A review of the pilot episode of FOX TV’s The Exorcist
Horror cultists haven’t been holding out much hope for FOX’s new small-screen resurrection of what is still considered one of the most unnerving and influential films in history, William Friedkin’s 1973 possession thriller The Exorcist. Certainly, the franchised Exorcist films that followed were lacking (though the third entry has its serious admirers) and the many imitations were simply reheated geek shows (though we are partial to the Italian ones because, well, they’re Italian) and ultimately, even today, nothing any film could attempt to say about demonic possession would ever be better articulated than it was in Friedkin and author William Peter Blatty’s original landmark.
Which is why this incarnation of The Exorcist just might work. We had an advance look at the first episode and were left impressed. This was surprising, seeing as the trailer reeked of yet another contemporary possession melodrama, one that was riding the coattails of a classic and crassly trading in on a known name. Well, it is doing that too, of course. But at its core, this new The Exorcist does exactly what the source film did to establish its universe and it does it very, very well. It focuses on its characters, on creating a sense of dread and unease and then lets the horror grow organically from it. If series creator Jeremy Slater (and exec producer Rupert Wyatt, who also directs this pilot episode) can maintain and evolve the accomplished blueprint established here, then they might just have a solid, intelligent and frightening series on their blood-stained hands.
The show stars Alfonso Herrera as Father Tomas Orteha, a kindly and freethinking young priest in an established Chicago suburb who, like Jason Miller did in the Friedkin film, struggles somewhat with his faith. Not nearly as much as Miller’s Father Damien Karras, but enough to add some subtext to the story. Father Tomas becomes embroiled in the troubles of the Rance family, whose matriarch Angela (the awesome Geena Davis, who we’re thrilled to have back on screen) is at her wits end. Her husband (Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’s Alan Ruck) has been left brain damaged after an accident and she’s left to carry the weight of his condition and the well being of her two daughters. But she’s especially concerned about her eldest daughter Katherine, who she swears has been acting strangely; not standard teen girl strange either, but genuinely vulgar and pointlessly cruel behavior that gets worse by the day. Tomas is doubtful that the Devil is within her, but agrees to observe the family to appease the frazzled mother. Of course, despite his doubts, bad things do indeed happen and something evil is naturally afoot.
Meanwhile, in Mexico, a grizzled Priest named Father Marcus (Ben Daniels) is doing what he was literally born and raised by the Vatican to do: exorcise demons from the bodies of human beings. Marcus doesn’t pull his punches and Daniels plays him as an old-before-his-time warrior who is tired of the battle, not just the battle with the Devil, but the battle he faces within the church to handle these sorts of horrors his way.
How the plights of these two priests converge serves as the spine of the drama that will no doubt unfold for the duration of this season.
The Exorcist is tense and dark, but like the original, not oppressive. There are many moments of simple character observation and humor that serve to warm us to the actors and – credit to Wyatt – create a sense of normalcy before the horror hits. And it does hit. Outside of the general menace that boils in the background, there are many effective jolts, including a rogue raven that gets lodged in a smashed window, the shards of glass carving the squealing thing up while it attempts to escape and an attic battle with both a rat and very malevolent teenager goes on long enough that it becomes unbearable.
And when, as this first episode reaches its climax, we hear those familiar strains of Mike Oldfield’s progressive rock anthem “Tubular Bells,” the sacred theme of the The Exorcist, it’s not unwarranted, rather it feels earned.
We have no idea if the series will continue to be this good, but we’ll follow it with interest.
So can you when The Exorcist premieres on FOX on September 23rd at 9pm (ET/PT).
