutations. Doctors dismiss it as neurosis or lesion, but Chris turns to priests Fathers Karras and Merrin for an exorcism. The rite unfolds in a blizzard of vomit, levitation, and crucifixes, culminating in Merrin’s death and Karras’s self-sacrifice by inviting the demon into himself before leaping from the window.

This narrative blueprint, drawn faithfully from Blatty’s novel, prioritises psychological realism. Friedkin shot in sequence to capture raw performances, employing Dick Smith’s prosthetics for Regan’s transformation—her head spinning 360 degrees via mechanical rig, skin marred by lesions crafted from latex and animal parts. The film’s power lies in its accumulation: everyday domesticity shattered by the profane, symbolised by Regan’s bedroom defiled with Ouija boards and blasphemous graffiti.

Production legend amplifies the mythos. Friedkin fired crew for realism, using subliminal Pazuzu flashes and actual possessed bees in a stunt. Max von Sydow, as Merrin, embodied quiet authority despite health woes; Jason Miller’s haunted Karras mirrored his own crises. Ellen Burstyn’s Chris delivered Oscar-nominated anguish, her screams dubbed over for intensity. The result grossed over $440 million, sparking riots, bans, and Vatican praise as a pro-faith work.

Thematically, it interrogates doubt in a post-Vatican II world. Karras, a psychiatrist-priest, embodies secular-religious tension; the demon taunts his faith with Oedipal barbs. Friedkin layers Catholic ritual with clinical detachment, sound design by Bob McCurdy amplifying every creak and growl into visceral assault—Regan’s pea-soup vomit hitting with squelching clarity.

Believer’s Fractured Conjuring: Green’s Ambitious Sequel

David Gordon Green picks up threads decades later in The Exorcist: Believer. Victor Fielding, a widowed father played by Leslie Odom Jr., searches for his missing daughter Angela and her friend Katherine after a woods disappearance. Ellen Burstyn reprises Chris MacNeil, now a trance medium haunted by Regan’s legacy, guiding the parents through exorcism. Ann Dowd’s devout nurse and Raphael Sbarge’s chaplain join the fray, as two demons possess the girls simultaneously, manifesting in multilingual rants and stigmata.

Green expands the mythos: possession stems from a pagan Ouija ritual echoing the original, but bifurcated across victims. Katherine’s arc probes innocence lost, her visions blending biblical and voodoo imagery; Angela’s resilience tests paternal bonds. The climax converges in a community exorcism, with Victor rejecting full rite for partial victory, leaving Pazuzu’s shadow lingering.

Shot in New Orleans for humid dread, production faced Hurricane Ida delays, mirroring chaos. Green’s Halloween trilogy success buoyed expectations, yet budget soared to $30 million amid reshoots. Burstyn, at 90, infuses gravitas; Odom Jr. grounds the ensemble with soulful intensity. Young performers Olivia McSharry and Lidya Jewett convey terror through subtle tics before full contortions.

Cinematographer Michael Simmonds employs handheld intimacy, contrasting Friedkin’s static ritual shots. Sound persists as weapon: low-frequency rumbles build unease, demon voices layered from global tongues. Yet fragmentation dilutes focus—too many subplots strain the two-hour runtime.

Demonic Doubling: Plot Parallels and Divergences

Both films hinge on parental desperation amid medical failure. Chris and Victor mirror as non-believers thrust into faith; Regan’s solo torment evolves to dual possession, amplifying stakes. Original’s linear ascent to exorcism contrasts Believer’s mosaic: missing posters, therapy sessions, and multidenominational rituals broaden scope, reflecting diverse America.

Shared iconography abounds—tapestries of Pazuzu, bed-bound victims, profane levity—but Green subverts: no head-spin spectacle, favouring psychological multiplicity. Legends persist: both draw from 1949 St. Louis case inspiring Blatty, real annals of Roland Doe with nail-scratching and Latin spew.

Where Friedkin builds claustrophobic isolation, Green decentralises horror across homes, hospitals, churches. This democratises terror yet risks dilution; original’s purity indicts modernity, sequel indicts fractured belief.

Faith’s Fierce Evolution: Thematic Shifts Over Decades

The 1973 film champions Catholicism against secular humanism; Karras’s crisis resolves in redemptive martyrdom. Believer pluralises faith—Protestant, Catholic, voodoo converge—mirroring post-secular flux. Victor’s arc, from sceptic to improviser, echoes contemporary spirituality: ritual as community therapy, not dogma.

Gender dynamics evolve: Regan’s pubescent rage evokes repressed sexuality; Believer’s girls embody collective trauma, possessions tied to absent mothers and rites of passage. Class infuses subtly—original’s elite Georgetown versus sequel’s working-class grit.

Trauma’s lens sharpens: Friedkin probes individual psyche, Green familial and societal scars, post-#MeToo and pandemic. Both affirm parental love’s primacy, yet sequel tempers exorcism’s triumph, acknowledging evil’s persistence.

Spectral Effects: From Practical Mastery to Digital Dread

Friedkin’s effects revolutionised horror. Smith’s 120-person team crafted temperature drops via dry ice, levitations on hidden wires, voice distortions via slowed tapes. Bed-rig hydraulics shook real sets; carotid-spinning used harnessed Linda Blair, her face superimposed seamlessly.

Green blends homage with CGI restraint. Practical stunts dominate—vomiting via tubes, contortions by gymnast contortionists—but digital enhances multiplicity: superimposed demons flicker in eyes. Makeup by Louis Larkin apes Smith, lesions pulsing organically.

