LIKES:
The Acting: -A strong cast to get a movie like this to come to life is essential, and I felt many did their jobs quite well and brought the demons out to play.
-Burstyn does well in her role when she arrives back to take on the Devil again. She's strong, has this commanding presence and gives inspiring speeches that work with the theme of this movie.
-Nettles is fine as the worried mom and there are times she kills her performance, but there was more that could have been done with the character to pull her full effect out.
-As for Odom Jr, my favorite of the bunch. He's tough, he's got great delivery, and I love the question of faith role he has with this direction and how much I believed the struggle.
The Setting/Cinematography: -The movie's chilling atmosphere comes from the setting that this film takes place in... home and how even here you might not be safe.
-While we have plenty of movies that use this same setting, what this movie did was really use effects and the camera to make the horror come to life.
-Believer's camera work finds all the right filters and angles for me to help add that extra oomph to help make the discomfort come out even more.
-Those shadows are haunting, and just big enough to be unsettling. Then you find them hitting the right movement, the close ups, and the dynamic movement to get just that perfect shot for the horrors coming with it.
-It's one of my favorite aspects about it, and having that dynamic movement helps mix things up and add just that pop of spook factor you want.
The Sound Editing/Voice Work: -Most possession movies are about adding that haunting noise and effects to help make the demon's work come to life.
-Believer did this for me well, the underlying musical gestures the start of the magic that they brought with the sound.
-Then the growling, creaking, and background noises come in next and those things add that undertone of terror that something lurks in the realm.
-Still not enough, then get set for the louder things to come. The demon's voice really has a great use, a mixing of two adolescent voices with the familiar throaty deep tone work as the demon plays it's game.
-The writing of the movie comes out the best with the delivery and the voices, finding just the right tone, pitch, and throaty texture and switching them in and out.
-It adds character to the victims and the scenes, and I really felt this part was sort of the character of the movie.
-The finish is the screaming, done by everyone, but all conveying the terror and horror as the torturing continues and the girls convey that terror of being in the hands of this monster.
Movement Acting: -Nothing can be more chilling than watching a body writhe and wiggle in torture conveying the unnatural forces at play.
-Believer accomplished this, the girls talented in how they bend, twitch, move, and roll about as their internal fight for their soul continues.
-Their control was impressive, the coordination and direction to really make the girls give you skin crawling angle and actions that convey that demonic control.
-Head jerking to painful degrees, slow tweaks of the head and smiles of sinister grinning and hunger, and the powerful lunges that are a bit too realistic.
-The best part of the acting for me and worthy of praise for what they accomplished.
The makeup: -The original did it well, and this one has fantastic prosthetic work to make the gross factor awaken.
-Believer's looks are sinister, disgusting, and pulsing with that horrific detail that made me grit my teeth and shudder.
-Flaking skin, body scars, blood, and decaying nails are some of the things that await you, assisting with the decay that demon possession has on people.
-While the eyes, lips, and more supernatural elements really come out in that movie glory, with pale clammy skin, those unholy yellow eyes, and black residue oozing out of every crevice.
-Certainly my favorite part of the movie, the familiar designs really come to life and hold well in this movie, and computer assistance does not make it too fake or off putting to not be able to handle.
DISLIKES:
Not Scary: -Unsettling, sure. I mean possession is not something to mess around with and that was the part that made me feel the most scared.
-The movie for seasoned pros of the movie though are going to be bored as the scares are really drowned out by the preachiness of the movie.
-Believer's direction ifs familiar enough, but the movie just can't get back to the roots and storytelling when lost to the more moral and divine playing.
-Throw in less scare tactics, some jump scares that went wrong, and simplifying the actual story horror and I see the complaints that most have.
Burstyn's Cameo needed more: -This is in no way a spoiler, but when you go out of your way to play up a big involvement of the franchise favorite and don't utilize it, you get disappointment.
-The times she is on screen she rocks with her delivery, but there was so much more to use the queen on, and we just exorcised it without a second thought.
-The new cast has potential, but they weren't enough to offset the bait and switch with a character who made more speeches than added to the story, including the special moments that were meant to have more gusto.
Where were the thrills?
-Another boring element is feeling nothing in regards to the suspense and thrills that the first one had.
-This does have to do with the fact that movies have done everything to death, but still, a little more challenge, dive, and testing of characters, building into the story like the others could have gone a long way.
-But that wasn't the case. Believer takes a lot of side stories and tries to give this a religious kick that feels party Sunday school lesson.
-While the heart of those lessons is there and important in terms of execution it was sloppy, to the side, and feels quite superficial for what these movies have done better in the past.
-And even more so, it just felt like there was too much in one film and everyone was trying to pull equal pieces to have everything in one movie.
-This just led to a diluted movie that started baring its fangs then put them away.
The Character/Acting/Story/Writing Is Messy -I mentioned this earlier, but because of everything being jammed into one movie... you can guess it gets sloppy at times and this too I felt with time in the movie.
-Character development is inconsistent, sometimes starting to go deep, and other times a flicker before we get into preachy/overdramatic moments.
-Some of the acting is top notch, and delivers character moments that I'll remember, like Odom and the girls, but forgettable for Nettles and several other people that feel lost to editing.
-The lines go from realistic, haunting, and a real battle of faith, to again citing lines and feeling like a Christian delivered movie that feel out of place and forced.
-And the story holds so many good elements, but again, fades to very bloated moments that are side tracks and very gospel like, not flowing.
-It all leads to the movie feeling like it still needs a little more tweaking and planning, and any potential sequels really going back to the roots, picking some stories, and making sure its character centric and spooky.
-In doing so, this might just help get the Exorcism to be a success, rather than feeling like another cash grab.
THE VERDICT: The Exorcist Believer certainly has the modern feel in regards to the cinema level of craft, filming, and makeup. I found the most enjoyable parts to be the physical shooting and creation aspects that helped bring some really cool makeup effects to the genre. It's haunting with sound, fantastic with moving the camera, and really helping establish the true terror and soulless nature involving Hell. Sadly, the movie suffers on a lot of other things for me that take away from the film and sort of buffer what I think the movie was trying to accomplish. A cameo that is very limited is just the start as scares, thrills and cohesive film got lost in preachy dialog, too many stories, and what felt like a very crammed movie. The result is not the worst movie of the summer, but certainly a weaker film that lacks something the first movie (and some of the ones that followed) had. Given all this, I hate to say you optimize your money by waiting for this one at home, with Saw X still being my choice for horror/thriller movie.
My scores are:
Horror: 6.5-7.0 Movie Overall: 5.5-6.0.
The Acting: -A strong cast to get a movie like this to come to life is essential, and I felt many did their jobs quite well and brought the demons out to play.
-Burstyn does well in her role when she arrives back to take on the Devil again. She's strong, has this commanding presence and gives inspiring speeches that work with the theme of this movie.
-Nettles is fine as the worried mom and there are times she kills her performance, but there was more that could have been done with the character to pull her full effect out.
-As for Odom Jr, my favorite of the bunch. He's tough, he's got great delivery, and I love the question of faith role he has with this direction and how much I believed the struggle.
The Setting/Cinematography: -The movie's chilling atmosphere comes from the setting that this film takes place in... home and how even here you might not be safe.
-While we have plenty of movies that use this same setting, what this movie did was really use effects and the camera to make the horror come to life.
-Believer's camera work finds all the right filters and angles for me to help add that extra oomph to help make the discomfort come out even more.
-Those shadows are haunting, and just big enough to be unsettling. Then you find them hitting the right movement, the close ups, and the dynamic movement to get just that perfect shot for the horrors coming with it.
-It's one of my favorite aspects about it, and having that dynamic movement helps mix things up and add just that pop of spook factor you want.
The Sound Editing/Voice Work: -Most possession movies are about adding that haunting noise and effects to help make the demon's work come to life.
-Believer did this for me well, the underlying musical gestures the start of the magic that they brought with the sound.
-Then the growling, creaking, and background noises come in next and those things add that undertone of terror that something lurks in the realm.
-Still not enough, then get set for the louder things to come. The demon's voice really has a great use, a mixing of two adolescent voices with the familiar throaty deep tone work as the demon plays it's game.
-The writing of the movie comes out the best with the delivery and the voices, finding just the right tone, pitch, and throaty texture and switching them in and out.
-It adds character to the victims and the scenes, and I really felt this part was sort of the character of the movie.
-The finish is the screaming, done by everyone, but all conveying the terror and horror as the torturing continues and the girls convey that terror of being in the hands of this monster.
Movement Acting: -Nothing can be more chilling than watching a body writhe and wiggle in torture conveying the unnatural forces at play.
-Believer accomplished this, the girls talented in how they bend, twitch, move, and roll about as their internal fight for their soul continues.
-Their control was impressive, the coordination and direction to really make the girls give you skin crawling angle and actions that convey that demonic control.
-Head jerking to painful degrees, slow tweaks of the head and smiles of sinister grinning and hunger, and the powerful lunges that are a bit too realistic.
-The best part of the acting for me and worthy of praise for what they accomplished.
The makeup: -The original did it well, and this one has fantastic prosthetic work to make the gross factor awaken.
-Believer's looks are sinister, disgusting, and pulsing with that horrific detail that made me grit my teeth and shudder.
-Flaking skin, body scars, blood, and decaying nails are some of the things that await you, assisting with the decay that demon possession has on people.
-While the eyes, lips, and more supernatural elements really come out in that movie glory, with pale clammy skin, those unholy yellow eyes, and black residue oozing out of every crevice.
-Certainly my favorite part of the movie, the familiar designs really come to life and hold well in this movie, and computer assistance does not make it too fake or off putting to not be able to handle.
DISLIKES:
Not Scary: -Unsettling, sure. I mean possession is not something to mess around with and that was the part that made me feel the most scared.
-The movie for seasoned pros of the movie though are going to be bored as the scares are really drowned out by the preachiness of the movie.
-Believer's direction ifs familiar enough, but the movie just can't get back to the roots and storytelling when lost to the more moral and divine playing.
-Throw in less scare tactics, some jump scares that went wrong, and simplifying the actual story horror and I see the complaints that most have.
Burstyn's Cameo needed more: -This is in no way a spoiler, but when you go out of your way to play up a big involvement of the franchise favorite and don't utilize it, you get disappointment.
-The times she is on screen she rocks with her delivery, but there was so much more to use the queen on, and we just exorcised it without a second thought.
-The new cast has potential, but they weren't enough to offset the bait and switch with a character who made more speeches than added to the story, including the special moments that were meant to have more gusto.
Where were the thrills?
-Another boring element is feeling nothing in regards to the suspense and thrills that the first one had.
-This does have to do with the fact that movies have done everything to death, but still, a little more challenge, dive, and testing of characters, building into the story like the others could have gone a long way.
-But that wasn't the case. Believer takes a lot of side stories and tries to give this a religious kick that feels party Sunday school lesson.
-While the heart of those lessons is there and important in terms of execution it was sloppy, to the side, and feels quite superficial for what these movies have done better in the past.
-And even more so, it just felt like there was too much in one film and everyone was trying to pull equal pieces to have everything in one movie.
-This just led to a diluted movie that started baring its fangs then put them away.
The Character/Acting/Story/Writing Is Messy -I mentioned this earlier, but because of everything being jammed into one movie... you can guess it gets sloppy at times and this too I felt with time in the movie.
-Character development is inconsistent, sometimes starting to go deep, and other times a flicker before we get into preachy/overdramatic moments.
-Some of the acting is top notch, and delivers character moments that I'll remember, like Odom and the girls, but forgettable for Nettles and several other people that feel lost to editing.
-The lines go from realistic, haunting, and a real battle of faith, to again citing lines and feeling like a Christian delivered movie that feel out of place and forced.
-And the story holds so many good elements, but again, fades to very bloated moments that are side tracks and very gospel like, not flowing.
-It all leads to the movie feeling like it still needs a little more tweaking and planning, and any potential sequels really going back to the roots, picking some stories, and making sure its character centric and spooky.
-In doing so, this might just help get the Exorcism to be a success, rather than feeling like another cash grab.
THE VERDICT: The Exorcist Believer certainly has the modern feel in regards to the cinema level of craft, filming, and makeup. I found the most enjoyable parts to be the physical shooting and creation aspects that helped bring some really cool makeup effects to the genre. It's haunting with sound, fantastic with moving the camera, and really helping establish the true terror and soulless nature involving Hell. Sadly, the movie suffers on a lot of other things for me that take away from the film and sort of buffer what I think the movie was trying to accomplish. A cameo that is very limited is just the start as scares, thrills and cohesive film got lost in preachy dialog, too many stories, and what felt like a very crammed movie. The result is not the worst movie of the summer, but certainly a weaker film that lacks something the first movie (and some of the ones that followed) had. Given all this, I hate to say you optimize your money by waiting for this one at home, with Saw X still being my choice for horror/thriller movie.
My scores are:
Horror: 6.5-7.0 Movie Overall: 5.5-6.0.