The Exorcist Harkens to the Visuals That Made the Original So Frightening, but Still Has a Lot of Ground to Cover
It seems like an impossible feat, bringing arguably one of the most terrifying movies ever to network TV.
The visuals in The Exorcist pushed the limits of censors when it was released in 1973. Famed critic Roger Ebert (who was a fan of the film) said, “That it received an R rating and not the X is stupefying.” Some of the film’s scenes are so unsettling that it would probably still have a hard time receiving an R rating if it were released today.
With this in mind, you would think that the Fox reimagining of the classic horror film would face its biggest challenges in trying to capture the fear the original is so revered for. In fact, if anything, this is where the series succeeds the most.
As with most pilots, The Exorcist doesn’t come at you too heavy and only really touches on things to come. This is to be expected with some pilots. To extend a film like The Exorcist into a series running multiple seasons (let alone one) will most certainly require a lot of plot twists and unanswered questions to keep audiences interested.
The film follows Father Tomas Ortega as a charismatic young priest who wants nothing more than to help those within his church (although it’s hinted that he may have some reservation in the celibacy department). Tomas looks to be close to the members of his flock. One such group of churchgoers are The Rance family. Angela, the matriarch of the family, is faced with a number of hardships. Her husband, played by Alan Ruck, suffers from an undefined mentally degenerative condition that has robbed him of his faculties. Every day he grows more and more nonrespondent. To complicate issues further, her daughter, Kat, has returned from college a different person. She wants nothing to do with the family and would rather wallow in her room than spend any time with the rest of the family. Angela’s only support seems to come for her other daughter, Casey, who is kind and caring. As Kat becomes more and more difficult, Angela begins to suspect there are others forces at work. She begins hearing voices and witnessing strange occurrences. It’s not long before she begins to fear the devil is involved and goes to Father Tomas for help.
Meanwhile, Tomas is experiencing visions of his own. In them, he sees Father Marcus Keane, played by Ben Daniels. Father Keane is a rugged exorcist who will stop at nothing to free those possessed by demonic forces. Tomas’ horrific visions show an incident in Mexico, where Father Keane desperately tries to save the soul of a local boy. Tomas looks on helplessly, as the boy is almost literally torn apart by a demon within.
Tomas is torn between trying to help the Rances and getting to the bottom of his nightmares.
The visions involving Father Keane really do manage to harken back to scenes that made the original film so terrifying. In the original film, director William Friedkin chose to layer practical effects with an inventive sounds design. Friedkin’s team combined sounds like the squealing of pigs over distorted dialogue to create a monster that managed to be both shrewdly conniving and maniacally beast-like. This is a method the series manages to continue effectively. As the possessed child writhes about, incoherent voices seem to be coming from all around Father Keane. Those with good home sound systems should really benefit from the auditory tricks.
As far as story progression is concerned, the pilot really is just an introduction to the characters and a jump off point for things to come. The episode does move a bit slow, giving little concrete background to the characters origins. Rather, the premiere throws subtle hints that, we hope, will manifest into more detailed backstories.
One such suspicious clue is when Tomas asks Angela about her faith in God. She responds with an air of skepticism which seems odd. One has to ask if your faith in God is so shaken, then why immediately suspect Satan is involved?
That’s not to say that there aren’t some big reveals that should entice audiences to come back, but overall, don’t expect non-stop chills throughout.
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One thing that does raise some concerns is a particular scene when Father Tomas is searching for Father Keane. Tomas is motioned over by a mysterious man with sunglasses who offers some cryptic advice to him. After Tomas leaves, the figure reveals he may not be altogether human.
Unlike the possessions we’ve come to know from The Exorcist film, this character seems utterly self-controlled, with a tame charisma that gives him a sense of authority. Whether this is the foreshadowing of a central villain is too early to determine, but if it is, his demeanor seems out of place in The Exorcist universe. In the film as well as its less successful spinoffs, the demons that inhabit their victims carry a signature unbridled rage that has made the film iconic. This particular character carries a more composed guile, al la Al Pacino in The Devil’s Advocate, than the raging Pazuzu we’ve come to know from The Exorcist.
[SPOILERS OVER]
Overall, although The Exorcist offers a rather slow introduction to where the series intends to go, it does provide a few adequate scares that should whet the appetites of fans of the original film. The showrunners have managed to create a pilot that shows potential to become one of the most frightening series you’re likely to find on network TV. Let’s hope the setups offer the payoffs we’re looking for.
