rank the exorcist movies!




I haven't seen the new one, but here are my rankings:

1) The Exorcist
2) Exorcist III
3) Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist
4) Exorcist: The Beginning
5) Exorcist II: The Heretic

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That's probably mine too. I haven't seen the new one either and would be curious to see where it fits. There's a massive gap after the first two spots. Nothing even comes close to being as good as Exorcist 1 or 3.

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Dominion used to be my second favorite (only the iconic 1973 ranked higher) because Paul Schrader ATTEMPTED to make an ACTUAL dramatic film with depth and religious and theological themes (about a priest having a crisis of faith), instead of just a gory horror film.

Looking back in hindsight though, Exorcist III is a lot more "interesting" and engaging than Dominion, plus it was made by William Peter Blatty himself, so its the only ACTUAL "Exorcist" followup, the rest are other people's ideas.

Exorcist: The Beginning has its moments, but it is a shallow film marketed towards teenagers that want "kewl" Hollywood-style demonic possession stuff, and it was specifically made for that reason.

Exorcist II is a trainwreck, but has a "so bad its good quality", where you can laugh at how ridiculous it is.

Haven't seen Believer, but it sounds like its a soulless (no pun intended) retread of the original film, without any of the slowly building suspense or religious character study that made the first one great.


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Dominion is worth checking out, though sadly it feels "unfinished" because the studio threw it in some vault, and had it reshot as "Exorcist: The Beginning"

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The EXORCIST and The EXORCIST III are the only 2 that matter..

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I was going to say the same thing. The rest are crap.

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Agreed. The Exorcist III is a very good underrated horror. From those that I have seen, it's the only follow up that feels like it's within the same universe as the original.

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1. The Exorcist
2. Exorcist II: The Heretic
3. The Exorcist: Believer
4. Exorcist III
5. Dominion: Prequel To The Exorcist
6. Exorcist: The Beginning

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1). The Exorcist (greatest horror movie of all time and in the running for greatest movie ever)
2). Exorcist 3 (criminally underrated)
3). Dominion and The Beginning (i don't see how one is better than the other; same flicks)

I did not even watch Exorcist 2 because I was fearful my viewing it would diminish my love for the franchise

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1) The Exorcist
2) Exorcist III
3) Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist
4) Exorcist: The Beginning
5) Exorcist II: The Heretic
6)...
7) Human Feces
8) ...
9) Exorcist: Believers

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1. The Exorcist (1973)
2. Exorcist III (1990)
3. Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977)
4. The Exorcist: Believer (2023)
5?. Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)
6?. Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist (2005)


To be fair I haven't seen the two prequels since I first saw them back in the mid-00s. So I may be harsh on them

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I just rewatched Dominion and Beginning, back-to-back this week. Dominion is STILL good (just bland at points with unfinished FX), Paul Schader tried to make an ACTUAL film about religion with depth, INSTEAD of a cheap horror prequel cashing in on a famous film. The Beginning has some better actors and has a handful of "good scenes", but relies on cheap "jump scares", and the exorcism scene at the end is like an over-the-top parody of the original film. Definitely a dumbed-down "teen horror" version of Dominion.

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The Exorcist
Exorcist III
Dominion
Exorcist: Believer
Exorcist II
Exorcist: The Beginning

Only the original and 3 are worth watching

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