The Correct Order To Watch The Exorcist Movies

A film historian might argue that the modern notion of the “blockbuster” wasn’t born until 1975. It was that year that Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws” was booked to open in hundreds of theaters simultaneously, a practice that was still uncommon at the time. In so doing, “Jaws” essentially created the “opening weekend,” a notion that Hollywood is still enamored of to this day. Additionally, “Jaws” ramped up the marketing blitz, flooding advertising spaces with the “Jaws” logo. Giant commercial entertainments haven’t been the same since. “Jaws” kicked the door down.

Of course, two years before, “The Exorcist” had already helped get that door unlocked. It wasn’t opened as widely as “Jaws,” but “The Exorcist” had staying power. It opened the day after Christmas in 1973, and ran in theaters continuously for 105 straight weeks. It has the biggest Christmas opening weekend of all time, only beaten by “Titanic” 34 years later. The world, it seemed, was ready for demons and monsters. 

“The Exorcist” is also an excellent movie. Quiet, terse, and intense, it tells the story of a put-upon mother and working actress Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn) as she discovers that her 12-year-old daughter Regan (Linda Blair) has fallen under the influence of Satan. For the bulk of “The Exorcist,” no one can say what is happening to the poor girl, and why she speaks in demonic voices. Only Father Karras (Jason Miller), a sad priest with no faith, can solve the problem. The film climaxes with Karras and the elderly Father Merrin (Max Von Sydow) performing the exorcism heard ’round the world.

While a fine stand-alone drama, “The Exorcist” was too big a hit not to sequelize. William Friedkin’s original spawned its first sequel in 1977, and additional follow-ups came in 1990, 2004, 2005, and 2023. This is to say nothing of the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of “Exorcist” knock-offs that have also arisen in the last 51 years. 

As of this writing, there are six official films in the “Exorcist” canon, with one on the way. 

The “Exorcist” films weren’t released in chronological order — there are two prequel films in the series, but the prequels both depend on one’s working knowledge of details from the first “Exorcist,” so the best order to watch them is in the order of their theatrical release. The two prequel films are also, technically, the same film, but we’ll get into that below. The release order of the “Exorcist” films are: 

• William Friedkin’s “The Exorcist” (1973)
• John Boorman’s “Exorcist II: The Heretic” (1977)
• William Peter Blatty’s “The Exorcist III” (1990)
• Renny Harlin’s “Exorcist: The Beginning” (2004)
• Paul Schrader’s “Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist” (2005)
• David Gordon Green’s “Exorcist: Believer” (2023)

“Exorcist II” is a miserable and strange film that sees the young Regan, now a teenager, undergoing machine-assisted hypnosis at a bizarre high-tech sci-fi clinic to recall the events of her demonic possession. The process, however, causes her to become repossessed, and another exorcism is in order. That film also established that Regan was not possessed by Satan as the Roman Catholics define him, but by an African deity called Pazuzu. Yes, the fact that the demon came from Africa to possess a white girl in a wealthy Washington DC neighborhood smacks of dated, racist colonialist attitudes. 

“Exorcist III,” however, is excellent, with Blatty — who penned the original 1971 novel on which the films are based — imitating Friedkin’s slow/quiet style with aplomb. That film stars George C. Scott as Detective Kinderman, played by Lee J. Cobb in the original. That film sees a serial killer stalking a mental hospital, and the bloody mayhem that ensues. Some feel “Exorcist III” is at least as good as the original. 

Curiously, the fourth and fifth “Exorcist” movies are the same movie. Warner Bros. hired Paul Schrader (the writer of “Taxi Driver” and maker of “Hardcore”) to write and direct a story about Father Merrin, the Max Von Sydow character, when he was a younger priest, and when he encountered Pazuzu for the first time. Schrader shot a film set in Kenya in 1947 starring Stellan Skarsgård as the young Merrin. Once the film was completed, however, Warner Bros. panicked, finding the film to be too philosophical and talky. 

In such cases, studios might seriously recut a film, and even hire a second director to shoot news scenes, but Warner took drastic measures this time. They hired action director Renny Harlin (“Cliffhanger,” “A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master”) to reshoot the entire movie with an entirely new script. Skarsgård stayed on as Merrin, however, as the same sets were used. Harlin’s film was released in theaters first, sporting the title “Exorcist: The Beginning.” It’s a watchable film, but it’s horror schlock with little in the way of religious profundity. 

When “The Beginning” wasn’t the massive hit Warner Bros. wanted, they finally succumbed to audience demand and also released Schrader’s version in theaters. And because it was already complete, Schrader’s film, called “Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist,” only had to wait seven additional months after the release of “The Beginning.” “Dominion” is a slow and talky movie, but it’s definitely far more thoughtful and interesting. 

Most recently, David Gordon Green made a reboot of the series, directing “The Exorcist: Believer” in 2023. That film ignored all the previous “Exorcist” movies to come since 1973, serving as a direct sequel. It was lackluster and dumb and terrible. There were initially plans to make two additional films in the new “Believer” continuity, including a film called “The Exorcist: Deceiver,” but those plans were scrapped after “Believer” tanked. 

As of this writing, Mike Flanagan is working on yet another reboot, set for release in 2026.