When The Exorcist: Believer was released by David Gordon Green courtesy of Blumhouse Productions it intended to ride the coattails of one of the greatest horror films of all-time for a modern audience, but go “bigger”. This proposal would include two possessed kids but furthermore, three exorcists of differing backgrounds to take on the demon at hand. Needless to say, it bombed.

Now comes The Exorcists which too arcs back towards William Friedkins’ iconic feature and tries to go bigger with a trio of exorcist experts, the elite of their field, brought together by a father who needs their help to purge his daughter of the demon that has consumed her. 

What the exorcists uncover though is a far darker entity lurking beneath the female frame which it currently hosts. To add some more supposed weight to the mix, there’s even a quartet of kids that have broken into the mausoleum to awaken the dead through a spiritual seance. This decision would also lead them on a dangerous path that would weave with the exorcists’ plight. With the ante dialled up to 666, the trio of exorcists must now unite along with Doctor Olivia Beckett (Kayla Fields) and Sister Caroline (Denise Duff) to oust the demon, but they may not last their ordeal.

The Prognosis:

The Exorcists struggles to gain any momentum in its search for an identity. This is all the more evident when tied to the shackles of its inspiration. The grip is loose and the details are equally left to drift without any real focus other than to keep on coasting on a lacklustre cleansing. Its saving grace is casting Doug Bradley aka Pinhead from the Hellraiser franchise as the wisened Father Patrick Ryland, who is compelled to help one last time and amend the past from a failed exorcism. As great as Bradley is, he can only be as good as his counterparts and the script to support his talent, both of which fail him. Instead we must settle on his deliverance and pray for the ending to come.

• Saul Muerte