When The Exorcist was released in 1973, it was a groundbreaking and shocking horror movie. But with every passing year, it seems like a handful of exorcism horror films are released, and most of them are lackluster. Instead of telling a fresh story with vibrant characters and a fast-paced plot, these movies tend to all feel the same. This is true of The Pope's Exorcist and Prey For The Devil, movies released in 2023 and 2022 that don't offer much to get excited about.
Since these types of movies rarely get rave reviews from critics or audiences, that begs the question: is exorcism horror still a beloved subgenre? Are any of these movies going to get the same praise that The Exorcist once did? With horror enjoying a resurgence in popularity, it's possible that slashers are always going to reign supreme and no demonic possession film can capture the magic of The Exorcist.
What Is Prey For The Devil About?
Prey for the Devil was released in 2022 and follows Sister Ann (Jacqueline Byers), a nun who is learning the Rite of Exorcism through the Catholic Church. She isn't actually meant to be part of this training, but she has an unusual gift, so she's allowed. Through her work, Ann learns the truth about the child that she gave up years before. And since this child is the one who has been taken over by an evil spirit, Ann is right at the heart of the action.
Prey for the Devil doesn't feel interesting or fresh, and its poor reviews and low ratings on Rotten Tomatoes prove that. It only has a 17% rating on the Tomatometer based on 35 reviews and a 69% Audience Score based on over 250 ratings. The plot moves slowly, the characters aren't well-developed, and it's hard to know what it brings to the subgenre. While Ann and Natalie (Posy Taylor) do have a connection, the movie doesn't do much with it, and everyone feels generic and vague.
It's common in exorcism horror to feature child characters who have been taken over. This is meant to feel terrifying since children are so sweet and innocent. It should be easy for audiences to root for the main character to investigate what's going on and help out. But, while The Exorcist will always be a timeless 1970s horror movie, newer films like Prey For The Devil don't feel as memorable or sophisticated. It often feels like something is missing, which makes it hard to get excited about this horror genre.
What Is The Pope's Exorcist About?
The Pope's Exorcist was released in April 2023 and is adapted from Father Gabriele Amorth's books An Exorcist: More Stories and An Exorcist Tells His Story. Russell Crowe plays the main character, who works as the exorcist for the pope. While there's an attempt to make this character stand out, as he's meant to be quirky and even free-spirited, he's not very likable. As Henry (Peter DeSouza-Feighoney) becomes taken over by an evil spirit, Father Amorth tries to find out the truth.
The problem with these types of horror movies? Their plotlines all feel boring. Although they tell stories of demonic possession and the attempt to get rid of these evil demons, they rarely feature terrifying demons found in horror movies. Instead, there's too much talk and not enough action. Like Prey For The Devil, The Pope's Exorcist moves so slowly that audiences will find it tough to get through the whole film.
Is Exorcism Horror No Longer Popular?
It doesn't seem like exorcism horror is a popular horror subgenre these days. The long history of The Exorcist being controversial is fascinating to read about. And every time the media reported on audience members being terrified in movie theaters, the movie became even more alluring and exciting.
In the past few years, when a new horror movie about demonic possession is released, only a few of them end up being scary and compelling. The rest fade into the background and don't leave much of an impression. This suggests that audiences are tired of exorcism horror and have seen it all by now.
Take the upcoming The Exorcist sequel, for example. David Gordon Green's Halloween trilogy didn't thrill horror fans.
And now the director is working on a legacy sequel. But is this something that audiences really want? The original movie is a beloved classic because it was fresh, unexpected, and genuinely horrifying. The scene of Regan MacNeil's (Linda Blair) head twisting around while she sits in her bed in her nightgown is one of the most memorable horror movie scenes. It's hard to imagine that the new movie will be able to live up to that.