The Exorcism’s Director Recalls First Seeing His Dad’s ‘Dangerous Movie’

The power of Christ was compelling even for a “pretty young” Joshua John Miller. The filmmaker behind this summer’s Russell Crowe-led The Exorcism remembers seeing the classic horror film The Exorcist (1973), which, of course, starred his late father, Jason Miller. The elder Miller portrayed the boxing aficionado and heroic priest, Damien Karras. And The Exorcism director recalls seeing The Exorcist alongside his mom and grandmother, which he thought of as a “dangerous movie.” Miller said in an interview (via ComicBook.com):

“I think the first time I saw it was on TV, so it was heavily edited but still creepy.
I just remember watching it on a tiny TV in my grandmother’s living room.
I just remember sitting in her living room, and it was a TV on a tray.
It was kind of transgressive because it was like,
‘Ooooo you’re up late watching a dangerous movie.”

Miller continued:

“And I think my mom and grandmother were arguing about allowing me to watch it at my age.
I think I was, because I was pretty young.
But the thing was it was on TV.
But the whole thing of, ‘Oh, you’re going to see something scary or something you’re not supposed to see.’
Of course, it makes it all the more exciting, and you just want to crave that.”

Joshua John Miller ‘Wasn’t Happy’ About Russell Crowe Being in The Pope’s Exorcist

Whether Joshua John Miller’s The Exorcism joins the ranks of the all-time best horror films, like his father’s The Exorcist, remains to be seen. However, Miller did land Oscar-winner Russell Crowe to star in his latest cinematic endeavor. But Miller “wasn’t happy” when he first discovered Crowe had also starred in 2023’s The Pope’s Exorcist. Miller explained his initial frustration during the same sit-down:

“I wasn’t happy about it originally.
But now, in an interesting way,
it kind of actually is helping The Exorcism and now people are like,
‘Oh, is this — wait, are they connected?’ The brand confusion? That’s a whole other conversation.
But I think there’s something actually awesome about, ‘Oh, there’s a movie that’s a literal straight genre movie and now there’s a making of an exorcist movie?’
I think there’s a cool conversation to be had about that.”

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Horror Fans Cannot Get Enough of Russell Crowe’s Unofficial Exorcism Franchise

Russell Crowe will soon lead The Exorcism…a horror outing totally unrelated to last year’s The Pope’s Exorcist. And fans are loving it.

Critics came down hard on The Pope’s Exorcist, and the film only registers 50% on the Tomatometer as a result. And the 2023 horror flick certainly didn’t lend itself to be one of Crowe’s best performances either. Sadly, Crowe and Miller’s collaboration on The Exorcism is faring even worse. While it’s still early, the new movie currently holds a 45% rating on Rotten Tomatoes as reviews begin to trickle in.