If you had asked me earlier today which horror sub-genre desperately needed some time to sit in the corner and think about what it’s done I would have said possession films, hands down. These flicks have the potential to be the absolute most terrifying stores put to film but for every The Exorcist there are 5 ‘Dominion: Prequel to The Exorcist‘s. I mean, really, by the end of next year there are going to be two separate exorcism films starring Russel Crowe, which is just too many Russell Crowe Exorcism films.
Yet, here we are, and because the world just LOVES seeing me eat my words the one bit of news that could turn my opinion on this was released. Mike Flanagan (The Haunting of Hill House, Midnight Mass) will be taking the lead on the franchise moving forward and will jettison the plans for a trilogy of films that was to start with last years panned The Exorcist: Believer.
If you’re a horror fan then you’re already familiar with Flanagan and most likely share my sentiments. If not, I’ll sum it up by saying the man hasn’t had a miss since 2016. Even , The Midnight Club, which wasn’t universally loved, holds his 2-episodes as some of the highest rated of that season. The bottom line is, Flanagan knows terrifying and more importantly he knows how to elicit that terror without resorting to cheap tricks. Hell, even when he does use the cheap tricks they become the best example of that in modern memory, look no further then THAT jump scare in The Haunting of Hill House which remains the only time I threw popcorn while watching a movie or show. Something with an established fright factor and the pure potential for terror that The Exorcist holds in the hands of someone like Flanagan and WITH a studio like Blumhouse behind him….I honestly don’t see how it could fail.
While we don’t have any solid details about the direction in which Flanagan is taking the franchise we do know that it will exist in the same general universe as the previous films but will not be a direct follow up to The Exorcist: Believer. Reps from Blumhouse have described it as a “radical new take” on the series.