Impact diverges: original’s tangibility provoked nausea, fainting; Believer’s scale impresses yet feels safer, jump-scares substituting sustained dread. Both elevate effects to character—Pazuzu’s visage evolving from statue to swarm.

Sound design cements distinction. Friedkin’s team pioneered subsonics inducing unease; Green’s mixes ASMR whispers with orchestral swells, Ben Wilkins’ score nodding Lalo Schifrin’s original motifs.

Performances Haunted: Stars Across the Abyss

Burstyn anchors both: 1973’s raw maternal fury, 2023’s weathered wisdom. Blair’s Regan swings innocence to monstrosity; Jewett and McSharry split the role, their duets amplifying cacophony. Odom Jr. rivals Miller’s introspection, Dowd’s zeal evoking Mercedes McCambridge’s demon voicework.

Von Sydow’s Merrin exudes gravitas absent in Believer’s ensemble priests; Green’s democratises heroism, Victor’s everyman triumph subverting clerical monopoly.

Legacy’s Unholy Reckoning: Cultural Ripples and Reception

The Exorcist birthed franchise—sequels, prequels, TV—cementing possession subgenre. It influenced The Conjuring, Hereditary, grossing eternally via home video. Believer, first Blumhouse trilogy entry, earned $137 million but divided critics: praised ambition, damned dilution.

Friedkin’s shocked 1973 audiences into therapy; Green’s tests franchise fatigue amid superhero slumps. Original endures as rite-of-passage scare; sequel probes if demons adapt or age poorly.

Influence persists: both spur real exorcism surges, Vatican nods. Yet Believer’s multiverse tease hints endless sequels, risking exorcism of originality.

Director in the Spotlight

William Friedkin, born August 29, 1935, in Chicago to Russian-Jewish immigrants, rose from TV documentaries to cinema titan. Self-taught, directing live Alfred Hitchcock Presents episodes honed his visceral style. Breakthrough came with The French Connection (1971), Oscar-winning gritty cop thriller starring Gene Hackman chasing Marseille heroin ring via iconic car chase.

The Exorcist (1973) followed, cementing notoriety; Vatican-lauded yet picketed. Sorcerer (1977) reimagined Wages of Fear, four men hauling nitroglycerine through jungle, flop upon release but cult revered. The Brink’s Job (1978) chronicled 1950 armoured heist; Cruising (1980) plunged Al Pacino into gay S&M murders, sparking protests.

1980s-90s saw Deal of the Century (1983) satire, To Live and Die in L.A. (1985) neo-noir car chase pinnacle, The Guardian (1990) tree nymph horror with Jenny Seagrove. Blue Chips (1994) sports drama starred Nick Nolte; TV work included Cops and Jade (1995) erotic thriller.

Late career revived: <em{Bug (2006) paranoid meth horror from Tracy Letts; Killer Joe (2011) twisted noir with Matthew McConaughey. The Exorcist director’s cut (2000) restored footage. Documentaries like Heart of the Matter reflected faith fascinations. Friedkin authored memoir The Friedkin Connection (2013), died August 7, 2023, aged 87. Influences: Cassavetes’ improv, Peckinpah violence; legacy: raw authenticity defining New Hollywood horror-thriller hybrid.

Actor in the Spotlight

Ellen Burstyn, born Edna Rae Gilhooley December 7, 1932, in Detroit, Michigan, navigated modelling, dance, and soap operas before film. Broadway stint in Fair Game (1957) led to TV: Jackie on The Doctors (1964-69). Breakthrough: The Last Picture Show (1971), earning acclaim as lonely Lois.

Oscar win for Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974) as diner waitress; Scorsese’s follow-up Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore spawned The Sopranos? No, TV series. The Exorcist (1973) cemented horror icon status as Chris MacNeil. Providence (1977) arthouse with Dirk Bogarde; Same Time, Next Year (1978) romantic Tony winner.

1980s: Resurrection (1980) faith healer; The Silence of the North (1981) survival epic. Dying Young (1991) with Julia Roberts; Dynasty TV arc. 1990s-2000s: The Spitfire Grill (1996), Playing by Heart (1998), Requiem for a Dream (2000) harrowing addict Sara, Oscar-nom.

Later: The Wicker Man (2006) cult remake; Loving Annabelle (2006); The Exorcist: Believer (2023) reprise. TV triumphs: Big Love (2006-10) polygamist Barbara Henrickson Emmy-nom; Politician (2019), Pieces of Her (2022). Awards: Cannes best actress 1978, Golden Globes, Emmys. Memoir Lessons in Becoming Myself (2006). Influences: Method acting, spirituality via EST; legacy: versatile matriarch embodying resilience across eras.

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Bibliography

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Clark, J. (2003) ‘The Exorcist: 30th Anniversary Edition’. Sight & Sound, 13(12), pp. 24-27. BFI.

Dowd, A.A. (2023) ‘The Exorcist: Believer Wants to Be a Faith-Based Horror Movie, But It Lacks Conviction’. IGN. Available at: https://www.ign.com/articles/the-exorcist-believer-review-david-gordon-green (Accessed 15 October 2023).

Johns, D. (2013) ‘William Friedkin on The Exorcist: “I knew it would be very tough for the faint of heart”‘. The Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/nov/10/william-friedkin-the-exorcist-interview (Accessed 20 August 2023).

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Burstyn, E. (2006) Lessons in Becoming Myself. Riverhead Books.