Blu Tuesday is a weekly column where we review the newest Blu-ray and 4K releases, along with a brief rundown of the included bonus material, to determine whether they’re worth buying, renting or skipping.
Pick of the Week: “The Exorcist: Believer”
When it comes to exorcism movies, if you’ve seen one, you’ve pretty much seen them all, and that holds true of director/co-writer David Gordon Green’s legacy sequel to the 1973 horror classic “The Exorcist.” Not only does Green’s film fail to bring anything new to the table, but there doesn’t appear to be any actual reason for it to take place in the same timeline as the original other than to bring back Ellen Burstyn in a cameo role — one that serves no real purpose and has very little payoff. It’s baffling why Green continues to waste what was once a promising career on making subpar sequels to cult horror movies, especially when no one is really asking for them. Though “The Exorcist: Believer” isn’t as terrible as other recent cash grabs (see below), much like Green’s “Halloween” movies, the whole endeavor feels rather pointless.
Extras include an audio commentary by Green, co-writer Peter Sattler, executive producer Ryan Turek and special makeup effects designer Christopher Nelson, as well as some behind-the-scenes featurettes. FINAL VERDICT: SKIP
Also Out This Week:
“Pet Sematary: Bloodlines” — Following the much-maligned 2019 remake of “Pet Sematary” — a movie so forgettable that I don’t even remember watching it — this prequel film set 50 years earlier tells the story of Jud Crandall’s first encounter with the titular burial ground. Though that might interest fans of Stephen King’s original novel, “Pet Sematary: Bloodlines” is an incredibly dull and aimless movie that adds nothing of value to the lore. The writing is lazy, the performances are flat, and the pacing is so terrible that the film’s 87-minute runtime feels almost twice as long. “Pet Sematary: Bloodlines” is about as bad as they come — the kind of movie that David Zaslav would have happily shelved for a tax break, and rightfully so. Extras include a behind-the-scenes look at making the film. FINAL VERDICT: SKIP
Disclosure: Bullz-Eye was provided a copy of the above titles for review purposes.
