Yes, I saw this in the theater and had one view; after watching Peacock a few times, I am updating my review. However, I am not upgrading the thought that this is a preview of future things. After reading the "after reviews," I believe the writers of this are probably not. They MAY NOT be attached to the next (yay!), and David Gordon Green hopes to be the Director but may not be, but his opportunity may be involved in some other faction of #2. I think it makes sense after 'figuring out' this one.
I noticed so much more - so in rewriting my review, I saw tie-ins to the original, albeit weakly done. There is much I won't mention, as I'll call them - distractions and poor suspense writing and why the film practically failed.
SPOILERS AHEAD
The Exorcist: Believer has a man, Victor, who has seemingly studied all religions and stepped away from them. He and his pregnant wife, Sorenne, go to Hati, where Sorenne is very willing to be led off to a place where folks she has never met are doing 'something' for her unborn child. Is it prayer or something more? Who knows. There's an earthquake, Sorenne is very badly hurt, and Victor has to decide between his wife and the baby. Years later, we get to where Victor and his daughter Angela live. Angela is combing through her mom's things, which is to tell us she wants to know more about her deceased mom. Or does she want to know?
She goes to school, and she and her best friend Katherine decide to go into the woods to do a ceremony for Angela to 'talk' to her mom. Here's the first thing I noticed - before Angela does this, she convinces a classmate to cover for her while she and Katherine go into the woods. How devious. She and Katherine go missing and turn up days later at a barn. Pay attention to how they are discovered - an animal is dead, and what is said is something like 'Oh, the fever got another one". Fever? Something is happening, but what? Why there? Same with Victor when you see him doing his portrait job - that family, and what he sees! So what happens there? There was something there, but what? Who knows?
Katherine and Angela go home, show signs of possession, etc. Here are some clues to something possibly interesting. Angela writes Regan's name on the board in her hospital room with her fingers/fingernails. Forecasting. When the girls are placed together, and everyone is doing a Primer Exorcist routine, who is getting the most out of it? Possessed Angela. When the helpful Father comes in to help, who offs him? Angela. Who lives? Angela. What about Katherine, you ask? Katherine is residual, IMO. While she was not meant to be possessed, she was. But Katherine was not the target. It was always dabbling Angela. Angela helped bring a soul to Hell (remember Katherine pleading that she didn't want to go to Hell? She knew, it knew. And off Katherine went), and a highly religious one at that! Score one for Angela. Then Angela goes to school and everything is hunky-dory. Nope, look at Angela's face as she looks at Katherine's empty desk. Ah, she misses her friend you think. No, she doesn't. Look at her face.
If what I get from The Exorcist Believer is the above, it's not easy to find. Dropped balls. There was no real suspense, no thrill, no real explanation of whether this was Pazuzu or his boss (which is a female demon) coming for revenge on...Regan (I think so!), the OTHER one who got away - and Angela, the possessed still, as one who is out to get her. I think the believer was Katherine and her family and they didn't make it. The Non-Believer, Victor, and his marked daughter Angela are probably "the deceivers". Ah-ha.
If this is so, it could have been so much better than what one has to comb through watching it. The actors were okay; the young ladies in their roles did much better than what they were given. There was so much potential here, but if this is a "preview", yikes. I now wanted them just to come out with it. They did not. Who wants to wait for the next one to explain this one when ya should have done it with what they had?!
Again, it looks like there will be a second one. It looks like this whole team may not be involved as is, and I hope the next team hears what we noticed, cranks up the volume, and delivers a better film, but it is not, please...stop thinking of doing a companion piece to classic horror-psychological masterpiece can be chopped to bits, and we, the audience doesn't get much out of it, when all signs point to we should have.
A 5 out of 10 for me, and most of it was for the sound and makeup, and the two young actresses.
I noticed so much more - so in rewriting my review, I saw tie-ins to the original, albeit weakly done. There is much I won't mention, as I'll call them - distractions and poor suspense writing and why the film practically failed.
SPOILERS AHEAD
The Exorcist: Believer has a man, Victor, who has seemingly studied all religions and stepped away from them. He and his pregnant wife, Sorenne, go to Hati, where Sorenne is very willing to be led off to a place where folks she has never met are doing 'something' for her unborn child. Is it prayer or something more? Who knows. There's an earthquake, Sorenne is very badly hurt, and Victor has to decide between his wife and the baby. Years later, we get to where Victor and his daughter Angela live. Angela is combing through her mom's things, which is to tell us she wants to know more about her deceased mom. Or does she want to know?
She goes to school, and she and her best friend Katherine decide to go into the woods to do a ceremony for Angela to 'talk' to her mom. Here's the first thing I noticed - before Angela does this, she convinces a classmate to cover for her while she and Katherine go into the woods. How devious. She and Katherine go missing and turn up days later at a barn. Pay attention to how they are discovered - an animal is dead, and what is said is something like 'Oh, the fever got another one". Fever? Something is happening, but what? Why there? Same with Victor when you see him doing his portrait job - that family, and what he sees! So what happens there? There was something there, but what? Who knows?
Katherine and Angela go home, show signs of possession, etc. Here are some clues to something possibly interesting. Angela writes Regan's name on the board in her hospital room with her fingers/fingernails. Forecasting. When the girls are placed together, and everyone is doing a Primer Exorcist routine, who is getting the most out of it? Possessed Angela. When the helpful Father comes in to help, who offs him? Angela. Who lives? Angela. What about Katherine, you ask? Katherine is residual, IMO. While she was not meant to be possessed, she was. But Katherine was not the target. It was always dabbling Angela. Angela helped bring a soul to Hell (remember Katherine pleading that she didn't want to go to Hell? She knew, it knew. And off Katherine went), and a highly religious one at that! Score one for Angela. Then Angela goes to school and everything is hunky-dory. Nope, look at Angela's face as she looks at Katherine's empty desk. Ah, she misses her friend you think. No, she doesn't. Look at her face.
If what I get from The Exorcist Believer is the above, it's not easy to find. Dropped balls. There was no real suspense, no thrill, no real explanation of whether this was Pazuzu or his boss (which is a female demon) coming for revenge on...Regan (I think so!), the OTHER one who got away - and Angela, the possessed still, as one who is out to get her. I think the believer was Katherine and her family and they didn't make it. The Non-Believer, Victor, and his marked daughter Angela are probably "the deceivers". Ah-ha.
If this is so, it could have been so much better than what one has to comb through watching it. The actors were okay; the young ladies in their roles did much better than what they were given. There was so much potential here, but if this is a "preview", yikes. I now wanted them just to come out with it. They did not. Who wants to wait for the next one to explain this one when ya should have done it with what they had?!
Again, it looks like there will be a second one. It looks like this whole team may not be involved as is, and I hope the next team hears what we noticed, cranks up the volume, and delivers a better film, but it is not, please...stop thinking of doing a companion piece to classic horror-psychological masterpiece can be chopped to bits, and we, the audience doesn't get much out of it, when all signs point to we should have.
A 5 out of 10 for me, and most of it was for the sound and makeup, and the two young actresses.