‘The Exorcist’, considered by many to be one of the greatest horror masterpieces of all time, is fifty years old this year. In honor of this monumental anniversary of what is pretty much the invention of modern horror, writer/director David Gordon Green, along with a writing troupe that includes actor and cohort Danny McBride, set out to reinvigorate the franchise. Unfortunately, while far from a bad movie, ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ falls short of its goal by not really bringing anything fresh to this story and thus not providing much justification for its existence.

As they did with the ‘Halloween’ redirect, the filmmakers discard the events of the sequels and start what is meant to be a new trilogy within the universe of the original. Oddly enough, there isn’t much in the film that relates back to the 1973 classic, beyond what amounts to an extended cameo from Ellen Burstyn reprising her role as Chris MacNeil, the harried single mom of a possessed preteen in the first. It’s unfortunate that she isn’t really given much to do here and she’s sidelined for most of the movie in an unnecessary, if shockingly horrific, way. It’s a shame to reduce what is an indelible role, one of the greatest performances in all of horror alongside Linda Blair’s Reagan.

Instead, ‘Believer’ offers what is at first a compelling idea supported by only flashes of inspiration. Leslie Odom Jr. convincingly plays a widowed father of a teenage girl (Lidya Jewett), still haunted by the tragic death of his wife. He’s struggling to quell his daughter’s natural inquisition regarding her mother who died while pregnant with her during the film’s Haiti-set opening. On the flip side, singer Jennifer Nettles and Norbert Leo Butz play parents to the other teenage girl (Olivia O’Neill) at the center of this new possession story. They play prototypical suburban Christians, using the church and religion when it suits them, yet still effectively displaying concern for their daughter, if sometimes misguided. These people are forced to unite over the shared instance that makes up the first third of ‘Believer’, the disappearance of their daughters.

This sequence is the most effective and harried portion of the the movie, initially peppered with portents of dread. As director Friedkin did with ‘The Exorcist’, Gordon shoots moments of familiar interaction with an overarching sense of foreboding. Jarring cuts both within scenes and transitions, paired with loud bursts of sound and flashes of ghastly imagery, create the link between this franchise extension and its predecessor. In one of the best scenes, Odom is taking portraits of a typical nuclear family in his capacity as a professional photographer, but it’s presented in an almost grotesque, blackly comic parody. Once it is obvious the girls are missing after they are up to some shenanigans in the woods, attempting to commune with the dead, the movie competently presents the frantic feeling of a community reeling over missing children.

‘Believer’ then falls into familiar beats, as the filmmakers feel beholden to the source material. It’s unfortunate as there are flashes from here on that are interesting. The scene featured in the trailer when one of the girls publicly desecrates the Protestant church her family attends is a standout, and the basic idea of requiring a varied group of “exorcists” from different religious paths, not just Catholicism, is intriguing. Ultimately though, not enough screen time is devoted to development of these individuals as real characters. The brilliance of ‘The Exorcist’ lies within the slow burn buildup to the incredible exorcism finale, which is set up so well by fleshing out the internal and external conflicts of its characters. It was also released at a time less secular than now, further diminishing the impact of the reboot. This new iteration only succeeds partially in these capacities, deflating the promise of what could have been . . .

Directed By: David Gordon Green

Written By: Peter Sattler & David Gordon Green

Running Time: 111 min.

Rated: R

* * 1/2 (out of 4 stars) -OR- C+