With “Halloween,” “Halloween Kills” and “Halloween Ends,” David Gordon Green brought cult killer Michael Myers back to the big screen – and how! His sequel trilogy to John Carpenter’s cult classic grossed almost $500 (!) million dollars, impressively proving that there is certainly a demand for so-called legacy sequels in horror cinema. And so he embarks on his next mega-project with ‘The Exorcist: Confession’ (in cinemas from October 5, 2023).
50 years after William Friedkin’s horror classic ‘The Exorcist’, Green now picks up the events of yesteryear – without ‘The Exorcist II’ and ‘The Exorcist III’ and the two prequels ‘Exorcist: The Beginning’ and ‘Dominion’. picking up. How well does that work? Fans of the original will probably argue about this, considering the two sequels that have already been announced…
This is what awaits you in “The Exorcist: Confession”
Since the death of his wife, Victor Fieldings (Leslie Odom Jr.) has been raising his daughter Angela (Lidya Jewett) alone – and ultimately faces his biggest challenge yet when she and her friend Katherine (Olivia O’Neill) one day ) go disappears without a trace in the forest. Just days later, the two return – with no memory of what happened among the trees.
Victor soon realizes that a dark force has apparently left the forest with the girls. Feeling helpless and lost, he ultimately decides to turn to Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) – because she had a clash with a higher power many years ago. And was able to escape her…
While FILMSTARTS editor-in-chief Christoph Petersen gives a solid 3 out of 5 stars in our review and also speaks of a “solid basis” for the two upcoming sequels, which ultimately “do not meet the (admittedly high) shock expectations. In conclusion, this mainly shows the permanent intent to “consistently undermine the original’s unquestioning fidelity to Catholicism.”
It’s one thing that the film isn’t just a horror shocker. However, if you’re one of the many horror fans who revere the original, you should dress especially warmly. FILMSTARTS editor Pascal Reis and lover of Friedkin’s masterpiece gave only half (!) a star – for a film that “tramples on the original.” More about this in the latest episode of our podcast Canvas Love:
A meager 24 percent positive votes Moreover, it appears (as of October 5, 9 a.m.) that the film is generally received poorly by the trade press.
Also new in cinemas
We can recommend the tragicomedy ‘The Lost King’ by ‘Philomena’ and ‘The Queen’ creator Stephen Frears, which offers pure feel-good cinema with a great Sally Hawkins (3.5 stars). Or, if you prefer exciting cinema: “Catch The Killer”. We also give it a good 3.5 stars for the thriller, which has less in common with current genre cinema and is more reminiscent of “The Silence of the Lambs”.
However, we cannot recommend “Freelance” (1.5 stars). The action comedy with John Cena and Alison Brie follows in the footsteps of ‘The Lost City’ (with Channing Tatum and Sandra Bullock), but cannot score any points with good punchlines or spectacular set pieces – and leaves the ‘Taken’ miss behind as the strength with which director Pierre Morel once helped Liam Neeson break through as an action star.