Fox’s The Exorcist gets retro grindhouse trailer

Last Updated on July 31, 2021

Fox's upcoming series adaptation of The Exorcist is looking tentatively decent, and the newest promo certainly helps. Framed as a movie trailer from the 70's, this retro throwback shows how the show is keeping its roots in mind while telling an entirely unique story.

Hopefully they can recapture the elegant simplicity and raw horror of Friedkin's film, which existed in a more subtle vein of horror that's more or less perfect for today's TV horror climate. Check out the trailer below and see if you can get swept away from the drudgery of 2016!

Described as a "propulsive psychological thriller", the show will follow:

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.

The pilot episode was written by Jeremy Slater (THE LAZARUS EFFECT) and directed by Rupert Wyatt (RISE OF THE PLANET OF THE APES). The series will premiere on Fox on Friday, September 23rd from 9 to 10PM.