Don't Expect David Gordon Green's Exorcist Sequel To Be Anything Like Halloween
It's hard to believe that the "Halloween" franchise is coming to an end (again). The boogeyman of Haddonfield, Michael Myers, has been killed and brought back many a time since his debut in 1978. And with no discernible motive for his knife-wielding tendencies, the masked killer is truly one of the most terrifying golden age slashers of all time. The third and final installment of David Gordon Green's trilogy, "Halloween Ends," boasts to mark the ultimate showdown between Michael Myers and the renowned final girl, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis). His trilogy of films is a direct sequel to John Carpenter's original "Halloween" and ignores every sequel after. Laurie's relationship to Michael is far less complicated, opting to forgo the timeline established in "Halloween II," where it was revealed the two are siblings.
Fans can simply enjoy Green's interpretation with all the spectacle that "Halloween" has to offer. The culmination of the series means that Green can spread his horror wings and fly to new franchises. He is a credited executive producer and director in the upcoming "Hellraiser" television series, but his newest endeavor on the big screen is a sequel to "The Exorcist" (via IMDb). Like "Halloween," the continuation of the classic horror film is a direct sequel to the original. But according to the director, his version of "The Exorcist" will be significantly different from what "Halloween" fans are used to.
The Exorcist will take a more grounded approach to horror
From the sound of it, there will tragically be no chants of "evil dies tonight!" when "The Exorcist" is screened for the masses. Though both David Gordon Green's "Halloween" and "The Exorcist" are based on iconic horror films from the '70s, the director's approach is as different as night and day.
"[T]hey're nothing alike. 'Halloween' is a horror movie, it's a slasher movie, it's midnight madness, good time at the movies, eat some popcorn," Green told Collider candidly. He went on to explain that "The Exorcist" has resonant themes, including: "[S]pirituality, religion, mental health, family. And it's ... you can overlap those two in these very different subgenres of horror, but the approach technically, creatively, is very different." Green's interest in the franchise is exploring these horrific elements without the spectacle that is inherent in "Halloween." To his credit, "The Exorcist" was a phenomenon so intense that it caused viewers to have physical reactions to certain scenes. When it first premiered, fans were famously so shaken up that they would experience nausea as well as reports of fainting spells after what they had seen.
Green stated he would be tapping into these visceral emotions as well as bringing back Ellen Burstyn who kicked off the franchise as Chris MacNeil. Instead of a sensational blood bath, when viewers go to see "The Exorcist" sequel in 2024, they are more likely to be confronted with disturbing concepts and generational trauma.