10 Recent Horror Movies Ruined By Their Third Act
1. The Exorcist: Believer
The most recent Exorcist film mutated from an inoffensive mediocrity into genuine sacrilege in its final third, when the series' returning original protagonist, Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), is blinded after one of the demonically possessed girls stabs her in the eyes.
That's just the start of the trouble, though - it's followed by an unintentionally hilarious "Avengers assemble!"-esque climax in which religious officials from various faiths combine their might to perform a mega-exorcism on the two possessed girls.
This leads to a desperate shock value twist ending in which one of the girls is dragged to Hell, followed by an awkwardly hopeful closing montage, and a fan-serving final scene in which Chris reconciles with her estranged daughter Regan (Linda Blair).
While an electrifying final exorcism sequence could've basically saved the movie, David Gordon Green instead doubled down on all of his worst instincts, delivering a flaccid, laughable finale that committed numerous egregious legacy sequel sins in the process.