it worked OK, just a little collateral damage

he is to some. Just not in the way you meant

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Terrible joke, made zero sense, and I laughed anyway.

My review as a movie watcher unaware of western religious practices: the movie was ok for a little bit of Halloween fun and scares

My review as a movie watcher who knows a little bit about religion will take longer.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

I thought I might review this as a person of faith, but really, it doesn't deserve my time. It's incoherent.

SPOILERS

It seems like there were two plot ideas to the movie and rather than going with one, they went with both, represented by each of the girls. The Haitian "blessing" would have been an obvious point for inviting demonic influence. The entire movie could have been one child based on this. They drop this point almost entirely though. " Sure, we showed a voodoo ritual being performed on a child in the womb with the mother soon dying. Why would you stupid viewers think it had anything to do with the rest of the story."

So, they were looking for another way to introduce a demon. They use the ancient archetype of the pubescent girl going into the woods. Well...ok, evil in the woods is as old a theme as the serpent. So what is the evil? We are never introduced to the evil entity. Using only the context of the movie, it could have been anything from a wood nymph to the big bad wolf (which is actually a feature in The Exorcist that a smart writer could have played on). Stupid Chris Mc Neil assumes its Pazouzou for some reason but the entity never validates that thought.

How do we still remember the demon's name from The Exorcist after 50 years? Because the writer introduced it in name, character and visually, with his big stone, snake dong waving hi to us. They chose not to develop the antagonist of this story. That seems like a strange decision because unlike The Exorcist, where the demon is incidental, the demon is a main character.

The Exorcist shocked audiences because it was brave enough to display the blasphemy involved in this situation. It doesn't seem like anyone in this production had any knowledge of the subject matter and if they did, were afraid of the pushback if they went all in on the art. They clearly want to hint that the girl was masturbating in church, but nope, can't really get into that. They wouldn't even have the girls curse. Wussies! Your lukewarm art deserves the ridicule it has received.

They really missed an opportunity to address some deep theological themes. Why would a demon feel so comfortable in a church and covered in the sacrament? (My take) because it is some nondescript protestant group who doesn't believe in sacraments nor the transformation of the wine and host into the true body and blood. The demon had no reason to ever leave because there was no one with authority over it. The mock being compelled by the power of Christ because no one there is present with his authority.

That neighbor was the worst person who almost took her vows. They present the catholic church hierarchy as just some "patriarchal" bureaucracy. Assume she is still a person of faith, she knows that what it actually represents is Jesus giving direct authority to Peter and the apostles. All bishops and priests represent an unbroken line of direct authority issued by God himself. She knows she is not in that line. When she utters the Rite, the demon does not respect it because she has no authority. There really isn't an indication that she confessed her many mortal sins (in fact, she said she never told anyone), which is a critical aspect of any catholic exorcist. A demon would never be able to recall those sins that were confessed because God has wiped that sin.

But you want to know what really frosts my beer? Stupid Chris Mc Neil. She is presented as some academic on the issue, so stupid people IRL are going to think there is some truth in what her character says. She makes stupid statements that christians go to church to affirm community. She says that the power of the exorcism is in the people that are present. That is utter nonsense. The power of the exorcism is God. There are no powerful exorcists. Each is simply a conduit. We go to church not for the coffee and donuts, or for the deals made at the back. We go to worship God and recreate the moment of the sacrifice.

Anyway, I had more to say if anyone really cares but that is sufficient for now.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

This is set to be a trilogy. The points I saw that could be used as material to forward the story are:

1. Pouring the putrid water into the sewer will mix into the water system and cause infiltration for one or many. A smart writer could write an interesting antichrist story from this but I know that won't happen.

