10 Best TV Series Based On Horror Movies
5. The Exorcist (2016 - 2017)
The Exorcist series serves as a sequel to the original film, ignoring the events of the sequels. It features Geena Davis and Alan Ruck as Angela and Henry Rance, whose family are plagued by demon possession and turn to two very different priests, Father Thomas Ortega and Father Marcus Keane to help them.
In a twist in episode five, it is revealed that Angela is actually an adult Regan MacNeil, the girl from the film. Writer Jeremy Slater has even hinted that the name Angela Rance was chosen because it is an anagram of ‘A Clean Regan’.
The show expands the single issue in the film and explores the relationship between the priests, the role of religion in society and the effects of physical and mental illness on the family.
It uses Regan’s reveal as a link to the film and as the reason why the demon Pazuzu has returned to possess her and her daughter but doesn’t make this the sole issue in the series. We get to see what happened to Regan but also how demon possession affects wider society.
Season two introduced new characters, linked only to season one by the two priests who act as a constant throughout the series, and went on to explore a church conspiracy in the Vatican.
There are further seasons planned, each with a possession story and the same priests, but with different locations and characters making the series more of an anthology.