The Exorcist, by William Friedkin, is the most important horror film ever made. In 1973, it became the “first one” to do many things in cinema, and for the first time, a realistic situation was portrayed inside the confines of a genre that many considered to be indecent. America, and everything associated with the idealist side of society, was no longer safe, as evil could enter a household and corrupt a small and innocent girl whose greatest sin was being curious. It was controversial, and, in some cases, banned.
Audiences were ecstatic, shocked, and fascinated. Many claimed they were traumatized, but upon leaving the theater, they got in line again to catch the next show. With The Exorcist, you were able to see something forbidden; the first time the Devil showed its face. Its power big enough to scar a young child beyond recognition. Needless to say, religious horror had been born. A curious addition to the subgenre was Robin Hardy’s The Wicker Man, which added a spicy ingredient to the mix, with folk horror and paganism being responsible for a tragic death for the sake of sacrifice.
It’s also safe to say that audiences back then weren’t exactly the same as they are now. While the ’70s became known for welcoming more questionable content to the mainstream, audiences have become desensitized in regards to what they see on the screen. A girl being pillaged by an unseen spirit is a brutal subject in any decade, but a film that shows it will be seen as just a film. That is, until a TikTok trend is born: an influencer gets shocked (or appears to do so), and now the footage becomes famous. Yes, audiences are different, and films are perceived differently.
Is this the reason why The Exorcist‘s 50th anniversary fell off the radar last year? Or is it something else entirely? The tradition of celebrating a film’s 50th anniversary isn’t exactly huge today, so perhaps it has to do with that. But at the same time, this is the most important and scariest horror film ever made, and in 2023, all we got was a questionable sequel, a re-release in theaters that didn’t exactly mark a great return, and a poetic farewell to the man behind the film. Let’s see why not more people noticed The Exorcist turning 50 in 2023.
The Exorcist: Believer Didn’t Exactly Work as Expected
2023 saw the release of David Gordon Green’s The Exorcist: Believer, a film that was supposedly going to do the same for the franchise as Blumhouse did for Halloween in 2018: ret-con everything not worth remembering and launch a new trilogy. The film tells the story of two girls becoming possessed in modern times and a father seeking the help of none other than Chris MacNeil, Regan’s mom, who is now a retired actress living off the profits of her memoir.
Chris accepts, and the film turns into a brutal retelling of the exorcism subgenre in horror, with decent performances and a final twist that will leave you shaking. That is, if you’re among the few who connect with The Exorcist: Believer, Universal’s failure at acquiring the rights for Jason Blum to produce.
The film wasn’t well-received by audiences, and Universal and Blumhouse are now in shambles. David Gordon Green has officially left the franchise, and anything could happen now. Considering the lackluster reception by critics, they can’t just continue with the same storyline because it didn’t produce the necessary engagement.
Watch the trailer for The Exorcist: Believer here.
One thing that audiences didn’t exactly like about the film was its forced connection with the original film. Bringing back legacy characters has proven to be successful, but this time it just doesn’t stick, especially considering where the film flows into in terms of the entire franchise. It simply wasn’t necessary to do it, as The Exorcist: Believer could have been just that: a sequel that happened in the same universe as the original and nothing else.
This association wasn’t ideal. It wasn’t the perfect way to sing “Happy Birthday” to the most important horror film ever made. The Exorcist was re-released in theaters in October 2023 to pay tribute to the late William Friedkin, who passed away in August of that year. Less than a month later, audiences returned to theaters to see the sequel that could redeem the franchise, but instead they got a sour and rotten taste of modern cinema’s business model to capitalize on their favorite film. Friedkin would have probably said, “Shame on you!” Actually, scratch that. He would have spat the same way he spat at Exorcist II: The Heretic decades ago.
There’s No Denying the “Outdated” Factor
Cinema purists will yell and scream at this hot take, but again, audiences aren’t exactly the same as they were before. 50 years have passed, and there are some aspects of the film that could feel outdated. Current viewers and modern members of the audience see this and instantly reject the film because “it looks old,” and there’s no other way around this. And no, a movie theater can’t be filled with thousands of film enthusiasts all around the world.
From fashion to language, from practical effects to music, The Exorcist feels like a film made in 1973. And while most of you are OK with this, this could be the reason why not many people noticed the film’s anniversary in 2023. What more could have been done? Another physical media release? Another re-release after the re-release? What would have changed? The value of a film like The Exorcist can’t and shouldn’t be measured by today’s standards of sales, box-office returns, and general perception by audiences. Great marketing would have been great for a celebration, but again, the IP owners trusted a sequel that didn’t work. It wasn’t the best way to blow out the candles.
However, a film like The Exorcist doesn’t exactly need the validation of modern audiences that can’t observe beyond the outdated fashion and practical special effects. Bringing the film back isn’t effective because a) everyone has already seen it countless times, and b) the shock value of the film has lost its agency by now.
The Exorcist didn’t have to be recognized last year as the greatest horror film ever made. It already is, and it will forever live on in the minds of those who experience it for the first time. The young and the elderly. The specialists and the dumbfounded ones who dare enter its territory. Its legacy is undeniable, and the visual elements that date it back to 1973 are secondary if audiences are able to recognize that it’s not just an exorcism film. Yes, it’s one of the few horror films that still arouses thought beyond its graphic violence, profanity, and deconstruction of human values.
Watch a trailer for The Exorcist here.
It’s Never too Late to Celebrate Such an Icon
It’s never too late to give it a rewatch, applaud at what you think holds up, and accept what you believe feels outdated. The Exorcist is still as important as it was decades ago because its treatment of the absurd never feels outlandish. Suspension of disbelief is necessary in horror, but some realistic films blur the line, and actually make you afraid of your own shadow when you turn out the lights, and it’s time to get some sleep. The Exorcist doesn’t invade your nightmares. It makes you tremble in the middle of the day because it proves no one is safe from the root of evil itself.
A little piece of advice if by now you have decided to celebrate The Exorcist‘s 50th anniversary one year late: get rid of the phone and anything distracting you. If possible, see it by yourself if you dare. The Exorcist is a bit more personal than you think because it exploits a very emotional aspect that every single one of us addresses at some point in our lives, whether we like to admit it or not.
The matter of faith, belief, and the capacity to understand that there may be a dark side contrary to the light one. The Exorcist acknowledges the existence of God, and that will keep some sane. But it also reveals the existence of an unspeakable evil that is the exact opposite. Is there anything scarier than that?
To understand the importance of The Exorcist, here’s a video about how the movie changed horror, in honor of its director:
