Summary
- Mike Flanagan's potential involvement in directing The Exorcist: Deceiver could redeem the Blumhouse trilogy thanks to his success on Ouija: Origin of Evil.
- The forgotten 2016 horror prequel showed that Flanagan can stay true to the groundwork put forth by a filmmaker of a poorly received movie while also delivering something original and emotional.
- Flanagan's work on Midnight Mass also shows a strong grip on blending horror with the thematic exploration of religion and faith that author William Peter Blatty touched on in his original Exorcist novel and movie script.
The Exorcist: Deceiver is in talks with Mike Flanagan to replace David Gordon Green in the director's chair, and one forgotten project in his filmography shows just how he can save the revived horror franchise. Blumhouse and Halloween's David Gordon Green brought back the possession-driven franchise in 2023 with The Exorcist: Believer, revolving around a single father whose daughter and her best friend go missing, only to be found and exhibiting signs of possession. In an effort to save the pair, the parents turn to various religious experts and returning character Chris MacNeil for help.
Though initially intended to kickstart a new trilogy much like Green did with Blumhouse's Halloween movies, the franchise's future was left unclear after Green departed The Exorcist: Deceiver and the studio pulled it from its release calendar. It was later reported in May 2024 that acclaimed horror filmmaker Mike Flanagan was in talks to direct the next installment, though was left unclear if he would be involved in the writing process. While he may yet to be confirmed for the sequel, there is one movie in his past that would make him the perfect fit to redeem The Exorcist.
8 Biggest Takeaways From The Exorcist: Believer's Scathing Reviews
Most critics agree that The Exorcist: Believer is yet another unnecessary and dispirited attempt to extend the 1973 horror classic into a franchise.
What Went Wrong With The Exorcist Sequel?
Heading into The Exorcist: Believer's release, there was some skepticism of Green's ability to revive the franchise for modern audiences after his second and third Halloween movies saw increasingly worse reviews from critics and lackluster box office returns. Matters were made only worse when reviews started rolling out for the movie, with it not only failing to break the franchise's negative Rotten Tomatoes movie streak, but also one of Green's worst in nearly a decade. Check out how Believer's scores compare to the other Exorcist movies below:
|
Title |
RT Critical Score |
RT Audience Score |
|---|---|---|
|
The Exorcist |
78% |
87% |
|
Exorcist II: The Heretic |
11% |
13% |
|
The Exorcist III |
59% |
57% |
|
Exorcist: The Beginning |
11% |
27% |
|
Dominion: Prequel To The Exorcist |
30% |
25% |
|
The Exorcist: Believer |
22% |
59% |
Unlike his prior success with 2018's Halloween, there were clearly a number of reasons why The Exorcist: Believer failed to match Green's horror debut. Between a script that failed to bring anything new to the franchise, underutilized Ellen Burstyn's return as Chris after her previous rejections to return and didn't effectively set up the proposed new trilogy of movies, it was clear that the filmmaker's reach had far exceeded his grasp, as he never quite landed on what direction to take with the 2023 movie.
Even before its release, Green was seemingly having doubts about his potential to carry The Exorcist franchise forward beyond Believer, having expressed that he may not be the one to helm the first sequel, Deceiver, and instead leave his roadmap for the sequels up to someone else. A report after Believer's underwhelming box office opening and reviews further indicated that Blumhouse and the creative team may be changing their approach to the sequels, with Green's decision to step down from the trilogy to helm an indie dramedy seeming like an indication he wanted to return to his roots.
Mike Flanagan Previously Redeemed The Ouija Franchise
Across his near-15-year career, Flanagan is largely known for creating original and terrifying tales, or for bringing a fresh perspective to iconic properties, namely those of Stephen King with Gerald's Game and Doctor Sleep. But one rare standout in his filmography is that of 2016's Ouija: Origin of Evil, which served as his first major foray into franchise filmmaking as he looked to build on the characters and story established by Blumhouse's 2014 box office hit. Before this, Flanagan had only made original projects, including his breakout 2013 hit Oculus and Netflix home invasion thriller Hush.
Every Mike Flanagan Movie & TV Show, Ranked From Least To Most Terrifying
Filmmaker Mike Flanagan has become synonymous with top-notch horror projects, but some of his movies and TV shows deliver better scares than others.
While some may better know Flanagan now for The Haunting anthology and the recently released The Fall of the House of Usher, his work on Ouija: Origin of Evil is actually a very promising sign of just how the filmmaker can revive The Exorcist franchise after Believer's missteps. The first Ouija movie infamously released to a widespread critical panning, currently holding a 6% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and 24% from audiences. Origin of Evil, on the other hand, boasts a stellar 83% "Certified Fresh" from critics, albeit a more mixed 57% from audiences on the review aggregate.
Ouija: Origin of Evil is available to stream on Netflix.
With Ouija: Origin of Evil, Flanagan showed a remarkable ability to take a largely underwhelming horror effort and spin it into something that was not only plenty horrifying, but also richly layered with emotional character development and a moving story. Even more impressive was that the filmmaker did so without making any major changes to the story threads put forth in the original movie, instead finding new and intelligent ways to expand upon them without completely undermining another filmmaker's work.
Midnight Mass Also Shows Flanagan's Religion In Horror Expertise
In addition to the Ouija prequel, another celebrated title in Flanagan's filmography that proves him to be the perfect person to helm the next Exorcist movie is his 2021 Netflix miniseries, Midnight Mass. Described by the filmmaker as a passion project he spent a decade developing, the show revolved around a small island town who begin to experience a series of miracles after the arrival of a mysterious, charismatic young priest, who holds a darker secret behind these occurrences.
Midnight Mass' Hidden Meaning & Central Theme Explained
Midnight Mass is surely a story about religious fanaticism as it intersects with horror, but beneath this is the underlying theme of forgiveness.
Flanagan not only pulled from his own past going through sobriety for Midnight Mass, but also looked to his Catholic upbringing and later studies of various religions to create a thematically impactful journey about the nature of faith. While The Exorcist movies may be better known as a standard possession horror story, author William Peter Blatty layered both his original novel and script for the 1973 movie with far deeper themes exploring faith and the conflict between faith and doubt, as Chris' initial attempts to solve Regan's situation were from a rational standpoint rather than a spiritual one.
Green certainly attempted to touch upon some of these themes in The Exorcist: Believer, particularly with his decision to have the climactic exorcism scene feature various religious figures working together to cleanse the possessed Katherine and Angela. Unlike Flanagan's work on Midnight Mass, however, Green's efforts felt more surface level, with many critics even criticizing it as more of a gimmick than a meaningful exploration.