New Exorcist TV Show Has SouthCoast Connection
Being a "paranormal guy," it takes a lot to scare me. But the 1973 classic horror film The Exorcist is one of the few movies that can actually do just that; even to this day, I try not to watch it alone or in the dark.
FOX released the trailer on Monday for its new fall television series based on the original 1971 book of the same name, and although I'd heard the TV adaptation was forthcoming, I didn't realize it would have a connection to my hometown.
The mother on the new series is played by Geena Davis, the Oscar-winning actress who is a Wareham native and a 1974 graduate of Wareham High (back when she still went by her full name of Virginia Davis).
Davis hasn't had much luck with her last few attempts at heading up a television show, as neither the 2000 sitcom The Geena Davis Show or the 2005 drama Commander-In-Chief really took hold with viewing audiences.
Here's hoping The Exorcist will be different for Davis, and will also live up to the legacy of both the book and Academy Award-winning film.
Here's the official synopsis from FOX, followed by the trailer:
Directed by Rupert Wyatt (“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”), THE EXORCIST is a propulsive psychological thriller following two very different priests tackling one family’s case of horrifying demonic possession. FATHER TOMAS ORTEGA (Alfonso Herrera, “Sense8,” “The Chosen”) is the new face of the Catholic Church: progressive, ambitious and compassionate. He runs a small but loyal parish in the suburbs of Chicago. He has no idea that his quiet life is about to change forever. Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, another priest finds himself locked in a life-and-death struggle with evil. FATHER MARCUS BRENNAN (Ben Daniels, “Flesh and Bone,” “House of Cards”) is a modern-day Templar Knight, an orphan raised since childhood by the Vatican to wage war against its enemies. Father Marcus is everything Father Tomas is not: relentless, abrasive and utterly consumed by his sacred mission. Caught in the middle is the RANCE family, members of Tomas’ parish. On the surface, they’re a normal, suburban family, but all is not as it seems in this household. The patriarch, HENRY RANCE (guest star Alan Ruck, “Spin City,” “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”), is slowly but surely losing his mind. Eldest daughter KATHERINE (Brianne Howey, SCREAM QUEENS) has become a recluse who refuses to leave her room. Her younger sister, CASEY (Hannah Kasulka, “The Fosters”), thinks she’s hearing strange noises coming from inside the walls. And mother ANGELA (Academy Award and Golden Globe winner Geena Davis, “Commander in Chief,” “Thelma & Louise”) has been plagued by recurring nightmares, each more frightening than the last. Angela believes there is something in the house, a demonic presence, growing stronger by the day. Desperate, she begs Father Tomas for help, unwittingly setting the naïve young priest on a collision course with Father Marcus. Separately, each faces an insurmountable task, but together they become the only hope against an evil force that has been mobilizing for centuries.