John Carpenter roasts The Exorcist: Believer fail

Horror icon John Carpenter has shared a sly dig at The Exorcist: Believer after it was panned by critics. 

David Gordon Green is having a go at reviving The Exorcist franchise by launching a brand new movie trilogy, kicking off with The Exorcist: Believer, which dropped in cinemas last week. 

Although the horror film kicked off with a solid opening weekend at the box office, drawing in $44 million globally, it didn’t quite meet expectations – especially considering Universal spent $400 million on the rights to the franchise. 

While it could be argued that any Exorcist movie has some mighty big boots to fill living up to William Friedkin’s 1973 classic, John Carpenter has some thoughts. 

John Carpenter roasts The Exorcist: Believer fail

Discussing Green’s The Exorcist: Believer, Carpenter – the filmmaker behind the original Halloween and The Thing – said he didn’t “understand how you can screw” up an Exorcist movie.

“I heard The Exorcist really didn’t cut it,” he told Variety. “That could be a kick-ass movie. I don’t understand how you can screw that up.”

It could be argued that he’s right. The Exorcist: Believer hasn’t enjoyed the best reception from critics, earning just 23% on Rotten Tomatoes. 

That being said, Carpenter did share some praise for Green’s Halloween trilogy, on which he served as executive producer. 

“I like what David did when he made the three Halloweens,” he said. “I loved No. 2 [Halloween Kills]. Thought that was fabulous.”

Horror wasn’t the only genre the filmmaker commented on, as he also spoke about Greta Gerwig’s Barbie. 

“I watched Barbie. I can’t believe I watched Barbie. It’s just not my generation,” he continued. 

“I had nothing to do with Barbie dolls. I didn’t know who Allan was. I mean, I can sum it up. She says, ‘I don’t have a vagina,’ and then at the end, ‘I’m going to go to a gynecologist!’ 

“That’s the movie to me. I mean, there’s a patriarchy business in there, but I missed that whole thing. Right over my head. But I think she’s fabulous, Margot Robbie.”

The Exorcist: Believer is in cinemas now, and you can check out more of our horror coverage below:

How many Saw movies are there? | LGBTQ+ horrors | How to watch Evil Dead Rise | Terrifier 3 | Insidious: The Red Door | The Boogeyman ending | Tin and Tina explained | The Thing 2 | The Conjuring 4 | Is The Pope’s Exorcist true story? | How to watch M3GAN | Paranormal Activity in order