William Friedkin

The pantheon of movie and TV exorcists is a vaunted group that includes regular people, religious zealots, disgraced clergy, and, of course, a man who reports to Catholicism’s highest earthly power himself. But while the congregation of cinematic demon-banishers is impressive, their actual rankings are more straightforward than you might think. In honor of The Pope’s Exorcist arriving on Netflix, we’ve put together a ranking of the best and worst exorcists pop culture has to offer.

Greetings, Polygon readers! April is here, and you know what that means. That’s right: There’s a slew of exciting new films coming out in theaters this month, like the sci-fi drama The Beast starring Léa Seydoux, Alex Garland’s Civil War, Dev Patel’s Monkey Man, and more. All of those look great, but if you’re looking to enjoy a fantastic movie from the comfort of your home, there’s a wealth of great films to watch on streaming in April.

Greetings, Polygon readers!

There are a lot of ways to judge a great performance. In 2023, as in every year, some of the year’s best movies were quirky, colorful, boundary-pushing challenges to the cinematic status quo, and some were low-key, emotionally intense stories, either tracking the lives of famous historical figures or just trying to evoke the pains of real life. Our list of the best performances of the year honors both extremes: outsized performances that tickled and surprised us, and realistic ones that made us forget we were watching a performance. Here are our favorites among the many great performances we saw in movies in 2023.

When cinematic legend William Friedkin died in August, most of the mournful obituaries focused on tributes to his eclectic body of work. Affectionately nicknamed “Hurricane Billy” for his force of personality and towering stature among the New Hollywood filmmakers, Friedkin produced a respectable, wide-ranging filmography, from Academy Award-sweepers like The French Connection to reappraised gems like the box-office bomb turned classic Sorcerer. Still, critics elevated one title over all the rest, one film that, even 50 years later, still has a firm grasp on popular culture: The Exorcist, which bears the tagline “the scariest movie of all time.”

Making an Exorcist movie isn’t easy. Up until the most recent entry, released in theaters this week, every movie in the series has suffered from a tumultuous shoot, copious rewrites, or entire recuts.

There are exorcism movies and Exorcist movies, and the two have never really been the same thing.

There aren’t nearly enough courtroom dramas at the movies these days. What was once one of the most popular genres in the United States, during the heyday of movies like A Few Good Men or A Time to Kill, is now all but vanished, or worse, relegated to television shows that are six-hours longer than they need to be. But The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial, which released a trailer on Thursday, is here to fix that. The movie is set to be released on Oct. 6 on Paramount Plus with Showtime.

In a recent interview, director David Gordon Green confirmed that original star decided not to have a “significant role” in Blumhouse’s upcoming horror sequel. Despite not being interested in reprising her iconic role as Regan MacNeil, Green revealed that Blair was still involved as a consultant during the production of the movie.

The Exorcist: Believer director David Gordon Green has revealed Linda Blair's involvement in the upcoming new movie.

The Exorcist: Believer has some action scenes that may just blow the original film out of the water.

Happy fall, Polygon readers! September is upon us, and that means it’s time time to dust off your favorite sweater and dapple a little pumpkin spice in your morning coffee. We’ve got a whole slew of new movies, television and books to look forward to in the coming weeks and months, not to mention all the exciting new films arriving on streaming this month.

The Exorcist is being reborn as a franchise this year with a new trilogy being kicked off with The Exorcist: Believer soon. Where is the bar set for Exorcist sequels though?

David Gordon Green has opened up about coaxing Ellen Burstyn into returning to The Exorcist franchise after fifty-some years.

Legendary director William Friedkin died Monday, leaving an accomplished legacy behind as one of the greatest filmmakers of his generation. Friedkin’s career veered through a variety of genres, and there may be no better three-film run for a director than his 1971 through 1977 stretch of The French Connection, The Exorcist, and Sorcerer. His final film, The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial starring Kiefer Sutherland, will premiere at the Venice International Film Festival in September. Friedking was 87.

William Friedkin, best known as the director of the highly influential horror movie The Exorcist, has died in Los Angeles aged 87. The death was confirmed by a family friend and Friedkin is survived by his wife, Lansing, and two sons.

Horror producer Jason Blum has unveiled a first look at upcoming sequel The Exorcist: Believer – and it teases a gnarly-looking double demonic possession.