As the old adage goes, if you go down to the woods today, you’re in for a big surprise. And that seems to be the case for not one but two kids in The Exorcist: Believer, a legacy sequel to William Friedkin’s all-out horror classic from director David Gordon Green. Set – and released – 50 years after Friedkin’s film had audiences fleeing auditoriums in terror, Green’s sequel sees two girls wander into the woods before miraculously returning three days later. And, of course, when they come back, they’re Pazuzu’d up the wazoo. Watch the trailer here:
As with Green’s Halloween trilogy, this one’s set directly in the continuity of the original film, and even features the return of Ellen Burstyn as Chris MacNeil – the mother of Linda Blair’s possessed Regan in the original The Exorcist. Naturally, Chris has thoughts on what’s happening with the two girls – Angela and Katherine.
Here’s the official synopsis: “Since the death of his pregnant wife in a Haitian earthquake 12 years ago, Victor Fielding (Leslie Odom, Jr.) has raised their daughter, Angela (Lidya Jewett) on his own. But when Angela and her friend Katherine (Olivia Marcum), disappear in the woods, only to return three days later with no memory of what happened to them, it unleashes a chain of events that will force Victor to confront the nadir of evil and, in his terror and desperation, seek out the only person alive who has witnessed anything like it before: Chris MacNeil.”
It remains to be seen if Green can conjure up a sense of sheer damn terror to match up to Friedkin’s original – and if he can find fresh ground in the oft-trod possession horror subgenre. Here’s hoping the power of Chris MacNeil compels us.
The Exorcist: Believer comes to UK cinemas in October.