The Exorcist: Believer Can’t Compete With The RT Score Of Blumhouse’s Other New Horror Movie

The Exorcist: Believer’s Rotten Tomatoes score pales in comparison to its Blumhouse competition Totally Killer. Both movies are set to premiere on October 6 with The Exorcist: Believer, a legacy sequel about two possessed girls who must be helped by original Exorcist character Chris MacNeil (Ellen Burstyn), set to debut theatrically in wide release. Totally Killer, which follows a teenager (Kiernan Shipka) being transported back in time to 1987 and trying to save her mother’s friends from a serial killer, will be released as a streaming exclusive on Prime Video.

Just a few days before the official The Exorcist: Believer release date, the possession movie debuted on Rotten Tomatoes with a startlingly low score of 26%. Totally Killer, which also has a new score on Rotten Tomatoes, completely blows the legacy sequel out of the water. Although both scores are due to fluctuate as more reviews are added over the weekend, the slasher comedy is currently more than 50% higher than the other title with a thoroughly Fresh score of 81%.

While this sharp divide between the movies’ Rotten Tomatoes scores is surprising, Blumhouse is nevertheless set to dominate the lead-up to Halloween this year. Its Fresh score may help boost Totally Killer’s profile this weekend for streaming audiences, but the low score for The Exorcist: Believer may not tarnish its ability to draw theatrical viewers. At the time of writing, the Exorcist: Believer box office is still projected to take in an opening weekend of a possible franchise-best $30-$35 million.

With these titles set to dominate both theatrical and at-home viewership during the first weekend in October, Blumhouse is kicking off what should prove to be a very fruitful Halloween season. Because Saw X opened slightly earlier, on September 29, the month only has one other major wide release horror movie on the schedule. That would be the buzzy video game adaptation Five Nights at Freddy’s, which is set to premiere on October 27.

Because Five Nights at Freddy’s is also a Blumhouse production, it cements in the company’s domination over the horror genre during its most important season. Even if the The Exorcist: Believer release comes in below expectations, horror-hungry audiences will have plenty of other Blumhouse options to choose from this month. The Totally Killer Rotten Tomatoes score is merely the cherry on top of what promises to be a robust period at the movies.