PILOT REVIEW: The Exorcist

THE EXORCIST

Starring: Alfonso Herrera, Ben Daniels, Hannah Kasulka, Brianne Howey, Kurt Egyiawan, with Alan Ruck, and Geena Davis

Inspired by the Novel by William Peter Blatty
Created by Jeremy Slater
Teleplay and Television Story by Jeremy Slater, Directed by Rupert Wyatt

Yes, we have another remake! FOX has an updated version of the iconic 1971 novel and 1973 film The Exorcist. The TV version is centered on a Hispanic priest, Father Thomas Ortega (Alfonso Herrera) and his dealings with people in his church like Angela and Henry Rance (Geena Davis and Alan Ruck) and their family as well as otherworldly issues like demons and the mysterious Father Marcus Keane (Ben Daniels).

I will admit I have never seen any of the movies so I have nothing to compare it to (I am much more well versed in TV shows than movies) but isn't The Exorcist supposed to be scary? I mean, I'm not really a horror fan, but if I'm going to watch a show called The Exorcist, I at least hope it will scare me a little bit and give me some thrills. Instead, this was a very slow-burn pilot with far more set-up than any actual thrills and I think that's a bad idea. Even if this show gets scarier as it continues, they needed to have more of that in the pilot so fans of the genre or the originals will come back.

The Exorcist did a decent job of mood-setting early on. There was an uneasy feeling to the show in the church and in the dark, gray-skied street scenes. The opening before the title screen seemed to not connect to the rest of the show for quite awhile and left me confused, maybe that was the point? As for the performances, I liked Alfonso Herrera in the lead role and there was some potential with the storyline involving Geena Davis and Alan Ruck. Ben Daniels was playing a type of character we see on any sort of eerie show like this, and they almost always seem to be British too!

The Exorcist was never going to be a show for me. I knew going in that it wasn't going to be my type of show and nothing in the pilot made me change that opinion. I would be curious to see what people who love that genre or the original thought of the remake. After all, it's not been getting horrible reviews. I just wondered why there were so few scares in a pilot called THE EXORCIST?

WILL I WATCH IT AGAIN?
No, I'll have to find out second-hand if it got scarier than the pilot.