Editorials
[Editorial] I Misjudged “The Exorcist” and I’m Sorry
Back in September my pre-air review of the pilot episode of Fox’s The Exorcist was published and it was not exactly a glowing review. It wasn’t exactly a terrible review either, but it was a mediocre one. I concluded my review by stating that The Exorcist is “not must-see-TV, but it’s worth checking out.” Apparently many of you did not think it was worth checking out at all, as the series has decreased in viewers every week. The last episode garnered a mere 1.61 million total viewers with a 0.6 in the crucial 18-49 demographic. That’s not atrocious for a Friday night, but it’s certainly not good. The Exorcist is in danger of cancellation and I feel partly responsible, so I am here to apologize for dissuading some of you from giving the show a chance. The Exorcist has a rocky start but has steadily improved with each and every episode since its premiere. It has become a great series that every horror fan should be watching.
First of all, I would like to stand by my review of the pilot. I think it is just average. Nothing more, nothing less. There were strengths evident in the episode (the performances, the sound design, those final five minutes) but plenty of weaknesses as well (the over-reliance on jump scares, the lack of innovation with the material). The “been there, seen that” aspects of the possession are still a flaw in the series, but the time spent with these characters over the course of the past seven episodes has made the proceedings far more compelling than they initially were. The series follows all the standard possession movie tropes, but it feels classier than something like, say, The Exorcist II: The Heretic.
In one of my harsher critiques of the pilot I stated:
“Angela approaches Tomas about her suspicions about 20 minutes into the episode. At this point the viewer has hardly seen anything that would lead a rational person to suspect demonic possession, so it seems downright silly that this woman would jump to this conclusion so hastily.”
***SPOILERS IN THE NEXT PARAGRAPH***
Silly me. Anyone who has kept up with the series now knows that Angela Rance (Geena Davis) is none other than Regan MacNeil, the main character in William Friedkin’s 1973 masterpiece. I was quick to judge the character’s motivation, but that is something that comes with the territory of reviewing single episodes (especially pilot episodes) of a television series. Angela’s true identity wasn’t revealed until Episode 5. Based on the pilot episode alone my criticism is valid, but taking all of the episodes so far it makes perfect sense.
***END SPOILERS***
As I mentioned above, I stand by my review. The pilot is a mediocre piece of television when taken on its own. Later episodes put the pilot into a new light and that sort of makes my review null and void. If I had a chance to review the first seven episodes of the series as a whole it would be a solid 4/5. I’m not apologizing for my review. I’m apologizing for discouraging some of you from giving this great show a chance. It’s a show that is better than it has any right to be, especially when you consider the film it had to live up to. I should have known better. A network wouldn’t agree to a television adaptation of one of the greatest movies of all time unless it was great. If anything, NBC’s Hannibal taught us that.
Lest you think I have such a high opinion of myself that I believe I singlehandedly cause low ratings for the show, never fear. I’m not so high and mighty that I think millions of people read my review and tuned out, but I’m sure at least one person did, and for that I am sorry. So forgive me, dear reader, from convincing you to not watch the show. It’s worth it. I promise. The Exorcist has now become must-see TV for me and it should be for you too. Catch up on Hulu and watch the newest episode tonight.* You won’t regret it!
The Exorcist airs on Fridays on Fox at 9/8 CT.
*No, this article was not paid for by Fox. I just hate seeing good horror TV get canceled.
Some movies are just so beloved that you can experience them through cultural osmosis without ever sitting down to actually watch them. From loving parodies to meticulous recreations of iconic scenes, memorable filmmaking lives on even after the curtains close on the silver screen. And when it comes to horror, few films can compete with the massive impact that Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining had on popular culture as a whole.
Whether or not you think the flick is a good adaptation of Stephen King’s seminal novel, 1980’s The Shining slowly but surely grew into one of the most influential genre movies ever made, inspiring everything from surprisingly heartfelt sequels to classic episodes of The Simpsons. However, not all The Shining references are created equal, and today I’d like to shine a light on six unexpected homages to Kubrick’s iconic film.