2. the white girl didn't die. They never showed her in the ground and never say she is dead. Somehow, the father's unannounced weakness will be explored.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

CONTINUED SPOILERS




















that could be true that katherine isn't dead even though they lead you believe she is.

but i think you missed a ton of interpretation in the film. first, the demon isn't the same (also, pazuzu isn't mentioned by name in the original "exorcist", movie or book. it's named in "the heretic"). the blessing given in the beginning, i took, to be the key to saving the girl's life. i'm not sure if it's totally "a mother's sacrifice" since she wasn't trying to put herself in a life or death situation. but the blessing is not the conduit to the possession.

the pendulum is. i thought you knew about spiritual openings usually being an object which bridges the spiritual realm with the physical. like a seance, or an ouiji board (used in the first film). the girls use a pendulum to reach the spirit world (to talk to the dead). that is the moment they are "taken to hell" (referenced by katherine's mom when talking about jesus' resurrection).

just like in the first film, i believe they're also conveying that the exorcism didn't really work. it was the demon that tricked the parents into thinking they could choose. because the dad chooses his daughter katherine, the demon kills her (suspectedly)...i thought since the demon got what it wanted, angela is saved--but like i said, the blessing in the beginning could have also been the reason. i guess a weakness in the writing could be that they could've explicitly said all of this...since it is a trilogy, maybe they wanted to leave some things up in the air.

this was always going to be a divisive film i think for anyone who follows an organized religion. i think it *is* a spiritual film, though, and i think it *is* about having faith.

the chris macneil story may have been shoehorned but they did make a connection between her bond with her daughter being important the way angela and her father was supposed to be. also, she proved to be more theatrical (she was an actress, after all) because nothing she does to the demon harms it or thwarts its plans. it takes out her eyes (proving she's blind metaphorically and now physically), and leaves her alive.

I took the blessing as nothing. I don't see how it could be a protection as it didn't protect her from anything. I think it was presented, then forgotten, which I have read is a common problem with the director's work. It had no impact on the story, other than to show voodoo. So I have to believe it is a vestige of an early version of the script.

I don't think it's divisive. My religious senses aren't offended (which is probably a bad thing for the production). The all religions are equal theme weakened the story and I don't think any of the religions were well researched

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

The entire gathering of local religious leaders from different sects and neighbors who have no experience whatsoever in what they are doing performing some kind of exorcism ritual surrounded by blinking and beeping medical equipment in someones living room is so preposterous any religious "meaning" is totally out the window. This movie could have been better with the one Fielding kid and working McNeil in in an actual usable role in the film instead of a desperate throwback added simply to connect the movie to the original.

By the way, I DID like the twist at the end involving Victor's choice was actually cool and could have been used very effectively in a better movie.

I don't care whether a person believes in possessions or not but if we are entering the universe that is created in the movie, the theology doesn't support that the demon gets to make that kind of choice. The possessed isn't damned. A demon can possess a body but the soul is still God's. The possession is at God's indulgence, not a battle of equals.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

It’s possible that they left a lot of these things open because it’s a planned trilogy and I’m not exactly a huge fan of any of these writers based on the “Halloween” trilogy that did languish in lazy writing plenty of times. Not having a post-credit scene was welcomed by me because I hate that tradition. But it also gives them time to retcon anything they read in bad reviews rather than have already stuck to something to go into the sequels. It’s possible that criticisms echoed by MOFO and GD could “change” their course (who knows).

I listened to redletter's review yesterday. They, like me, high tailed it out of there without even giving it a chance for a post credit.

I'm a sucker though. I'll probably see the whole trilogy.

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

Another thing, silence can be frightening. I wouldn't know from this movie because they play music throughout, which also diminishes its authenticity

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.

The music and tone were what made the original great.

CGI killed great horror.

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Fun fact! The Exorcist had an actor in it who turned out to be a serial killer.
The bearded guy in the hospital scene when they stick her in the next and put in a catheter... he's the Bag Killer or some damn shit.

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"Play until it hurts, then play until it hurts to not play."
http://soundcloud.com/darkside124 HOF 2013, MM Champion 2014

It had strategically placed (brilliant) music

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O judgment! Thou art fled to brutish beasts,
And men have lost their reason.