Between Parody And Possession: The Musical ‘Exorcistic’ Reimagines A Horror Classic
(REVIEW) The impact of “The Exorcist” on art — across genres and mediums — is not to be understated. In the decades since the book’s debut in 1971 and its subsequent movie adaptation in 1973, exorcisms have become a staple of the religious horror genre and a ritual of public fascination.
There are currently over 1,000 trained Catholic priests who are members of the International Association of Exorcists. The IAE is a private organization recognized by the Vatican and trains members approved by bishops to perform exorcisms.
It’s a matter of accepted fact that the dramatization as depicted in the film is overexaggerated for the scare factor; no one’s head is spinning 360 degrees in the process. That doesn’t change the fact that it set the standard for over-the-top exorcisms in horror — a standard that the rock musical “Exorcistic” surpasses in a dramatic, meta retelling.
READ: How ‘The Exorcist: Believer’ Went So Wrong
Like most homage exorcisms in media, “Exorcistic” was born from a love of the original book and movie. It’s a little more explicit with its love, however, as an “unofficial, unauthorized parody.”
The show has been in development since 2012, premiering in San Francisco and growing, it’s now on at Asylum NYC, an independent comedy theater just a few blocks away from Union Square. It’s authorized to an extent. In 2012, novelist and screenwriter William Peter Blatty learned about the project and gave his quiet approval by reading an early draft of the show — so long as they didn’t perform it at the same time as an official “The Exorcist” stage play was running in Los Angeles.
Inspired by beloved rock musicals like Hedwig and the Angry Inch and Sweeney Todd, which writer Michael Shaw Fisher heard from the theater below Jane Street Hotel where he lived as a child, “Exorcistic” is a loud and irreverent parody — and I mean that in the best possible way.
The musical begins with a theater troupe performing a retelling of “The Exorcist” and showcases snippets of the musical-within-a-musical throughout. That musical, in its workshopping days, is interrupted with scene breakdowns which contain entertaining facts about exorcisms and commentary on the legacy of the original media being parodied. The second act sees the show to its opening night on Broadway — not without mishaps, of course, as it’s been evident for a while that the cast is being pursued by a demon of their own.
It first inhabits the body of star Emma, who plays the musical’s “Megan,” but soon isn’t constrained to her. The cast have to perform their own — unauthorized, I might add — exorcism on stage, which goes about how you’d expect.
The songs throughout make references to the movie and novel, with hits like “The Jesuit Blues” — in which “Father Garras” laments his relationship with his dying mother and waning faith — not to mention some foul language that comes at the height of the possession.
The performances of these bold songs, at times silly and other times intense, are phenomenal: The cast is made up of incredible vocalists and talented actors willing to go above and beyond with their performances to fit the extravagant vibe of the show.
Even calling it extravagant is something of an understatement. “Exorcistic” is vulgar and over-the-top, sometimes meant to shock the audience more than scare them. It exaggerates even the most scandalous scenes from the movie — take, for example, the scene in which a possessed Regan stabs herself between the legs with a cross.
The musical utilizes moments like these to provide commentary about the narrative of the source material and its role as a terrifying coming-of-age story for a young girl, something often overshadowed by the focus on the battle between good and evil.
As someone who overanalyzes everything and takes everything too seriously — yep, even parodies — I can safely say I would have enjoyed even more commentary on “The Exorcist” 52 years on. Even that small amount of seriousness is lost in between the chaos of the plot, which devolves well before the end of the first act.
That said, it is a parody, so its job isn’t really to provide serious critical analysis — and as a parody, it hits all the marks. It takes “The Exorcist” and its legacy seriously even in places where it pokes fun.
Of course, because it is in this genre, it doesn’t take the religious element as seriously, nor does it really hammer home the message of good triumphing over evil. It retells the original ending of the movie with “The Longest Martyrdom Song Ever Written,” but for the fictional cast, things aren’t so simple.
“The Exorcist” has always stuck out to me as a movie because of its universality, its appeal to both the religious and secular. “Exorcistic” is a byproduct of the movie’s lasting influence in media that certainly leaves a wild impression of its own.
“Exorcistic” is playing in New York City through Oct. 31.
Jillian Cheney is Religion Unplugged’s Senior Culture Correspondent. She writes about film, TV, music, art, books and more. Find her on X @_jilliancheney.