In this list, we’ll be focusing on references and Easter eggs that either came out of the blue or came from creators that you wouldn’t expect to be fans of this classic ghost story. That being said, don’t forget to comment below with your own favorite references to the Torrance family and the Overlook Hotel if you think we missed a particularly memorable one.
With that out of the way, onto the list!
5. A Nightmare on FaceTime – South Park (2012)
Regardless of the brand’s iffy reputation among former employees, the death of Blockbuster Video was a serious blow to fans of physical media. Of course, some folks were more affected by this than others, and South Park’s Randy Marsh definitely took things a little too far in the twelfth episode of the show’s sixteenth season.
Titled A Nightmare on FaceTime, the main plot of this 2012 story is a surprisingly faithful recreation of The Shining where Randy purchases an empty Blockbuster store and begins to go mad once he realizes that his investment may not have been a very good idea due to the rise of streaming and the now-defunct RedBox storefronts.
4. The Overlook Hotel Level – Ready Player One (2018)
I was never really a fan of Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One, so I viewed Stephen Spielberg’s divisive adaptation of the novel as an improvement over the source material despite having its own narrative issues. In fact, I actually prefer how Spielberg changed the story by removing several references to his own work and replacing a lengthy Blade Runner detour with an over-the-top homage to The Shining.
A CGI-heavy recreation of the film’s most iconic moments that feels like a big-budget ghost train ride set within the Overlook Hotel, this intense sequence is more of a recreation of the freaky aesthetics of The Shining rather than its mind-bending narrative. However, it’s still fun to see Spielberg make a heartfelt tribute to a filmmaker that was once his close personal friend.
3. IKEA Singapore Halloween Ad (2014)
It makes sense that commercials don’t typically borrow from the horror genre, as it might be a bad idea to scare away potential customers, but some references are just too much fun to pass up.
That’s probably why the publicists behind this Ikea ad from Singapore were allowed to turn their commercial into a genuinely unsettling recreation of Danny’s tricycle scene from The Shining. After all, nobody cares if your store is haunted so long as it offers late-night shopping hours and a large selection of merchandise that you can become lost in forever and ever…
2. The End of ‘Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality’ – Community (2014)
Community is no stranger to recreating iconic movie moments within the show, and the series had previously tackled horror tropes in episodes like the fan-favorite Epidemiology. However, the most laugh-out-loud moment on this particular list comes from a brief gag towards the end of the season five episode ‘Bondage and Beta Male Sexuality’.
The majority of this episode has nothing to do with scary movies, but there’s a brief subplot involving supporting character Chang and a possible encounter with ghosts that leads him to question his own existence. This subplot culminates in the episode’s hilarious ending where the camera zooms in on a black-and-white photograph of Chang in period clothing at some kind of celebration, just like Jack Nicholson at the end of The Shining.
However, the picture’s subtitle eventually reveals that it’s merely a conveniently placed keepsake from the ‘Old Timey Photo Club’.
1. The Overlook Hedge Maze Sequence – Zootopia 2 (2025)
Disney movies are pretty far removed from both the gruesome horror of Stephen King and the heady filmmaking of Stanley Kubrick, so I don’t think anyone was expecting the climax of last year’s Zootopia sequel to take place in an animated version of the snowy hedge maze from The Shining.
In this unexpectedly intense sequence, friend-turned-villain Pawbert Lynxley (an unhinged lynx cat played by Andy Samberg) chases our protagonists through a creepy labyrinth in a loving recreation of Jack Nicholson’s icy demise outside the Overlook Hotel. The actual ending here might be a little more child-friendly than what’s being referenced, but it’s amazing that the filmmakers were able to push the horror elements as far as they did – especially since the scene doesn’t really have anything to do with the rest of the movie.
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